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

Ralf Rocchigiani is a boxer from Duisburg-Hamborn in Germany.

Martin Selmayr is a European civil servant from Germany who was Secretary-General of the European Commission from 2018 to 2019 and Chief of Staff to Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker from 2014 to 2018. During his time in the Juncker Commission, Selmayr was widely described as one of the most influential figures within the European Union. After taking office as Secretary-General, he was described in a debate in the European Parliament as "the most powerful bureaucrat in the world." A resident of Brussels since 2000, he is a member of the Christian Democratic and Flemish (CD&V) party of Belgium. He is considered by many to be close to the Christian Democratic Union of Germany and its leadership, but the European Commission said he has never been a member of that party.

Sevim Dağdelen is a German politician and a member of the Left Party.

Rick Zabel is a road bicycle racer from Germany, who currently rides for UCI WorldTeam Israel Start-Up Nation. He is the son of Erik Zabel and grandson of Detlef Zabel.

Halil Altıntop is a Turkish former professional footballer and current assistant manager of Bayern Munich U16. During his playing days, he was deployed as an attacking midfielder, centre-forward, or winger. He is the identical twin brother of Hamit Altıntop.

Volker Pispers is a German kabarett artist, who is well known for his political satire. His comic style includes drastic and sometimes sarcastic commentary on current events, especially about the political situation in Germany but also about the politics of the United States since 9/11 and during the Iraq War.

Jack White is a German music composer and producer and former football player.

Benjamin Henrichs is a German professional footballer who plays as a full-back or midfielder for Bundesliga club RB Leipzig.

Dieter Kürten is a German sports journalist.

Tom Tykwer is a German film director, producer, screenwriter, and composer. He is best known internationally for directing the thriller films Run Lola Run (1998), Heaven (2002), Perfume: The Story of a Murderer (2006), and The International (2009). He collaborated with The Wachowskis as co-director for the science fiction film Cloud Atlas (2012) and the Netflix series Sense8 (2015–2018). Tykwer is also well known as the co-creator of the internationally acclaimed German television series Babylon Berlin.