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

Christina Klein, better known by her stage name LaFee, is a German singer who has sold more than one million records worldwide. She is most famous in mainland Europe, particularly in German-speaking countries.

David Odonkor is a German former professional footballer who played mainly as a right winger, and the current manager of TuS Dornberg.

Christine Haidegger is an Austrian writer whose memoir Mama Dear was translated to English.

Christoph Kramer is a German professional footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder for Bundesliga club Borussia Mönchengladbach and the German national team.

Mickie Krause, a native of Wettringen, is a singer of German Schlager. His notoriety exploded in Germany in 1999 with his hit 'Zehn nackte Friseusen' '(Ten nude hairdressers).

Oliver Welke is a German television presenter, actor, comedian, voice actor and sports journalist.

Nicolas Hülkenberg is a German professional racing driver who drove in Formula One in 2010 and from 2012 to 2020. In 2015, he also contested two rounds of the 2015 FIA World Endurance Championship season for Porsche, winning the 24 Hours of Le Mans on his first attempt. He was the 2009 champion of the GP2 Series, and is a previous champion of both the Formula 3 Euro Series and A1 Grand Prix, as part of A1 Team Germany. He is one of 5 drivers since 2005 to win the Formula 2 championship in his debut season, the others being Lewis Hamilton, Nico Rosberg, Charles Leclerc, and George Russell. As of December 2020, Hülkenberg holds the record for the most Formula One career starts without a podium finish, a record he broke when he failed to finish in his 129th race and in so doing passed Adrian Sutil's previous record of 128, Hülkenberg's record stands at 179 Grands Prix.

Otto Georg Schily was Federal Minister of the Interior of Germany from 1998 to 2005, in the cabinet of Chancellor Gerhard Schröder. He is a member of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD).

Bettina Schausten is a German journalist.

Diana Amft is a German film and television actress and children's writer. She is best known for playing Gretchen Haase in the RTL sitcom Doctor's Diary.