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 |
|---|---|
| David Akers | National Football League kicker[1]. |
| James L. Alcorn | Deputy sheriff of Lexington, later United States Senator from Mississippi [2]. |
| Henry Bidleman Bascom | editor, U.S. Congressional Chaplain, Methodist Bishop, President of Transylvania University 1842-1849 |
| Kent Blazy | Songwriter[3] |
| John Breckinridge | U.S. Senator[4] |
| John B. Breckinridge | U.S. Representative[5] |
| John C. Breckinridge | U.S. Vice President, U.S. Senator[6] |
| Belle Brezing | Brothel madame[7]. |
| Laura Bell Bundy | Actress[8]. |
| LaVerne Butler | Clergyman & college president[9]. |
| Thomas D. Clark | Historian & author[10]. |
| Henry Clay | Statesman, US Representative and Senator, Secretary of State[11]. |
| George Clooney | Actor[12]. |
| Drew Curtis | Businessman & founder of Fark[13]. |
| Chase Daniels | National radio personality. |
| Guy Davenport | Author[14]. |
| Jefferson Davis | Politician[15].President of the Confederate United States of America |
| Dermontti Dawson | Former NFL player[16]. |
| Peter Durrett | Slave who with his wife formed the First African Baptist Church of Lexington by 1790. It was the first black congregation west of the Allegheny Mountains and the third oldest black Baptist church in the United States[17]. |
| Charlotte Dupuy | Enslaved woman who sued Henry Clay for freedom in 1829[18]. |
| Henry Earl | Local street personality and AI multi[19]. |
| Farah Fath | Actor[20]. |
| Henry Faulkner | Artist[21]. |
| London Ferrill | The second preacher of First African Baptist Church, he served the city during the 1833 cholera epidemic. By 1850 he had attracted 1,820 members to the church, the largest in Kentucky. His funeral procession in 1854 was the second largest after that for Henry Clay[17].[22] |
| Ralph Foody | Actor[23]. |
| Steve Gabbard | Former NFL player[24]. |
| Gatewood Galbraith | Author, lawyer, hemp advocate, and personal rights defender[25]. |
| Tyson Gay | Sprinter; 2007 World Champion at 100 and 200 meters[26]. |
| Rayna Gellert | Bluegrass fiddler |
| Troy Gentry | Musician[27]. |
| Vince Gill | Musician. |
| Joe B. Hall | Basketball coach[28]. |
| Tom Hammond | NBC sportscaster[29]. |
| Haydar Hatemi | Painter[29]. |
| Han Kuo-Huang | Ethnomusicologist. |
| Richard Hell | Punk-rock Godfather. |
| Josh Hopkins | Actor[30]. |
| B. Wayne Hughes | Businessman and Kentucky's only Billionaire[31]. |
| Martin Huston | Actor. |
| Ashley Judd | Actor. |
| Naomi Judd | Musician. |
| Gregory Kaidanov | Chess grandmaster |
| Austin Kearns | Major League Baseball player with the Cleveland Indians. |
| Paul Levy | writer. |
| Abraham Lincoln | 16th president of the United States. |
| Mary Todd Lincoln | Wife of Abraham Lincoln, the 16th president of the United States. |
| William Lipscomb | Nobel Prize in Chemistry |
| Brian Littrell | Musician. |
| Shirley Ardell Mason | a.k.a. Sybil |
| Les McCann | Jazz musician & painter. |
| Ralph Eugene Meatyard | Photographer. |
| Irene Moon | Also known as Katja Chantre Seltmann, musician. |
| Charles Chilton Moore | |
| John Hunt Morgan | Civil War General. |
| Thomas Hunt Morgan | Geneticist. |
| Gurney Norman | Author, University of Kentucky professor. |
| J. Peterman | Businessman. |
| Rick Pitino | Basketball coach. |
| Kevin Richardson | Musician. |
| Charles P. Roland | Historian. |
| Adolph Rupp | Basketball coach. |
| Robert Schneider | Musician. |
| Eric Shelton | National Football League running back. |
| Tubby Smith | Basketball coach. |
| Harry Dean Stanton | Actor. |
| Walter Tevis | Author of Mockingbird, The Hustler, and The Color of Money. |
| John Tuska | Artist. |
| Jim Varney | Actor & comedian. |
| Steve Zahn | Actor. |
| Alfred Francis Russell | 10th President of Liberia |