The following people were born in, residents of, or otherwise closely associated with Charleston, South Carolina, United States (categorized by area in which each person is best known):

• Glover Crane Arnold (1849–1906), instructor of anatomy and surgery at Bellevue Hospital Medical College and New York University's Medical College
• Rick Brewer (born 1956), a former administrator at Charleston Southern University; current president of Louisiana College in Pineville, Louisiana^[1]
• Robert Furchgott (1916–2009), biochemist and Nobel Laureate
• Ernest Everett Just (1883–1941), biologist
• Elias Marks (1790–1886), founder of South Carolina Female Collegiate Institute
• William Ephraim Mikell (1868–1944), Dean of the University of Pennsylvania Law School, a summer home in Charleston
• William Charles Wells (1757–1817), physician

• Nolan R. Williams (1982–2025), a neuropsychiatrist who helped develop SAINT-TMS

• David Carson (born 1956), graphic designer
• Shepard Fairey (born 1970), artist known for Andre the Giant "Obey" and Barack Obama "Hope" stencil pieces
• Jessica Hische (born 1984), illustrator
• Robert Mills (1781–1855), architect
• James C. Saltus (1837–1883), carpenter
• Stella F Simon (1878–1973), photographer
• Philip Simmons (1912–2009), ironworker
• Merton Simpson, (1928–2013), abstract expressionist artist, African art collector, musician
• Elizabeth O'Neill Verner (1883–1979), artist, author, lecturer, and preservationist

• Jarrell Brantley (born 1996), basketball player
• Luther Broughton (born 1974), NFL player
• Nehemiah Broughton (born 1982), NFL player
• Kwame Brown (born 1982), basketball player
• Joel Bunting (born 1997), soccer player^[2]
• Jasmine Camacho-Quinn (born 1996), Olympic gold medalist/ hurdler
• Garrett Chisolm (born 1988), NFL player
• Beth Daniel (born 1956), professional golfer
• Zola Davis (born 1975), NFL and XFL player
• Carlos Dunlap (born 1989), NFL player
• Oronde Gadsden (born 1971), NFL player
• A. J. Green (born 1988), NFL player
• Harold Green (born 1968), NFL player
• Anthony Johnson (born 1974), NBA player
• Javon Kinlaw (born 1997), NFL player
• Katrina McClain Johnson (born 1965), Olympic gold medalist; retired WNBA player
• Byron Maxwell (born 1988), NFL player
• Tre McLean (born 1993), basketball player in the Israeli Basketball Premier League
• David Meggett (born 1966), NFL player
• Khris Middleton (born 1991), NBA player
• Bud Moore (born 1941), NASCAR driver
• Langston Moore (born 1981), former NFL player
• Ovie Mughelli (born 1980), NFL player
• Josh Powell (born 1983), NBA player
• Laron Profit (born 1977), NBA player
• Robert Quinn (born 1990), NFL player
• Vicente Reyes (born 2003), soccer player^[3]
• Edmond Robinson (born 1992), NFL player
• Art Shell (born 1946), NFL player and coach
• Brandon Shell (born 1992), NFL player
• Gorman Thomas (born 1950), MLB player
• Roddy White (born 1981), NFL player
• Dennis Williams (born 1965), basketball player

• Bill Backer (1926–2016), advertising executive known for Coca-Cola campaigns
• James Gadsden (1788–1858), U.S. minister to Mexico; president of the South Carolina Railroad Company
• Sallie Krawcheck (born 1964), Citigroup chief financial officer
• Joseph Wragg (1698–1751), pioneer of the large-scale slave trade and member and president of the South Carolina Executive Council

• Akim Anastopoulo (born 1960), television judge “Extreme Akim” on Eye for an Eye and trial attorney
• William Abbott (1790–1843), manager of the New Charleston Theatre ^[4]
• Angry Grandpa (1950–2017), internet personality
• Frank Birnbaum (1922–2005), 20th century classical composer and Jewish cantor
• Kardea Brown (born 1987), Emmy nominated Chef, author and Food Network Host
• Ckay1 (born 1982), music composer, arranger, and producer
• Stephen Colbert (born 1964), comedian
• Joel Derfner (born 1973), musical theater composer
• Andy Dick (born 1965), comedian
• Arthur Freed (1894–1973), Hollywood producer, composer, and writer
• Thomas Gibson (born 1962), actor
• Shanola Hampton (born 1977), actress
• Dubose Heyward (1885–1940), writer and lyricist, Porgy and Bess
• Bertha Hill (1905–1950), blues and vaudeville singer
• Lauren Hutton (born 1943), actress
• Dom Kelly (born 1991), activist, founder of New Disabled South, and member of rock band A Fragile Tomorrow
• Mabel King (1932–1999), actress
• Vanessa Joy Lachey (née Minnillo) (born 1980), Miss USA 1998, MTV VJ, and Entertainment Tonight correspondent
• Jonathan Mangum (born 1976), actor
• Logan Marshall-Green (born 1976), actor
• Micah McLaurin (born 1994), pianist
• Will Patton (born 1954), actor
• Grace Peixotto (born 1817), madam^[5]
• Mackenzie Rosman (born 1989), actress
• Darius Rucker (born 1966), lead singer of Hootie & the Blowfish, and country star
• David Stahl (1949–2010), conductor
• Josh Strickland (born 1983), singer and actor
• Elise Testone (born 1983), singer, American Idol contestant
• A Fragile Tomorrow, indie rock band
• Melanie Thornton (1967–2001), singer, member of La Bouche
• Johnny Wactor (1986–2014), actor
• Matt Watson (born 1996), YouTuber, Member and Co-Founder of SuperMega

• James Francis Byrnes (1879–1972), U.S. Representative and Senator, Associate Justice of the Supreme Court, Secretary of State, and Governor of South Carolina
• George Heriot DeReef (1869–1937), American lawyer, political candidate, civil rights leader, and businessman
• William Drayton Sr. (1733–1790), associate justice of South Carolina Supreme Court^[4]
• Reuben Greenberg (1943–2014), the first black police chief of Charleston
• J. Waites Waring (1880–1968), United States District Court for District of South Carolina judge; part of a three-judge panel that heard school desegregation case Briggs v. Elliott

• Alexander Aikman (1755–1836), publisher, King's Printer, and House of Assembly member
• Louisa Wells Aikman (1755–1831), 18th century author
• Essie B. Cheesborough (1826-1905), writer
• Joel Derfner (born 1973), writer
• Nikki DuBose (born 1985), former model turned author and activist
• Frank Bunker Gilbreth Jr. (1911–2001), author, Cheaper by the Dozen
• Caroline Howard Jervey (1823–1877), author, poet
• Robert Jordan (1948–2007), novelist, author of The Wheel of Time series
• Alexandra Ripley (1934–2004), author, Scarlett
• Eden Royce, gothic horror writer
• William Gilmore Simms (1806–1870), poet, novelist, and historian
• Frank Lebby Stanton (1857–1927), lyricist; columnist for the Atlanta Constitution; author of the lyrics of "Just Awearyin' for You"
• Elizabeth Timothy (1702–1757), the first female newspaper publisher in America
• Norb Vonnegut (born 1958), author
• Lily C. Whitaker (1850–1932), educator, writer
• Eliza Yonge Wilkinson (1757–?), letter-writer and patriot during the American Revolutionary War

• Arthur L. Bristol (1886–1942), United States Navy vice admiral
• Mark Wayne Clark (1896–1984), United States Army general; Supreme commander of the United Nations Command
• James H. Conyers (1855–1935), first black person admitted to the United States Naval Academy
• Frank L. Culbertson Jr. (born 1949), former naval officer and aviator, test pilot, aerospace engineer, and NASA astronaut
• Percival Drayton (1812–1865), United States Navy officer, commanded Union Naval forces during the Civil War
• Thomas Drayton (1809–1891), Confederate States Army general, brother of Percival Drayton
• Samuel Wragg Ferguson (1834–1917), Confederate States Army general
• James L. Holloway III (1922–2019), United States Navy admiral and navy aviator
• Benjamin Huger (1805–1877), Confederate States Army general
• Ralph H. Johnson (1949–1968), United States Marine who posthumously received the Medal of Honor
• John Laurens (1754–1782), soldier and statesman from South Carolina during the American Revolutionary War
• Stephen Dill Lee (1833–1908), Confederate States Army general; 1st president of Mississippi State University
• Barnwell R. Legge (1891–1949), United States Army general during World War I
• Robert Charlwood Richardson Jr. (1882–1954), United States Army general
• William Childs Westmoreland (1914–2005), United States Army general; 25th chief of staff of the United States Army

• William Aiken Jr. (1806–1887), Governor of South Carolina^[4]
• James Edwin Belser, former U.S. Congressman for the 2nd District of Alabama^[6]
• Judah P. Benjamin (1811–1884), U.S. Senator from Louisiana, Confederate States Secretary of State and Attorney General
• Don C. Bowen (b. 1945), represented District 8 at the South Carolina House of Representatives, 2007-2014
• James Francis Byrnes (1879–1972), U.S. Representative and Senator, Associate Justice of the Supreme Court, Secretary of State, and Governor of South Carolina
• Floride Calhoun (1792–1866), Second Lady of the United States; wife of John C. Calhoun
• John C. Calhoun (1782–1850), U.S. representative and senator, vice president, secretary of state, and secretary of war
• Septima Poinsette Clark (1898–1987), educator, civil rights activist; "grandmother" of the Civil Rights Movement"
• Henry William de Saussure (1763–1839), second director of United States Mint; intendant (mayor) of Charleston
• Christopher Gadsden (1724–1805), American Revolutionary War leader
• James Gadsden (1788–1858), U.S. minister to Mexico; president of the South Carolina Railroad Company
• Francois P. Giraud (1818–1877), Mayor of San Antonio from 1872–1875
• Sarah Moore Grimké (1792–1873), abolitionist, widely held to be the mother of the women's suffrage movement
• Angelina Emily Grimké Weld (1805–1879), abolitionist and political activist
• Edward Harleston (1794-1871), politician
• Henry E. Hayne (1840–d.n.d.), Union Army veteran and Secretary of State of South Carolina
• Robert Young Hayne (1791–1839), Mayor of Charleston 1836–1837; United States Senator 1823–1833; Governor of South Carolina^[7]
• Thomas Heyward Jr. (1746–1809), signer of the Declaration of Independence
• Fritz Hollings (1922-2019), United States Senator from South Carolina; Governor and Lieutenant Governor of South Carolina
• Michael Janus (1966-2022), Mississippi state legislator
• James Ladson (1753–1812), American revolutionary and lieutenant governor of South Carolina
• Henry Laurens (1724–1792), American Revolutionary War leader
• Nancy Mace (born 1977), U.S. congresswoman and state representative^[8]
• Samuel Maverick (1803–1870), Mayor of San Antonio, signer of the Texas Declaration of Independence, firebrand rancher from whom the term "maverick" was coined
• Burnet Maybank (1899–1954), Charleston mayor 1931–1935; South Carolina governor 1939–1941; United States Senator from South Carolina^[9]
• Christopher Memminger (1803–1888), signer of the Confederate States Constitution; Confederate States Secretary of the Treasury 1861–1864
• Thomas E. Miller, one of only five Black congressmen from the South in the Jim Crow era, son of Declaration of Independence signer Thomas Heyward Jr.
• William Porcher Miles (1822–1899), lawyer; Mayor of Charleston 1855-1857; U.S. Representative from South Carolina; member of the Confederate Congress; designed the Confederate battle flag^[10]
• Charles Cotesworth Pinckney (1746–1825), American Revolutionary War leader; United States Ambassador to France; Federalist candidate for President
• Joel Roberts Poinsett (1779–1851), botanist, politician, and diplomat; U.S. Representative; United States Ambassador to Mexico, Secretary of War; founded precursor to the Smithsonian Institution; namesake of the poinsettia
• Alonzo J. Ransier, state senator and U.S. congressman; first African-American Lieutenant Governor of South Carolina
• Joseph P. Riley Jr. (born 1943), Mayor of Charleston 1975-2015
• Edward Rutledge, signed the U.S. Declaration of Independence; Governor of South Carolina, 1798-1800
• John Rutledge, President of South Carolina, 1776-1778; Commander and Chief of South Carolina forces during Revolutionary War; Governor of South Carolina, 1779-1782; second Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court; signed the U.S. Constitution
• James Simons Sr. (1813–1879), lawyer, Confederate militia general, and state legislator^[11]
• Benjamin Smith (1717–1770), slave trader, plantation owner, merchant banker, and speaker of the South Carolina House of Assembly from 1755 to 1763
• James Skivring Smith (1825–1884), President of Liberia, 1871-1872
• George Alfred Trenholm (1807–1876), Confederate States Secretary of the Treasury
• Joe Wilson (born 1947), U.S. representative for South Carolina^[12]
• Bill Workman (1940–2019), Charleston native; mayor of Greenville, 1983-1995; economic development specialist
• Joseph Wragg (1698–1751), pioneer of the large-scale slave trade and member and president of the South Carolina Executive Council

• Ellsworth "Bumpy" Johnson (1905–1968), well-known African American mob boss
• Jacob S. Raisin (1878–1946), rabbi
• Denmark Vesey (1767–1822), freedman tried and executed for allegedly plotting a slave revolt
• Richard Worley, pirate

• IMDB's List of People from Charleston, SC