List of Famous people born in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany

Martin Driller is a retired German footballer who played as a striker.

Timo Achenbach is a German former professional footballer who played as a left-sided defender and midfielder.

Gerhard Augustin is a German music producer. He was the first professional disc jockey in Germany and co-founder of the music program Beat-Club. Augustin helped generate a shift in Germany culture by introducing various genres of music at a time when schlager was the standard by giving exposure to krautrock bands such as Amon Düül II and Popol Vuh. He later became the head of A&R for United Artists Records in Munich, and then the producer and manager for American R&B duo Ike & Tina Turner.

Volker Zerbe is a former German team handball player and current club manager. He received a silver medal at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens with the German national team. He is European champion from 2004.

Sybille Edith Haynes, is a British expert on Etruscology. She grew up and was educated in Germany and Austria before moving to the UK in the 1950s. She worked with Etruscan artefacts at the British Museum for many years as well as publishing numerous books, for fellow scholars and also for the general public. In the 1980s she joined the Centre for the Study of Greek and Roman Antiquity at Corpus Christi College, Oxford.

Gerd Zimmermann is a German retired footballer. He spent 9 seasons in the Bundesliga with Borussia Mönchengladbach, SC Fortuna Köln and Fortuna Düsseldorf. He spent two years in the North American Soccer League playing for the Houston Hurricane and the Calgary Boomers before returning to Germany to close out his career.

Wilfried Sauerland is a German boxing promoter and manager. He was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 2010.

Sascha Dum is a German former professional footballer who played as a midfielder for FC Teutonia Weiden.

Sif Atladóttir is an Icelandic footballer who plays for Damallsvenskan club Kristianstads DFF and the Iceland women's national team.