This is a list of Panamanian people who are famous or notable and were either born in Panama or have Panamanian ancestry.

República de Panamá

• Gilberto Gerald, LGBT rights and AIDS activist
• Lamar Bailey Karamañites, filmmaker and activist
• Diwigdi Valiente, Guna climate activist

• Chafil Cheucarama, Wounaan carver, illustrator, and painter
• Carlos Francisco Chang Marín, folk artist
• Antonio Jose Guzman, artist
• José Luis Rodríguez Pittí, poet and artist
• Pablo Runyan, painter
• George Scribner, artist, director, animator
• Alfredo Sinclair, painter
• Olga Sinclair, painter
• Guillermo Trujillo, painter
• Alicia Viteri, painter

• Ester Cordet, former Playboy Playmate of the Month
• Gloria Karamañites, first Afro-Panamanian winner of Miss Panama
• Patricia de León, former Señorita Panamá, actress, LGBT activist
• Justine Pasek, former Miss Universe
• Ana Orillac, former Señorita Panamá
• Stefanie de Roux, TV host and former Señorita Panamá
• Rachel Smith, former Miss USA

• Ursula M. Burns, CEO of Xerox
• Pedro Heilbron, CEO of Copa Airlines
• Karl Kani, urban fashion designer (Panamanian father)
• Julio Mario Santo Domingo, Colombian-American businessman, diplomat (born in Panama)
• Fernando Wong, landscape designer

• Sharon Aguilar, musician/composer
• Akinyele, rapper (Panamanian mother)
• Tatyana Ali, actress, calypso singer, and composer (Panamanian mother)
• Nancy Ames, singer
• Tanya Aparicio, pianist
• Tyson Beckford, model (maternal grandmother born in Panama)
• Aloe Blacc, singer
• Pop Smoke, rapper (Panamanian father)
• Rubén Blades, singer, actor, former Minister of Tourism
• Miguel Bosé, Spanish actor and singer (born in Panama)
• Jordana Brewster, actress
• Rod Carrillo, house and Latin music producer, label owner (born in Panama)
• Casanova, rapper
• Billy Cobham, drummer for Mahavishnu Orchestra
• Melissa De Sousa, American actress (Panamanian heritage)
• Edgardo Diaz, music producer ( Menudo) (born in Panama)
• Erika Ender, musician/composer
• La Factoría, Spanish reggae duo
• Flex, Spanish reggae artist
• Gaitanes, singers, musical producers, composers
• Carlos Garnett, jazz saxophonist
• El General, Spanish reggae artist
• Hansen, Youtuber
• Margarita Henríquez, singer
• Lori Heuring, actress
• Clark Kent, rap music producer
• Vincent Laresca, actor
• Gladys de la Lastra, drummer, composer, and musician
• Eddy Lover, Spanish reggae artist
• Makano, Spanish reggae artist
• Tony Moro, bolero and chachacha singer
• Jaime Murrell, singer
• Uncle Murda, rapper
• Nando Boom, reggae artist
• Danilo Pérez, jazz pianist, producer, composer
• José Quintero, Broadway director
• Los Rabanes, reggae-rock band
• J. August Richards, actor
• Coco Rodriguez, singer, actress
• José Luis Rodríguez Vélez, orchestra director, clarinetist, composer
• Daphne Rubin-Vega, actress and singer
• Samy y Sandra Sandoval, singer, musician
• Sech, singer-songwriter, rapper, and producer
• DJ Spinna, record producer and DJ (Panamanian roots)
• Santiago Stevenson, singer, composer, ordained minister
• Alexis Texas, American adult film actress
• Tessa Thompson, actress and singer (Panamanian father)
• Ingrid de Ycaza, singer
• Aaron Zebede, actor, director and producer

• Bayano, rebel slave
• Floyd Britton, political dissident
• Edward Ashton Gaskin Stuart, educator and labor leader
• Victoriano Lorenzo, politician and national hero
• Marta Matamoros, trade unionist
• Juan Materno Vásquez de León, lawyer and professor
• Luis Anderson McNeil, former labor minister
• Jerónimo de la Ossa, poet, wrote national anthem
• Belisario Porras, former president
• Urracá, chieftain

• Escolastico Calvo, journalist
• Gwen Ifill, television correspondent and host
• Gustavo Adolfo Mellander, academic journalist
• Juan Williams, television correspondent

• Rosa María Britton, writer
• Carlos Fuentes, Mexican writer (born in Panama)
• Gloria Guardia, novelist and essayist
• Demetrio Korsi, poet, journalist and diplomat
• Ricardo Miró, poet
• Rogelio Sinán, poet and writer
• José Luis Rodríguez Pittí, writer and photographer
• Consuelo Tomás, writer
• Neil Raymond Ricco, Spanish-Italian American poet and writer (born in Panama)

• Arnulfo Arias Madrid, former president
• Harmodio Arias Madrid, former president
• Nicolás Ardito Barletta, former president
• Antonio Dominguez Richa, diplomat and politician
• Guillermo Endara, former president
• Adrian Fenty, former mayor of Washington, D.C. (Panamanian father)
• Esteban Huertas, independence fighter
• Jorge Illueca, diplomat and politician
• Julio E. Linares, former Treasury Minister (1963–1964) and Foreign Minister (1989–1993)
• Ricardo Martinelli, former president
• John McCain, United States politician (born in Panama)
• Mireya Moscoso, former president
• Norberto Navarro, Minister of Public Works under three presidents, 1940s-50s. Founded the PRI party.
• Manuel Antonio Noriega, former dictator
• Carlos Ozores, former first vice president
• Ana Paredes Arosemena, former First Lady of Ecuador
• Rubén Darío Paredes del Río, former military ruler
• Ernesto Pérez Balladares, former president
• Belisario Porras, former president
• José Antonio Price, physician and politician
• Emilio Sempris, former Minister of Environment
• Dudley Thompson, Jamaican Pan-Africanist, politician and diplomat
• Martín Torrijos Espino, former president
• Omar Torrijos, former dictator
• Franklin U. Valderrama, United States district judge (born in Panama)
• Juan Carlos Varela, former president

• Reina Torres de Araúz, anthropologist, ethnographer, professor

• Juan Berenguer, professional baseball player
• Johan Camargo, professional baseball player
• Rod Carew, professional baseball player
• Bruce Chen, professional baseball player
• Manuel Corpas, professional baseball player
• Einar Díaz, professional baseball player
• Roberto Kelly, baseball player
• Carlos Lee, professional baseball player
• Héctor López, professional baseball player
• José Macías, professional baseball player
• Ramiro Mendoza, professional baseball player
• Orlando Miller, professional baseball player
• Ramiro Mendoza, professional baseball player
• Orlando Miller, professional baseball player
• Ben Oglivie, professional baseball player
• Mariano Rivera, professional baseball player
• Rubén Rivera, professional baseball player
• Humberto Robinson, major league baseball player
• Davis Romero, professional baseball player
• Carlos Ruiz, professional baseball player
• Olmedo Sáenz, professional baseball player
• Manny Sanguillén, professional baseball player
• Rennie Stennett, professional baseball player
• Ruben Tejada, professional baseball player

• Edwin Aguilar, soccer player
• Michael Amir Murillo, soccer player
• Andrés Andrade Cedeño, soccer player
• Felipe Baloy, soccer player
• Édgar Bárce
• Yoel Bárcenas, soccer player
• Adalberto Carrasquilla, soccer player
• Roberto Corbin, soccer player
• Harold Cummings, soccer player
• Jorge Dely Valdés, soccer player
• Gabriel Enrique Gómez, soccer player
• Luis Ernesto Tapia, soccer player
• Rommel Fernández, soccer player
• Aníbal Godoy, soccer player
• Carlos Harvey, soccer player
• Kevin Kurányi, German soccer player
• Roberto Nurse, soccer player
• Jaime Penedo, soccer player
• Blas Pérez, soccer player
• Luis Antonio Rivera, soccer player
• Arturo Tejada, soccer player
• Luis Tejada, soccer player
• Román Torres, soccer player

• Pedro Alcazar, world boxing champion
• Leonardo Barker, professional American football player
• Reginald Beckford, sprinter
• William Bedford, former basketball player
• Rolando Blackman, former basketball player
• Panama Al Brown, world boxing champion, first Hispanic world champion in history
• Lorenzo Charles, professional basketball player (Panamanian parents)
• Eileen Coparropa, Olympic swimmer
• Ed Cota, basketball player
• Kevin Daley, basketball player and Harlem Globetrotter
• Frank Davis, professional football player
• Roberto Durán, world boxing champion
• Gary Forbes, professional basketball player
• Alfonso Frazer, world champion boxer
• Rubén Garcés, former basketball player
• Stuart Gray, professional basketball player
• Reggie Grenald, professional basketball player
• Darius Holland, professional American football player
• George Headley, cricket player
• Leroy Jackson, professional basketball player
• Guillermo Jones, professional boxer
• Bayano Kamani, track and field athlete
• Lloyd La Beach, first Olympic medal winner from Panama
• Bobby Lashley, professional wrestler and former mixed martial arts fighter
• Jorge Luján, boxer
• Ernesto Marcel, professional boxer
• Donovan Mitchell, professional basketball player
• Eusebio Pedroza, former world boxing champion
• Laffit Pincay, Jr., horse jockey
• Irving Saladino, former World and Olympic track and field champion
• Roberto Vásquez, professional boxer
• Veneno, professional wrestler
• Roberto Wallace, professional football player
• Oscar Willis Layne, cyclist
• Hilario Zapata, professional boxer

• Princess Angela of Liechtenstein, member of the Royal House of Liechtenstein
• Jorge Cham, webcomic producer, author and cartoonist of PhD comics