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

David Zawada is a German mixed martial artist currently competing in the Welterweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. A professional since 2010, he has formerly competed for Konfrontacja Sztuk Walki (KSW), and Respect FC where he is the former Welterweight Champion.

Erich Ribbeck is a former German footballer and manager, best known for coaching in the German Bundesliga.

Danny Ecker is a former German athlete competing in the pole vault.

Carmen Thomas is a German journalist, radio and television presenter, author and lecturer. On television, she was the first woman to present the ZDF's das aktuelle Sportstudio. She worked for public radio, running Hallo Ü-Wagen, a weekly travelling talk radio show for two decades. In 1990 Forbes named her one of the 100 most influential women in Germany.

Annette Schavan (help·info) is a German politician of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU). She was the Federal Minister of Education and Research in the government of Chancellor Angela Merkel from 2005 to 2013, when she resigned following the revocation of her doctorate due to plagiarism. From 2014 until 2018 she served as the German Ambassador to the Holy See. From April 2018, she also briefly served as first German Ambassador to the Sovereign Military Order of Malta.

Marylyn Martina Addo is a German virologist who is a Professor and the German Center for Infection Research (DZIF) Head of Infectious Disease at the University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf. Addo has developed and tested vaccinations that protect people from Ebola virus disease and the MERS coronavirus EMC/2012. She is currently developing a viral vector based COVID-19 vaccine.

Lina Maria Magull is a German footballer. She is currently playing for Bayern Munich and the Germany national team.

Sinan Kurt is a German professional footballer who plays as a winger.

Dennis Erdmann is a German professional footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder or centre back for 1. FC Saarbrücken.

Kaan Ayhan is a Turkish professional footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder or centre back as well as operating as a right back for the Serie A club Sassuolo and the Turkish national team.