The following are notable people who were either born/raised or have lived for a significant period of time in the Lexington, Kentucky, metropolitan area:
| Name | Description | |
|---|---|---|
| Chad Aull | Politician[1] | |
| Editor, U.S. Congressional Chaplain, university president | ||
| Cyclist, national champion, Pan American Champion, and Olympic silver medalist | ||
| Freestyle and folkstyle wrestler[2] | ||
| Songwriter[3] | ||
| Lawyer, politician, and businessman | ||
| U.S. Attorney General and Senator[4] | ||
| U.S. Representative[5] | ||
| U.S. vice president, U.S. Senator[6] | ||
| Founder, School of Social Works Administration, University of Chicago | ||
| Brothel madam[7] | ||
| Abolitionist leader | ||
| Major League Baseball pitcher | ||
| Actress[8] | ||
| Clergyman and college president[9] | ||
| Stage and silent-film actress | ||
| Silent-film director and screenwriter, author | ||
| Academic[10] [11] | ||
| Historian and author[12] | ||
| U.S. Representative and Senator, Secretary of State[13] | ||
| Major League Baseball pitcher | ||
| Actor, producer, film director | ||
| Actress | ||
| United States Ambassador to the United Nations and United States Ambassador to Canada | ||
| Founder of Fark[14] | ||
| Author[15] | ||
| Politician, President of the Confederate United States of America[16] | ||
| NFL player for the Pittsburgh Steelers[17] | ||
| Major, Medal of Honor recipient for his service during the Korean War | ||
| Secretary of State of Vermont and founder of Lafayette Female Academy[18] | ||
| Slave who sued Henry Clay for freedom in 1829[19] | ||
| Church founder[20] | ||
| Actress | ||
| Artist[21] | ||
| Religious leader[22] | ||
| Actor | ||
| NFL player[23] | ||
| Author, lawyer[24] | ||
| Pentecostal minister; father and murderer of R&B singer Marvin Gaye | ||
| Sprinter[25] | ||
| Bluegrass fiddler | ||
| Musician, country-music duo Montgomery Gentry[26] | ||
| National Women's Soccer League player for the Chicago Red Stars | ||
| Major League Baseball pitcher | ||
| Bench coach of the Chicago Cubs | ||
| Poet, photographer, novelist, teacher | ||
| Hall of Fame basketball coach for University of Kentucky, 1972–1985[27] | ||
| NBC sportscaster | ||
| Ethnomusicologist | ||
| Painter | ||
| Artist, professor at the Tuskegee Institute, first African-American to design a US coin | ||
| Abolitionist leader | ||
| Thomas E. Hayden | Mayor of Flower Mound, Texas[28] | |
| Neuroimmunologist | ||
| Punk-rocker | ||
| Actor and writer best known for his satirical country music persona, Wheeler Walker Jr.[29] | ||
| Actor | ||
| Criminal convicted of killing her boyfriend Ryan Poston; compared with convicted killer Jodi Arias due to the similarity of their crimes | ||
| Founder of Public Storage | ||
| Composer | ||
| Major League Baseball player[30] | ||
| Comic-book writer and TV producer best known for The Walking Dead[31] | ||
| 19th century White House chef, Lexington restaurateur[32] | ||
| Actress | ||
| Musician | ||
| Chess grandmaster | ||
| Major League Baseball player | ||
| Writer | ||
| First Lady, wife of Abraham Lincoln | ||
| Nobel Prize in Chemistry | ||
| Musician, Backstreet Boys | ||
| a.k.a. Sybil, suffered from dissociative identity disorder | ||
| Author | ||
| Jazz musician and painter | ||
| physician and medical journal editor | ||
| Thoroughbred trainer | ||
| Photographer | ||
| Also known as Katja Chantre Seltmann, musician | ||
| Atheist | ||
| Boxer, featherweight champion | ||
| Journalist | ||
| Attorney, founder of personal injury law firm Morgan & Morgan | ||
| C.S. Army general | ||
| Geneticist | ||
| Author, professor | ||
| Basketball player, WNBA's Washington Mystics | ||
| Artist | ||
| Businessman | ||
| H. Foster Pettit | State representative, mayor of Lexington[33] | |
| Major League Baseball player, Washington Nationals; played high school baseball in Lexington | ||
| Singer, musician, actress and artist | ||
| Musician, Backstreet Boys | ||
| Historian | ||
| Rapper | ||
| Major League Baseball player for the Boston Red Sox | ||
| Hall of Fame basketball coach for the University of Kentucky, 1930–1972 | ||
| 10th President of Liberia | ||
| Actor | ||
| Basketball player for Hapoel Galil Elyon of the Israeli Basketball Premier League | ||
| Musician | ||
| Actor | ||
| C.S. Army general | ||
| NFL running back | ||
| Basketball coach, University of Kentucky | ||
| Actor | ||
| Country musician | ||
| Born enslaved, entrepreneur and building contractor | ||
| Author of The Hustler and The Color of Money | ||
| Singer and actress | ||
| Musician, Halfway to Hazard | ||
| Artist | ||
| Actor and comedian | ||
| Sculptor and artist, designer of Eclipse Award Trophy[34] [35] | ||
| Journalist and jazz promoter | ||
| Actor |