List of Famous people named A

Abraham Michael Rosenthal was an American journalist who served as The New York Times executive editor from 1977 to 1988. Previously he was the newspaper's city editor and managing editor. Near the end of his tenure as executive editor, he became a columnist (1987–1999). Later, he had a column for the New York Daily News (1999–2004).

Alan John "A. J." Buckley is an Irish–Canadian actor.

Angelo Bartlett Giamatti was an American professor of English Renaissance literature, the president of Yale University, and the seventh Commissioner of Major League Baseball.

Archibald Joseph Cronin, known professionally as A. J. Cronin, was a Scottish physician and novelist. His best-known novel The Citadel (1937) tells of a Scottish doctor in a Welsh mining village, who then shoots up the medical ladder in London. Cronin knew both venues, as a medical inspector of mines and as a doctor in Harley Street. The book promoted some controversial medical ethics that helped to inspire the National Health Service. Another popular mining novel of his, set in the North East of England, is The Stars Look Down. Both have been filmed, as have Hatter's Castle, The Keys of the Kingdom and The Green Years. His 1935 novella Country Doctor instigated a long-running BBC radio and TV series, Dr. Finlay's Casebook (1962–1971), set in the 1920s. There was a follow-up series in 1993–1996.

Alexander Young Jackson was a Canadian painter and a founding member of the Group of Seven. Jackson made a significant contribution to the development of art in Canada, and was successful in bringing together the artists of Montreal and Toronto. He exhibited with the Group of Seven from 1920. In addition to his work with the Group of Seven, his long career included serving as a War Artist during World War I (1917–19) and teaching at the Banff School of Fine Arts, from 1943 to 1949. In his later years he was artist-in-residence at the McMichael Canadian Art Collection in Kleinburg, Ontario.

Alfred Elton van Vogt was a Canadian-born science fiction author. His fragmented, bizarre narrative style influenced later science fiction writers, notably Philip K. Dick. He was one of the most popular and influential practitioners of science fiction in the mid-twentieth century, the genre's so-called Golden Age, and one of the most complex.The Science Fiction Writers of America named him their 14th Grand Master in 1995.

Albert Victor Alexander, 1st Earl Alexander of Hillsborough,, was a British Labour Co-operative politician. He was three times First Lord of the Admiralty, including during the Second World War, and then Minister of Defence under Clement Attlee.

Dame Antonia Susan Duffy, known professionally as A. S. Byatt, is an English novelist, poet and Booker Prize winner, and won the 2017 Park Kyong-ni Prize. In 2008, The Times newspaper named her on its list of the 50 greatest British writers since 1945.

Akkineni Sreekar Prasad is an Indian film editor. He works predominantly on Telugu alongside in Malayalam, Tamil, and English films. His last National Film Award for Best Editing was for his work on the feature film Firaaq (2008), directed by Nandita Das. He was included in the Limca Book of Records as People of the Year - 2013 for wide contribution to the Indian cinema in several languages and also for holding a record eight National Awards including a Special Jury Award.

Abbott Joseph "A. J." Liebling was an American journalist who was closely associated with The New Yorker from 1935 until his death. He was known for, among other things, the aphorism "Freedom of the press belongs to those who own one", which he first wrote in The New Yorker in 1960.