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

Dunja Hayali is a German journalist and television presenter.

Esther Schweins is a German actress and comedian who became famous through her appearances on the RTL Samstag Nacht show for which she won the Bayerischer Fernsehpreis in 1994.

Manuel Peter Neuer is a German professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper and captains both Bundesliga club Bayern Munich and the Germany national team. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest goalkeepers in the history of the sport. Neuer has been described as a "sweeper-keeper" because of his unique playing style and speed when rushing off his line to anticipate opponents, going out of the goalkeeper box. He was named the best goalkeeper of the decade from 2011 to 2020 by IFFHS.

Markus Anfang is a German retired footballer and manager of SV Darmstadt.

Judith Rakers is a German journalist and television presenter.

Norbert Röttgen is a German lawyer and politician of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU). He was Federal Minister for Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety in the government of Chancellor Angela Merkel from 2009 to May 2012.

Sandy Mölling is a German singer, songwriter, actress and television personality. She rose to fame as one of the members of the girl group No Angels, which were formed in 2000 on the German television talent show Popstars, becoming one of the best-selling girl groups of European origin of all time. During their hiatus, Mölling released a solo album, Unexpected (2004), which produced the top ten singles "Unnatural Blonde" and "Tell Me", and became a judge on the fourth season of Popstars.

Ken Jebsen is a German journalist, activist and former radio host.

Shakuntala Banerjee is a German television journalist and reporter.

Björn Höcke is a German politician and a member of Alternative for Germany (AfD). Along with Andreas Kalbitz, Höcke is the leader of the AfD's far-right "Der Flügel" faction, which the German government's Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution declared a right-wing extremist organization.