A

• Augusts Vilis Abakuks (1914-1994) - a leader of the British Latvian community in exile
• Valerians Abakovskis (1895-1921) - inventor of a propeller-powered railcar, the aerowagon.
• Rutanya Alda(1942) - actress (Mommy Dearest, Deer Hunter)
• Viktors Alksnis (1950) - Soviet military officer and Russian communist politician known as "the Black Colonel"
• Iveta Apkalna (1976) - organist
• Fricis Apšenieks (1894-1941) - chess player
• Vija Artmane (1929-2008) - actress
• Gunārs Astra (1931-1988) - dissident, fighter for human rights
• Auseklis see Miķelis Krogzems

• Helmuts Balderis (1952) - ice hockey player, forward
• Jānis Balodis (1881-1965) - army officer and politician
• Jānis Balodis (1950) - Latvian/Australian playwright
• Krišjānis Barons (1835-1923) - "the father of Latvian folk songs", who compiled and edited the first publication of Latvian folk-song texts "Latvju Dainas" (1894-1915)
• Mihails Barišņikovs] (1948) - ballet-dancer
• Kārlis Baumanis (1835-1905) - composer, author of the national anthem of the Republic of Latvia "Dievs, svētī Latviju!" (God bless Latvia!)
• Vizma Belševica (1931-2005) - author, candidate for Nobel Prize in Literature
• Eduards Berklavs (1914-2004) - politician, leader of Latvian national-communists
• Krišjānis Berķis (1884-1942) - general
• Isaiah Berlin (1909-1997) - philosopher
• Eduard Berzin (1894-1938) - soldier in the Red Army, later Head of Dalstroy, the Kolyma forced-labour camps in North-Eastern Siberia
• Isaac Janis Porter Berzins (1990 - ) winner of 2009s music PEI award of Indie Pop Recording of the Year, for New Royalty's "Sleepover EP"
• Karlis Betinš (1867-1943) - chess player
• Andris Biedriņš (1986) - basketball player, Golden State Warriors
• Gunnar Birkerts (1925) - architect
• Ernests Blanks (1894-1972) - Latvian publicist, writer, historian, the first to publicly advocate for Latvia's independence
• Rūdolfs Blaumanis (1863-1908) - writer and playwright
• Himans Blūms (1913) - painter
• Inguna Butane, Latvian fashion model.

• Valters Caps (1905-2003) - designed first Minox 8 x 11 photocameras
• Gustavs Celmiņš (1899-1968) - fascist politician, leader of Pērkonkrusts movement
• Vija Celmins (1938) - American painter born in Latvia

• Aleksandrs Čaks (1901-1950) - poet
• Jānis Čakste (1859-1927) - first Latvian president
• Māris Čaklais (1940-2003) - poet

• Roberts Dambītis (1881-1957) - general and politician
• Jānis Dāliņš (1904-1978) - athlete, race walker
• Emīls Dārziņš (1875-1910) - composer
• Jacob Davis (1834-1908) - inventor of denim
• Johans Aleksandrs Heinrihs Klapje de Kolongs (1839-1901) - naval engineer
• Eliass Eliezers Desslers (1892-1953) - Orthodox rabbi, Talmudic scholar, and Jewish philosopher
• Leor Dimant (1972) - Turntabilist and member of the rock group Limp Bizkit
• Anatols Dinbergs (1911-1993) - diplomat
• Aleksis Dreimanis (1914) - geologist
• Inga Drozdova (1975) - model and actress

• Mihails Eizenšteins (1867-1921) - architect
• Sergejs Eizenšteins (1898-1948) - film director
• Modris Eksteins (1943) - Canadian historian and world-famous writer
• Andrievs Ezergailis (1930) - historian of the Holocaust

• Movša Feigins (1908-1950) - chess player
• Gregors Fitelbergs (1879-1953) - conductor, composer and violinist
• Vesels fon Freitāgs-Loringhofens (1899-1944) - colonel and member of the German resistance against German dictator Adolf Hitler
• Sandra Freiberga (1961) - journalist and TV personality
• Laila Freivalds (1942) - former Swedish Minister of Foreign Affairs

• Inese Galante (1954) - opera singer (soprano)
• Gints Gabrāns (1970) - artist
• Elīna Garanča (1976) - opera singer (mezzo-soprano)
• Kārlis Goppers (1876-1941) - general, founder of Latvian Boy Scouts
• Andrejs Grants (1955) - photographer
• Ernests Gulbis (1988) - Latvian professional tennis player
• Natālija Gulbis (1983) - Latvian-descent LPGA golfer

• Uldis Ģērmanis (1915-1997) - historian, under the alias of Ulafs Jāņsons a social commentator
• Aivars Ģipslis (1937-2000) - chess player

• Moriss Halle (1923) - linguist
• Filips Halsmans (1906-1979) - Latvian/American photographer
• Juris Hartmanis (1928) - computer scientist, Turing Award winner
• Uvis Helmanis - basketball player

• Artūrs Irbe (1967) - ice hockey player (NHL), goalkeeper
• Kārlis Irbītis (1904 - 1997) - aviation inventor, engineer, designer

• Gatis Jahovičs - basketball player
• Andrejs Jansons (1938) - musician, composer, conductor
• Mariss Jansons (1943) - conductor
• Inese Jaunzeme (1932) - athlete
• K

• Sandra Kalniete (1952) - politician, diplomat, former Latvia's EU commissioner
• Bruno Kalniņš (1899-1990) - Saeima member, Red Army General
• Imants Kalniņš (1941) - composer, politician
• Oskars Kalpaks (1882-1919) - colonel, first Commander of Latvian National Armed Forces
• Kaspars Kambala (1978) - basketball player
• Renārs Kaupers (1974) - musician
• Jēkabs Ketlers (1610-1682) - Duke of the Duchy of Courland and Semigallia
• Gustavs Klucis (1895-1938) - painter and graphic designer
• Aleksandrs Koblencs (1916-1993) - chess player
• Ābrams Izāks Kūks (1864-1935) - chief rabbi, Jewish thinker, statesman, diplomat, mediator and a renowned scholar
• Aleksandrs Kovaļevskis (1840-1901) - zoologist
• Gidon Kremer (1947) - violinist and conductor
• Miķelis Krogzems (1850-1879) - poet, author and translator of German poets
• Juris Kronbergs (1946) - poet, writer, free-lance journalist, translator
• Atis Kronvalds (1837-1875) - teacher and journalist, reformed the Latvian language, organized the first Latvian Song and Dance Festival
• Dainis Kūla (1959) - athlete (Olympic gold medal in javelin)
• Alberts Kviesis (1881-1944) - president
• Eriks Kigelis (1955-1985) - composer

• Aleksandrs Laime (1911-1994) - explorer
• Vilis Lācis (1904-1966) - author and politician
• Ed Leedskalnin (1887-1951) - builder of Coral Castle in Florida, claimed to have discovered the ancient magnetic levitation secrets used to construct the Egyptian pyramids.
• Jēkabs Mihaels Reinholds Lencs (1751-1792) - author
• Marija Leiko (1887-1937) - actress
• Alexander Liepa (1919-2000) - inventor, artist
• Maris Liepa (1936-1989) - ballet-dancer
• Nikolajs Loskis (1870-1965) - philosopher
• Jānis Lūsis (1939) - athlete

• Jevgēnija Ļisicina (1942) - organist

• Maris Martinsons (1960) - professor of strategic management, international business consultant
• Hermanis Matisons (1894-1932) - chess player
• Zenta Mauriņa (1897-1978) - writer, literary scholar, culture philosopher
• Juris Māters (1845-1884) - author, lawyer and journalist, translated laws to Latvian and created the foundation for Latvian law
• Zigfrīds Anna Meierovics (1887-1925) - first Latvian Minister of Foreign Affairs
• Leo Mihelsons (1887-1978) - artist
• Arnolds Mikelsons (1922-1984) - artist
• Evgenijs Millers (1867-1938) - czarist Russian general
• Kārlis Mīlenbahs (1853-1916) - linguist

• Arkadij Naiditsch (1985) - chess player, now resident in Germany
• Marija Naumova (1973) - variety singer, winner of the Eurovision Song Contest 2002 under her stage name Marie N
• Andris Nelsons (1978) - conductor of CBSO
• Andrievs Niedra (1871-1941) - pastor, writer, prime minister of German puppet government (1919)
• Aron Nimzowitsch (1886-1935) - influential chess player
• Fred Norris (1955) - Radio personality, The Howard Stern Show.

• O

• Stanislavs Olijars (1979) - athlete (European champion in 110m Hurdles)
• Wilhelm Ostwald (1853-1932) - received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1909 for his work on catalysis, chemical equilibria and reaction velocities
• Elvīra Ozoliņa (1939) - athlete (Olympic gold medal in javelin)
• Sandis Ozoliņš (1972) - ice hockey player (NHL), defense
• Valdemārs Ozoliņš (1896-1973) - composer, conductor

P

• Artis Pabriks (1966) - Minister of Foreign Affairs (2007-2007)
• Karlis Padegs (1911-1940) - Graphic artist, painter
• Marian Pahars (1976) - soccer player for Southampton FC, and part of Latvia's national team
• Raimonds Pauls (1936) - popular composer, widely known in Russia
• Jānis Pauļuks (painter) - painter
• Lucia Peka (1912-1991) - Artist of the Latvian Diaspora
• Jekabs Peters (1886-1938) - revolutionary and Soviet Cheka leader
• Brita Petersone - American model
• Kaspars Petrovs (1978) - serial killer
• Vladimirs Petrovs (1907-1943) - chess player
• Andris Piebalgs (1957) - politician, diplomat, European Commissioner for Energy
• Jānis Pliekšāns, 1865-1929) - distinguished Latvian writer, author of a number of poetry collections
• Juris Podnieks (1950-1992) - film director, producer
• Nicolai Poliakovs (1900-1974) - Coco the Clown
• Sandis Prūsis (1965) - athlete, bobsleigh
• Andrejs Pumpurs (1841-1901) - poet, author of Latvian national epic Lāčplēsis
• Jānis Pujāts (1930) - Roman Catholic cardinal

• Einars Repše (1961) - politician
• Lolita Ritmanis (1962, Portland) - orchestrator, composer
• Fricis Rokpelnis (1909-1969) - author
• Mark Rothko (1903-1970) - abstract expressionist painter
• Elza Rozenberga (1865-1943) - poet, playwright, married to Jānis Pliekšāns
• Juris Rubenis (1961) - famous Lutheran pastor
• Mārtiņš Rubenis (1978) - sportsman, bronze medalist at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin
• Brunis Rubess (1926) - businessman
• Inta Ruka (1958) - photographer
• Tania Russof (1974) - pornographic actress

• Uļjana Semjonova (1952) - tallest female basketball player in the Olympic history, 3-time World Champion
• Kārlis Skalbe (1879-1945) - poet
• Baiba Skride (1981) - violinist
• Eduards Smiļģis (1886 -1966) - theatre director, founder of Dailes Theatre
• Konstantin Sokolsky (1904-1991) - romance and tango singer
• Raimonds Staprans (1926) - Latvian/American painter
• Johann Steinhauer (1705-1779) - Latvian Industrialist, Entrepreneur, and Civil Rights Activist.
• Lina Stern (1878-1968) - biologist and social activist
• Henrijs Stolovs (1901-1971) - stamp dealer
• Jānis Streičs (1936) - film director, screenwriter, actor
• Maris Strombergs - BMX cyclist, gold medal winner at 2008 Olympics
• Pēteris Stučka (1865-1932) - author, translator, editor, jurist and educator
• Evgeny Sveshnikov (1950) - prominent chess player
• Stanislavs Svianievičs (1899-1997) - economist and historian

• Viktors Ščerbatihs (1974) - athlete, weightlifter
• Pauls Šīmanis (1876-1944) - Baltic German journalist, politician, activist defending and preserving European minority cultures
• Aleksejs Širovs (1972) - one of the top chess grandmasters in the world today.
• Haralds Silovs, short track and long track speed skater, and first athlete in Olympic history to participate in both short track and long track speed skating
• Andris Šķēle (1958) - politician, Prime Minister of Latvia
• Armands Šķēle - basketball player
• Ernests Štālbergs (1883-1958) - architect, ensemble of the Freedom Monument
• Isāks Nahmans Šteinbergs (1888-1957) - politician, lawyer and author
• Vestards Šimkus (1984) - pianist

• Mihails Tāls (1936-1992) - the 8th World Chess Champion
• Kārlis Augusts Tenisons (1873 - 1962) - known also as Vahindra; 1st Buddhist priest in Latvia and Estonia
• Jānis Roberts Tilbergs (1880-1972) - painter, sculptor
• Aloizs Tumiņš (1938-2008) - boxer, European champion 1961

U

• Guntis Ulmanis (1939) - president
• Kārlis Ulmanis (1877-1942) - prime minister
• Jūris Upatnieks (1936-) -physicist, co-inventor of three-dimensional holography

• Romāns Vainšteins (1973) - former pro cyclist, World Road Champion in 2000
• Krišjānis Valdemārs (1825-1891) - public figure, writer, publicist and economist
• Pauls Valdens (1863-1957) - chemist
• Miķelis Valters (1874-1968) - state official, journalist, diplomat
• Valdis Valters - one of the best European basketball players ever, playmaker
• Aleksandrs Vanags (1918-1986) - footballer
• Jānis Vanags (1958-) - Lutheran archbishop
• Jūlijs Vanags (1903-1984) - author and translator
• Alex Vanags-Baginskis (1927) - aviation author/editor
• Pēteris Vasks (1946) - contemporary composer
• Jukums Vācietis (1873-1938) - first commander of the Soviet Army
• Ojārs Vācietis (1933-1983) - poet
• Eduards Veidenbaums (1867-1892) - poet and translator
• Makss Veinreihs (1893-1969) - linguist
• Ed Viesturs (1959) - one of the world's premier high-altitude mountaineers. He is one of only 18 people to have climbed all eight-thousander peaks.
• Igors Vihrovs (1978) - gymnast, gold medalist at Sydney Olympics in 2000.
• Edvarts Virza (1883-1940)- famous Latvian writer
• Alvis Vitolinš (1946-1997) - chess master
• Vaira Vīķe-Freiberga (1937) - former president
• Jāzeps Vītols (1863-1948) - composer
• Eduards Veidenbaums (1867-1892) - Latvian poet.
• Māris Verpakovskis (1979) - footballer, FC Dynamo Kyiv
• Aleksandrs Voitkevičs (1963-2006) - chess player

• Kārlis Zāle (1888-1942) - sculptor, author of the Freedom Monument in Riga
• Friedrich Zander (1887-1933) - pioneer of rocketry and spaceflight
• Juris Zarins (1945-) - archaeologist and professor at Missouri State University
• Kārlis Zariņš (Charles Zarine) (1879-1963) - diplomat
• Rihards Zariņš (1869-1939) - graphic artist
• Valdis Zatlers (1955) - president
• Elmars Zemgalis (1923) - chess player
• Gustavs Zemgals (1871-1939) - president
• Imants Zemzaris (1951) - contemporary composer
• Valdis Zeps (1932-1996) - author and linguist, pseudonym Jānis Turbads
• Imants Ziedonis (1933 -) - Latvian poet and folklorist

Ž

• Sergejs Žoltoks (1972-2004) - ice hockey player (NHL), forward