List of Famous people born in Kerala, India

Johnson was an Indian film score composer and music director who has given music to some of the most important motion pictures of Malayalam cinema, including those for Koodevide, Namukku Paarkkan Munthiri Thoppukal, Oru Minnaminunginte Nurunguvettam, Vadakkunokkiyantram, Perumthachan, Njan Gandharvan, Ponthan Mada, and Bhoothakkannadi. Regarded as one of the finest composers in the industry, he was noted for his lyrical and expressive melodies together with simple but rich tonal compositions of thematic music. Johnson is a recipient of National Film Awards twice and Kerala State Film Awards three times.

Commander Abhilash Tomy, KC, NM is an Indian naval officer and yachtsman. In 2013, he became the first Indian to complete a solo, non-stop circumnavigation of the world under sail, and he also competed in the 2018 Golden Globe Race. On 10 January 2021, he retired from the Navy by applying for premature retirement from service as he wanted to focus on participating in the Golden Globe Race in 2022.

K. N. Jagannatha Varma was an Indian actor who worked in Malayalam film and television industry. He was also an accomplished Kathakali artist. His son Manu Varma is also a recognized artist and his son-in-law Viji Thampi is a well-known film director. He acted in a number of Malayalam movies performing stereotypical roles of a senior police officer, judge or a priest. Some of his noted roles were in movies New Delhi (1987), Thanthram, Lelam (1997) and Pathram (1999), all directed by Joshiy. Varma joined the Kerala Police Force in 1963, before getting active in movies. He retired from the Kerala Police as the Superintendent of Police. Varma is an accomplished Kathakali artist, having mastered the art from Pallippuram Gopalan Nair Asan. He was also a percussionist, learned the art from Kalamandalam Raman Namboothiri after retiring from Government service. His younger brother K. N. Surendranatha Varma, a retired college professor, is also a Kathakali artist.

Shobana Chandrakumar Pillai, better known mononymously as Shobana, is an Indian film actress and bharatanatyam dancer. She acts predominantly in Malayalam language, in addition to Telugu, Tamil, Hindi, Kannada and English language films. She has won two National Film Awards, one Kerala State Film Awards and numerous other awards.

Thomas Chandy was an Indian businessman and politician. He was a member of the Kerala Legislative Assembly from the Kuttanad constituency, the transport minister of the state of Kerala, and president of the Nationalist Congress Party in Kerala. He resigned from the minister's office on 15 November 2017 after an allegation regarding his resort in Alappuzha arose. He died in Kochi on 20 December 2019 after a battle with cancer.

Kaveri, also known as Kalyani, is an Indian actress and film producer who mostly appeared in Malayalam, Telugu, Tamil and Kannada language films and in 2020 she made her debut directorial in a multilingual movie.She had a critically acclaimed performance in the 2002 film Avunu Valliddaru Ista Paddaru!, that fetched her the Nandi Award for Best Actress.

Janaki Ammal Edavalath Kakkat was an Indian botanist who worked on plant breeding, cytogenetics and phytogeography. Her most notable work involved studies on sugarcane and the eggplant (brinjal) but she also worked on the cytogenetics of a range of plants and co-authored the Chromosome Atlas of Cultivated Plants (1945) with C.D. Darlington. She also took an interest in ethnobotany, and took an interest in plants of medicinal and economic value from the rain forests of Kerala, India. She was awarded a Padma Shri by the Indian government in 1977.

Shahir Ceetheragath, better known as Sathya, is an Indian actor, who has worked in Tamil language films. The brother of actor Arya, he first began filming for Kadhal 2 Kalyanam in 2008, though the film remains unreleased. After debuting in Puthagam (2013), he made a breakthrough in Jeeva Shankar's romantic drama film Amara Kaaviyam (2014).

Basil Joseph is an Indian film director, scriptwriter and actor who works in the Malayalam film industry.

Arjun Nandhakumar is an Indian film actor, who appears in Malayalam films. He made his debut in 2012 with Casanovva directed by Rosshan Andrrews.