List of Famous people born in Ardabil, Iran

Marzieh Meshkini is an Iranian cinematographer, film director and writer. She is married to filmmaker Mohsen Makhmalbaf, who wrote the script for her debut film The Day I Became a Woman.

Saeid Mohammadpour Karkaragh is an Iranian weightlifter.

Shaykh Haydar or Sheikh Haydar was the successor of his father as leader of the Safavid order from 1460-1488. Haydar maintained the policies and political ambitions initiated by his father. Under Sheikh Haydar, the order became crystallized as a political movement with an increasingly extremist heterodox Twelver Shi'i coloring and Haydar was viewed as a divine figure by his followers. Shaykh Haydar was responsible for instructing his followers to adopt the scarlet headgear of 12 gores commemorating The Twelve Imams, which led to them being designated by the Turkish term Qizilbash "Red Head".

Sheikh Junayd was the son of Shaykh Ibrahim, father of Shaykh Haydar and grandfather of the founder of Safavid dynasty, Shah Ismail I. After the death of his father, he assumed the leadership of the Safaviyya from 1447–1460.

Mohammed Sadeq Givi Khalkhali was a Shia cleric of the Islamic Republic of Iran who is said to have "brought to his job as Chief Justice of the revolutionary courts a relish for summary execution" that earned him a reputation as Iran's "hanging judge". A farmer's son from Iranian Azeri origins was born in Givi, Azerbaijani S.S.R., U.S.S.R. [now in Azerbaijan]. He is also reported to have born in Kivi, Khalkhal, in the Khalkhal County, Iran. Khalkhali has been described as "a small, rotund man with a pointed beard, kindly smile, and a high-pitched giggle."

Hossein Rezazadeh is an Iranian politician and retired weightlifter. Rezazadeh is a two-time Olympic champion, four-time World Weightlifting champion, and five-time Asian champion. Rezazadeh has won the Iran Sportsperson of the Year award four times, more than any other athlete in the country's history.

Mohammad Khodābandeh or Khudābanda, also known as Mohammad Shah or Sultan Mohammad, was Shah of Persia from 1578 until his overthrow in 1587 by his son Abbas I. He was the fourth Safavid Shah of Iran and succeeded his brother, Ismail II. Khodabanda was the son of Shah Tahmasp I by a Turcoman mother, Sultanum Begum Mawsillu, and grandson of Ismail I, founder of the Safavid Dynasty.

Sayyid Abdolkarim Mousavi Ardebili was an Iranian reformist politician and Twelver shi'a marja.

Ismail I, also known as Shah Ismail I, was the founder of the Safavid dynasty, ruling from 1501 to 23 May 1524 as Shah of Iran (Persia).