A variational calculation of hydrogenic impurity binding energies in quantum well wires has been performed. The binding of the hydrogenic impurity has been calculated as a function of the transverse dimensions of the wire. It is found that the binding energy of the hydrogenic impurity increases as the ratio of the Bohr radius of the impurity in a bulk semiconductor to the transverse dimension of the wire increases. To test the sensitivity of the binding energies to the trial wave function we have used in our calculations, we use a wave function of the same type to calculate the binding energy of hydrogenic impurities confined in a quasi‐two‐dimensional quantum well as a function of well width and compare our results for the binding energies to the results obtained by Bastard [Phys. Rev. B24, 4714 (1981)].