List of Jamaicans

The following is a list of notable people from Jamaica. The list includes some non-resident Jamaicans who were born in Jamaica and also people of predominantly Jamaican heritage.

Artists

Carl Abrahams, painter
Hope Brooks, painter
John Dunkley, painter and sculptor
Gloria Escoffery, painter and art critic
Laura Facey, sculptor and installation artist
Christopher González, painter and sculptor
Ras Daniel Heartman, artist
Albert Huie, painter
George "Fowokan" Kelly, sculptor
Edna Manley, painter, sculptor and arts educator
Alvin Marriott, sculptor
Ronald Moody, sculptor; Moody crater on Mercury was named after him
Keith Anthony Morrison, painter, printmaker, educator, critic, curator and administrator
Petrona Morrison, sculptor and media artist
Ebony Patterson, visual artist and educator
David Pottinger, painter
Mallica Reynolds, painter and sculptor
Margaret Rose Vendryes, multimedia artist
Barrington Watson, painter
Basil Watson, painter and sculptor
Donnette Zacca, fine arts photographer, lecturer, and artist

Beauty contest winners

Business and law

Alexander Aikman, printer, publisher, and landowner
Chris Blackwell, president and CEO of Island Records and Palm Pictures, NYC
Morris Cargill, lawyer and businessman
G. Raymond Chang, co-founder of CI Financial and the third chancellor of Ryerson University
Alexandra Chong, founder and CEO of Jacana
Tanya Chutkan, Jamaican-born American lawyer and jurist serving as a United States district court judge for the District of Columbia; judge overseeing the criminal trial of former president Donald Trump over his attempts to overturn the 2020 general election including events leading up to the United States Capitol attack
Gloria Cumper, barrister, first black woman to study at the University of Cambridge
Jak Beula Dodd, entrepreneur and inventor of the board game Nubian Jak
Wilfred Emmanuel-Jones, businessman, farmer and founder of "The Black Farmer" range of food products
Renatha Francis, circuit judge in Palm Beach County, Florida
Alfred Constantine Goffe, "the banana king" of Port Maria
Claudia L. Gordon, lawyer, first deaf black female attorney in the United States
Marshall Hall, economist, businessman and banker
Ephraim and Lowell Hawthorne, founders of Golden Krust Caribbean Bakery
Joseph John Issa, founder of Cool Group
Michael Lee-Chin, chairman/CEO of AIC Limited, chairman of NCB Jamaica
Henry Lowe, owner of a variety of businesses in the health industry
Val McCalla, accountant and media entrepreneur; the founder of The Voice, a British weekly newspaper aimed at the Britain's black community
Caroline Newman, entrepreneur and the first black solicitor to be elected to the Council of the Law Society of England and Wales
Philip Ernest Housden Pike, barrister and judge who served as the second Chief Justice of Borneo
Heather Rabbatts, businesswoman, solicitor and broadcaster; became the youngest council chief in the UK; first ethnic minority person to serve as a Football Association director
Patrick Lipton Robinson, member of the International Court of Justice
Tracy Robinson, lawyer and lecturer in the Faculty of Law at the University of the West Indies
Lascelles Robotham, lawyer and chief justice of the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court
Levi Roots, chairman of Reggae Reggae Sauce
David P. Rowe, lawyer
Adam Stewart
Gordon "Butch" Stewart
George Stiebel, trader and entrepreneur who became Jamaica's first black millionaire
Tom Tavares-Finson, lawyer
Gail Vaz-Oxlade, financial adviser, TV personality
James S. Watson, one of the first Black Americans elected as a judge in the state of New York
Dame Sharon White, businesswoman and Second Permanent Secretary at HM Treasury 2013–2015; first black person, and the second woman, to become a permanent secretary at the UK HM Treasury
Damian Williams, first African-American U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York

Bands

Black Uhuru, Grammy Award winners
Bob Marley and the Wailers
Burning Spear
Byron Lee and the Dragonaires
Culture
Inner Circle
Morgan Heritage, Grammy Award winners
The Pioneers
Skatalites, ska band
Sly and Robbie
Third World
T.O.K., a crew of deejays
Toots and the Maytals, double Grammy Award winners

Journalists, poets and writers

Opal Palmer Adisa, writer
Louisa Wells Aikman, writer
Gwyneth Barber Wood, poet
Edward Baugh, poet
Lindsay Barrett, writer, playwright, journalist
Louise Bennett-Coverley, poet
Evon Blake, journalist
Barbara Blake Hannah, author and journalist; first black on-camera reporter and interviewer on British television
Jean "Binta" Breeze, poet
Erna Brodber, novelist
Lady Colin Campbell, writer, socialite
Morris Cargill, journalist
Margaret Cezair-Thompson, novelist
Colin Channer, novelist, co-founder of Calabash
Staceyann Chin, poet and writer
Michelle Cliff, writer
Aston Cooke, playwright, artistic director
Carolyn Cooper, writer and cultural theorist
Christine Craig, poet and short story writer
Patricia Cumper, playwright
Kwame Dawes, Ghana-born writer, co-founder of Calabash
Jean D'Costa, professor, linguist, and children's novelist
Ferdinand Dennis, writer, broadcaster, journalist and lecturer
Nicole Dennis-Benn, novelist
John Figueroa, poet
Ryan Fraser, writer
Thomas Glave, Bronx-born writer
Lorna Goodison, writer
Hubert Henry Harrison, writer, philosopher
Victor Headley, author
John Hearne, journalist, novelist
Perry Henzell, writer, director
Marlon James, novelist
Vere Johns, writer, broadcaster, actor
Linton Kwesi Johnson, dub poet
Evan Jones, writer
Roger Mais, novelist
Louis Marriott, playwright, actor, director, journalist
Una Marson, writer, broadcaster
Claude McKay, writer
Alecia McKenzie, writer
Anthony McNeill, poet
Brian Meeks, novelist
Kei Miller, writer
Pamela Mordecai, poet
Mervyn Morris, poet
Mutabaruka, poet
Oku Onuora, writer
Geoffrey Philp, writer
Patricia Powell, novelist
Claudia Rankine, poet
Barry Reckord, playwright
Victor Stafford Reid, writer
Leone Ross, novelist, editor, short story writer, journalist, academic
Andrew Salkey, writer
Dennis Scott, poet and playwright
Olive Senior, writer
Malachi Smith, poet
Pamela Colman Smith, artist and writer
Michael Thelwell, writer
Vivian Virtue, poet
Sylvia Wynter, writer
Kerry Young, author

Models

Tyson Beckford, model
Martine Beswick, model, actress
Carla Campbell, model
Naomi Campbell, model
Winnie Harlow, model
Grace Jones, model, musician, actress
Venice Kong, Playboy playmate
Stacey McKenzie, supermodel, actress and model coach
Rachel Stuart, model, television personality
Karin Taylor, former Playboy model

Musicians, actors and filmmakers

Aidonia, dancehall, rap DJ
DJ Akademiks, blogger
Alaine, singer
Monty Alexander, jazz pianist and composer
Cherine Anderson, singer, actress, director
Esther Anderson, actress, filmmaker, photographer
Buju Banton, reggae singer
Roxanne Beckford, actress and producer
Beenie Man, DJ; Grammy winner
Thom Bell, musician, singer-songwriter, arranger and producer
Barbara Blake Hannah, filmmaker, festival organiser
Bounty Killer, reggae musician
Carl Bradshaw, actor, film producer
Yvonne Brewster, actress, theatre director
Brigadier Jerry, reggae musician, dancehall DJ
Dennis Brown, reggae singer
Gregory Isaacs, reggae singer
Burning Spear, real name Winston Rodney, reggae musician
Busy Signal, dancehall and reggae musician DJ
Canibus, rapper
Charlie Chaplin, reggae singer
Clive Chin, record producer
Tessanne Chin, singer-songwriter, winner of NBC's The Voice Season 5 in 2013
Vincent "Randy" Chin, record producer, co-founder of VP Records
Chipmunk, rapper, songwriter
Chubb Rock, rapper, radio personality
Tami Chynn, singer-songwriter
Jimmy Cliff, singer, reggae musician
Count Ossie, Rastafari drummer and band leader
Patricia Cumper, producer, director, theatre administrator, critic and commentator
Yvonne Curtis, reggae singer-songwriter
Desmond Dekker, ska and reggae singer
Demarco, reggae and dancehall musician
Coxsone Dodd, record producer
Clancy Eccles, ska and reggae singer, record producer
Eek-a-Mouse, reggae singer
Elephant Man, reggae singer
Horace Faith, reggae singer
Chuck Fenda, singer
FKA Twigs, singer
Honor Ford-Smith, actress, playwright, poet
Dean Fraser, reggae musician
Kirk Fraser, film director, film producer, screenwriter
Ghetts, grime MC
Joe Gibbs, record producer
Andrew Gourlay, conductor
Mona Hammond, actress
Dahlia Harris, actress and television personality
Heavy D, rapper
Sean Paul Henriques, dancehall musician
Toots Hibbert, reggae musician
Joseph Hill, reggae musician and band leader, Culture
Deni Hines, singer
Marcia Hines, singer
Stephen Hopkins, film director
Giggs, rapper
Grace Jones, singer and actress
Natalia Kills, singer
K-Anthony, gospel singer
Ini Kamoze, reggae musician
Kano, rapper, actor
Koffee, reggae musician
Vybz Kartel, dancehall musician, rapper, DJ
Wynton Kelly, jazz pianist
Joseph Hoo Kim, record producer
Diana King, reggae musician
King Tubby, dub musician
Sean Kingston, singer
Sean Paul, singer
Kiprich, DJ
DJ Kool Herc, DJ
Byron Lee, ska and soca musician
Rusty Lee, actress, singer, television personality
Barrington Levy, reggae singer
Mad Cobra, dancehall DJ
Bob Marley, reggae singer
Damian Marley, reggae musician
Ky-Mani Marley, reggae musician
Rita Marley, reggae singer; wife of Bob Marley
Stephen Marley, singer
Ziggy Marley, reggae musician; son of Bob Marley
Mavado, dancehall and reggae musician
Winston McAnuff, reggae and dub singer and composer aka Electric Dread
Carmen McRae, singer
Mr. Vegas, DJ
Hugh Mundell, reggae singer-songwriter
The Notorious B.I.G., rapper
Augustus Pablo, reggae singer
PARTYNEXTDOOR, singer
Patra, dancehall musician
Dawn Penn, reggae singer
Lee "Scratch" Perry, reggae musician
Leigh-Anne Pinnock, singer
Prince Buster, ska singer and producer
Ernest Ranglin, jazz, ska, rocksteady and reggae guitarist
Ras Droppa, reggae artist
Lloyd Reckord, actor, producer, director, playwright
Duke Reid, record producer
Pete Rock, record producer, DJ, rapper
Wayne Rhoden, singer-songwriter
Tarrus Riley, singer
Tenor Saw, reggae artist
Sasha, DJ
Lady Saw, reggae musician
Serani, reggae singer
Shabba Ranks, reggae musician
Shaggy, singer-songwriter
Shenseea, rapper
Madge Sinclair, Emmy-winning actress
Sister Nancy, dancehall DJ
Sizzla, reggae and dancehall deejay
Millie Small, singer-songwriter
Mikey Smith, dub poet
Spice, dancehall musician
Spot, rapper
Spragga Benz, reggae and dancehall DJ
Neville Staple, singer
Stefflon Don, rapper
Peter Tosh, reggae musician
Ruby Turner, singer-songwriter and actress
Tyga, rapper
Bunny Wailer, reggae singer
Ashley Walters, actor
Walshy Fire, DJ
Willard White, operatic bass-baritone
will.i.am, rapper, singer-songwriter and record producer
Peter Williams, actor
Wretch 32, rapper
XXXTentacion, rapper and singer-songwriter
Yellowman, reggae and dancehall DJ

Politicians

Kenneth Baugh, minister of Health and deputy prime minister
Barbara Blake-Hannah, first Rastafarian representative in the Jamaican parliament
Alexander Bustamante, trade unionist and prime minister, national hero
R. James deRoux, longest-serving custos rotulorum
Bruce Golding, prime minister
Lisa Hanna, minister of Youth & Culture, former Miss World
Kamala Harris, vice president of the United States
Abraham Hodgson, member of House of Assembly of Jamaica
Andrew Holness, prime minister
Hyman Isaac Long, deputy inspector general of the Grand Consistory of the twenty-five degree "Rite of the Royal Secret"
Michael Manley, prime minister
Norman Manley, prime minister and Jamaican national hero
Earle Maynier, first Jamaican high commissioner to Canada
Henry Moore, colonial governor
Trevor Munroe, trade unionist and politician
P. J. Patterson, prime minister
Noah Nickolas Perry, American politician and diplomat who had served as the United States ambassador to Jamaica
Edward Seaga, prime minister
Portia Simpson-Miller, prime minister
Tom Tavares-Finson, president of the Senate of Jamaica

Religious leaders

S. U. Hastings, first Jamaican bishop of the Moravian Church
Rev Rose Josephine Hudson-Wilkin, Bishop of Dover and first black woman to become a Church of England bishop; first black woman to hold the role of Queen's Chaplain; served as Chaplain to the Speaker of the House of Commons 2010–2019
Oliver Lyseight, founder of one of Britain's largest black majority churches, and spiritual leader to the "Windrush generation"
Neville Neil, bishop of the Moravian Church in Jamaica

Science and medicine

Evan Dale Abel, Jamaican-born endocrinologist
Maydianne Andrade, Jamaican-born Canadian ecologist
Simone Badal-McCreath, Jamaican chemist and cancer researcher
Walt Braithwaite, Jamaican-born American engineer and former executive at Boeing
Aggrey Burke, Jamaican-born psychiatrist and the first black consultant psychiatrist appointed by Britain's National Health Service
Nira Chamberlain, first black mathematician to join the exclusive list of distinguish living British mathematicians who feature in the biographical reference book Who's Who; creator of a mathematical cost capability trade-off model for HMS Queen Elizabeth
Paul R. Cunningham, Jamaican-born surgeon and medical educator
Patricia Daley, Jamaican-born British human geographer and academic
Patricia DeLeon, Jamaican reproductive geneticist who specialists in the male reproductive system
Tashni-Ann Dubroy, Jamaican science academic and university administrator in the United States
Kevin Fenton, epidemiologist and a regional director at Public Health England
Yvette Francis-McBarnette, Jamaican-born paediatrician
Bertram Fraser-Reid, Jamaican synthetic organic chemist
Neil Gardner, Jamaican chiropractic neurologist, former athlete
Thomas J. Goreau, Jamaican biogeochemist and marine biologist
Philip Henry Gosse, English naturalist in Jamaica
Neil Hanchard, Jamaican physician and clinical investigator
Odette Harris, Jamaican-born professor of neurosurgery at Stanford University and the Director of the Brain Injury Program for the Stanford University School of Medicine
Richard Hill, lawyer, naturalist
Jacqueline Hughes-Oliver, Jamaican-born statistician
Hedley Jones, Jamaican audio engineer and astronomer
Thomas Lecky, Jamaican scientist who developed several new breeds of cattle
Elsa Leo-Rhynie, Jamaican science academic
Henry Lowe, Jamaican scientist, philanthropist and businessman
Camille McKayle, Jamaican-born mathematician
Harold Moody, Jamaican physician
Ludlow Moody, Jamaican physician
Errol Morrison, Jamaican scientist who has carried out pioneering work in the field of diabetes
Karen E. Nelson, Jamaican-born American microbiologist
Geoff Palmer, Jamaican-born scientist
Donald Richards, statistician
Mercedes Richards, Jamaican-born pioneering astronomy and astrophysics professor
Robert Robinson, Jamaican-born engineer
Mary Seacole, Jamaican-born woman of Scottish and Creole descent who set up a "British hotel" behind the lines during the Crimean War
Jean Springer, Jamaican mathematics professor
Garth Taylor, Jamaican ophthalmologist, professor, and humanitarian
Manley West, Jamaican pharmacologist who developed a treatment for glaucoma
Cicely Williams, identified the protein deficiency disease kwashiorkor
Henry Vernon Wong, Jamaican-American physicist known for his work in plasma physics

Sports

Maurice Ashley, Chess Player, Jamaican-born American chess grandmaster
Alia Atkinson, OD, multiple time Olympic swimmer
Donovan Bailey, Jamaican-born Canadian, world champion sprinter
Leon Bailey, Jamaican footballer playing for Aston Villa FC
John Barnes, Jamaican-born English football player; played for the England national football team and Liverpool F.C.
Trevor Berbick, champion boxer
Atari Bigby, former football player
Andre Blake, professional MLS goalkeeper
Yohan Blake, sprinter
Usain Bolt, world and Olympic record holder, 100m and 200m
Walter Boyd, former professional footballer
Steve Bucknor, international cricket umpire
Veronica Campbell-Brown, sprinter
Alicia Ashley, former women's boxing champion
Omar Cummings, Jamaican-born MLS and Jamaica national football team football player
Chili Davis, Jamaican-born American, former star Major League Baseball player
Leon Edwards, Jamaican-born, British mixed martial artist and UFC welterweight champion
Patrick Ewing, Jamaican-born American, former NBA star
Junior Flemmings, professional footballer
Heather Foster, Jamaican-born American professional bodybuilder
Shaun Francis, former professional footballer
Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, sprinter, 100m and 200m World and Olympic record holder, fondly known as "The Pocket Rocket"
Ricardo Fuller, Jamaican-born Premier League and Jamaica national football team football player
Ricardo Gardner, Jamaican-born Premier League and Jamaica national football team football player
Chris Gayle, Captain of West Indian International Cricket Team
Ian Goodison, former professional footballer
Owayne Gordon, professional footballer
George Headley, cricketer
Sek Henry, basketball player
Wavell Hinds, cricketer
Michael Holding, cricketer
Shericka Jackson, Olympic medalist
Kamara James, Jamaican-born American, Olympic fencer
Ben Johnson, Jamaican-born Canadian, disgraced champion sprinter
Glen Johnson, champion boxer
Ryan Johnson, former professional footballer
Jerome Jordan, NBA player, New York Knicks center #44
Andrew Kennedy, professional basketball player
Brynton Lemar, American-born Jamaican basketball player for Hapoel Jerusalem of the Israeli Basketball Premier League
Rajiv Maragh, jockey
Tyrone Marshall, Jamaican-born MLS and Jamaica national football team football player
Darren Mattocks, Jamaican-born MLS and Jamaica national football team football player
Mike McCallum, champion boxer
Merlene Ottey, Jamaican-born Slovenian sprinter, the world's most winning female athlete
Asafa Powell, sprinter, former 100m world record holder
Donald Quarrie, sprinter
Shawn Rhoden, bodybuilder
Sanya Richards-Ross, Jamaican-born American sprinter, 400m
Donovan Ricketts, Jamaican-born MLS and Jamaica national football team football player
Tessa Sanderson, Jamaican-born former British Javelin gold medalist and Heptathlon
Trecia-Kaye Smith, former Triple Jump World Champion
Raheem Sterling, Jamaican-born English football player; currently plays for Chelsea FC
Shavar Thomas, Jamaican-born MLS and Jamaica national football team football player
Elaine Thompson-Herah, OD, multiple Olympic champion
Stephen Tulloch, National Football League middle linebacker for Detroit Lions and N.C. State Wolfpac; born in Miami of Jamaican heritage
Peter-Lee Vassell, professional footballer
Melaine Walker, sprinter, 400m Olympic record holder
Courtney Walsh, cricketer
Nicholas Walters, professional boxer, former WBA World Featherweight champion
Devon White, baseball player
Theodore Whitmore, former professional footballer, coach
Arthur Wint, OD MBE, Olympic former 400m gold medalist

Others

Diane Abbott, first female member of the African-Caribbean community to be elected to the UK House of Commons in 1987
Hope Arthurine Anderson, national chess champion and Olympian
Emily Rose Bleby, temperance reformer
Violet Brown, oldest Jamaican in history
Dawn Butler, Labour MP since 2015; became first black woman to speak from the despatch box in the House of Commons in December 2009
Alan Eyre, geographer and environmentalist
Michael Fuller, Britain's first black Police Chief Constable and Chief Inspector of the Crown Prosecution Service
Marcus Garvey, founder of the Universal Negro Improvement Association
St. William Grant, trade unionist and activist
Henry Gunter, civil rights campaigner, trade unionist and the first black delegate to be elected to the Birmingham Trades Council
Stuart Hall, cultural theorist, political activist and co-founder of New Left Review
Rosalea Hamilton, Jamaican academic, trade policy specialist
Thomas Duffus Hardy, archivist and antiquary
Donald J. Harris, economist
Lenford "Steve" Harvey, AIDS activist
Barrington Irving, pilot who previously held the record for the youngest person to pilot a plane around the world solo
Baroness Lawrence, campaigner
Ian McKnight, founder of Jamaica AIDS Support for LIFE
Bill Morris, general secretary of the Transport and General Workers' Union 1992–2003, black leader of a major British trade union
Colin Powell, politician, statesman, diplomat, and United States Army officer who served as the 65th United States Secretary of State 2001–2005; first African-American Secretary of State
Roxroy Salmon, Jamaican-American immigration activist
Oliver Samuels, comedian and actor
Norma Shirley, Jamaican chef
Tony Simpson, businessman and broadcaster