List of Famous people born in North Carolina, United States of America
Derek Brunson
Derek T. Brunson is an American mixed martial artist who currently competes in the middleweight division for the Ultimate Fighting Championship. As of August 4, 2020, he is #7 in the UFC middleweight rankings.
Matt Hardy
Matthew Moore Hardy is an American professional wrestler signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW). He is best known for his time with WWE, as one half of The Hardy Boyz tag team. He also had runs as a singles performer and has worked for various other promotions including Total Nonstop Action/Impact Wrestling and Ring of Honor (ROH).
Lachlan Watson
Lachlan Watson is an American actor. At the time of their 2018 debut in the Netflix original series Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, Watson was one of the youngest non-binary actors in Hollywood.
Madison Bumgarner
Madison Kyle Bumgarner, commonly known by his nickname, "MadBum", is an American professional baseball pitcher for the Arizona Diamondbacks of Major League Baseball (MLB). Previously, he pitched for the San Francisco Giants (2009–19). Bumgarner has won three World Series championships and two Silver Slugger Awards. He has also been selected to four National League (NL) All-Star teams and has the most strikeouts in franchise history by a Giants left-handed pitcher.
Zach Galifianakis
Zachary Knight Galifianakis is an American actor, comedian, musician and writer who came to prominence with his Comedy Central Presents special in 2001 and presented his own show called Late World with Zach on VH1 the following year. He has also starred in films, such as The Hangover trilogy (2009–2013), Due Date (2010), The Campaign (2012), Birdman or (2014) and Masterminds (2016). He has also had starring voice roles in Puss in Boots (2011), The Lego Batman Movie (2017) and Missing Link (2019).
Julius Peppers
Julius Frazier Peppers is a former American football defensive end. He played college football at North Carolina, where he was recognized as a unanimous All-American, and was drafted by the Carolina Panthers second overall in the 2002 NFL Draft, and also played for the Chicago Bears from 2010 through 2013 and the Green Bay Packers from 2014 to 2016.
Kellie Pickler
Kellie Dawn Pickler is an American country music singer, songwriter, actress and television personality. Pickler gained fame as a contestant on the fifth season of American Idol and finished in sixth place. In 2006, she signed to 19 Recordings and BNA Records as a recording artist. Her debut album, Small Town Girl, was released later that year and has sold over 900,000 copies. The album, which was certified gold by the RIAA, produced three singles on the Billboard Hot Country Songs charts: "Red High Heels" at No. 15, "I Wonder" at No. 14, and "Things That Never Cross a Man's Mind" at No. 16.
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Ralph Dale Earnhardt Jr. is an American semi-retired professional stock car racing driver, team owner, author, and an analyst for NASCAR on NBC. He competes part-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, driving the No. 8 Chevrolet Camaro for his team JR Motorsports. He is the son of the late Dale Earnhardt Sr., who was inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame. He is also the grandson of NASCAR driver Ralph Earnhardt, the brother of Kelley Earnhardt-Miller, the half-brother of former driver Kerry Earnhardt, the uncle of driver Jeffrey Earnhardt, and the stepson of Teresa Earnhardt.
Brandon Ingram
Brandon Xavier Ingram is an American professional basketball player for the New Orleans Pelicans of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He was selected by the Los Angeles Lakers with the second overall pick in the 2016 NBA draft, and was named to the NBA All-Rookie Second Team. He was traded to New Orleans and became a first-time NBA All-Star and was named the NBA Most Improved Player in 2020 during his first season with the Pelicans.
Sugar Ray Leonard
Ray Charles Leonard, best known as "Sugar" Ray Leonard, is an American former professional boxer, motivational speaker, and occasional actor. Often regarded as one of the greatest boxers of all time, he competed from 1977 to 1997, winning world titles in five weight divisions; the lineal championship in three weight divisions; as well as the undisputed welterweight title. Leonard was part of "The Fabulous Four", a group of boxers who all fought each other throughout the 1980s, consisting of Leonard, Roberto Durán, Thomas Hearns, and Marvin Hagler.