List of Nicaraguans

Art

• Omar D'León, painter and poet.
• Franck de Las Mercedes, painter.
• Armando Morales, painter.
• Hugo Palma-Ibarra, painter.
• Róger Pérez de la Rocha, painter.
• Julia Casimira Sacasa,, abstract painter, sculptor, poet. CASIMIRA

Business

• Harry Brautigam, economist, banker and academic.
• José Cardenal, businessman.
• Michael Cordúa, restaurateur, entrepreneur, businessman, award-winning self-taught chef.
• Carlos Reynaldo Lacayo, businessman.
• Alejandro Lacayo, businessman.
• Carlos Pellas Chamorro, businessman, entrepreneur, Nicaragua's first billionaire.
• Alfonso Robelo, businessman, politician, diplomat who served as ambassador to Costa Rica.
• Patrick Frawley magnate

Education

• Elena Arellano Chamorro, reform pedagogue, a pioneer for education of women.
• Josefa Toledo de Aguerri, reform pedagogue, general director of education in the 1920s.

Fashion, models and beauty queens

• Xiomara Blandino, Miss Nicaragua 2007, model.
• Nastassja Bolívar, Nuestra Belleza Latina 2011 – Miss Nicaragua 2013 – and Top 16 in Miss Universe 2013 -The Best National Costume.
• Iva Grijalva Pashova, Miss Earth Nicaragua 2007.
• Beatriz Obregon Lacayo, Miss Nicaragua 1977
• Thelma Rodríguez, Miss Nicaragua 2008.
• Sheynnis Palacios, Miss Nicaragua 2023, Miss Universe 2023.

Government and politics

• Lila T. Abaunza, First Lady of Nicaragua from 2002 to 2007.
• Fernando Agüero, politician.
• Arnoldo Alemán, former president of Nicaragua from 1997 to 2002.
• Leonardo Argüello Barreto, President of Nicaragua.
• Miguel d'Escoto Brockmann, former Foreign Minister of Nicaragua, President of the 63rd UN General Assembly and leading liberation theologian.
• Juan Bautista Sacasa, President of Nicaragua from 1933 to 1936.
• Claudia Bermúdez, Nicaragua-American politician and entrepreneur; first Nicaraguan American to be the nominee of a major party for a seat in the United States Congress.
• Enrique Bolaños, President of Nicaragua from 2002 to 2007.
• Róger Calero, Nicaraguan American who ran for U.S. President in the 2004 elections.
• Adolfo Calero, leader of the Contra-Revolutionary Movement.
• Emiliano Chamorro, President of Nicaragua from 1917 to 1920 and part of 1926.
• Fruto Chamorro, first president of Nicaragua 1854–1855.
• Manuel Coronel Kautz, vice minister of foreign relations.
• Arturo Cruz, politician and diplomat.
• Pedro Joaquín Chamorro Alfaro, President of Nicaragua from 1875 to 1879.
• Violeta Chamorro, first female president in Latin America, second in North America and 48th President of Nicaragua.
• Adolfo Díaz, President of Nicaragua in 1911–1917 and 1926–1929.
• George William Albert Hendy, Hereditary Chief of Miskito Nation.
• Edmundo Jarquín, politician, candidate for president of Nicaragua in 2006.
• Máximo Jerez, politician, lawyer, and military leader in 19th century Nicaragua.
• Herty Lewites, politician.
• Angel Bravo Lorio, politician, Communist Party of Nicaragua
• Eduardo Montealegre, politician, businessman.
• Oldman, King of the Miskito Nation from 1625 to 1687.
• Daniel Ortega, current President of Nicaragua, leader of the FSLN.
• Edén Pastora, politician.
• Mariano Prado, lawyer and a four-time, liberal chief of state of El Salvador.
• Sergio Ramírez, Vice President of Nicaragua during the Junta, writer, intellectual.
• Jorge Salazar Argüello, Nicaraguan coffee grower and popular leader of UPANIC, seemed poised to become the leader of the opposition to the Sandinista government, until his death at the hands of State Security forces.
• José Santos Zelaya, president of Nicaragua from 1893 to 1909.
• Guillermo Sevilla-Sacasa, Ambassador of Nicaragua to the United States, Dean of the Diplomatic Corps, Washington, DC
• Hilda Solis, U.S. congresswoman.
• Anastasio Somoza García, 34th and 39th President of Nicaragua
• Anastasio Somoza Debayle, 44th and 45th President of Nicaragua from 1967 to 1972 and from 1974 to 1979.
• Luis Somoza Debayle, 40th President of Nicaragua from 1956 to 1963.

Journalism

• Pedro Joaquín Chamorro Cardenal, editor of La Prensa daily newspaper, assassinated.
• Xavier Chamorro Cardenal, co-founder, director and editor of El Nuevo Diario.
• Enrique Gottel, journalist, music composer, and historian.
• Carlos Javier Jarquín, journalist and cultural activist.
• Mari Ramos, weather anchor for CNN.

Literature

• Claribel Alegría, poet, she received the Neustadt International Prize for Literature in 2006.
• Emilio Álvarez Lejarza, writer.
• Emilio Álvarez Montalván, political writer.
• Eugenio Batres Garcia noted newscaster and journalist, writer, author and poet.
• Gioconda Belli, poet and writer.
• Yolanda Blanco, poet and translator.
• Tomás Borge, writer, poet, politician and essayist.
• Omar Cabezas, writer.
• Ernesto Cardenal, poet.
• Blanca Castellón, poet.
• José Coronel Urtecho, poet, translator, essayist, critic, narrator, playwright and historian.
• Alfonso Cortés, poet.
• Arturo Cruz, writer.
• Pablo Antonio Cuadra, poet.
• Rubén Darío, poet, referred to as The Father of Modernism.
• Karly Gaitán Morales film historian, writer, journalist.
• Salomón Ibarra Mayorga, poet and lyricist of "Salve a ti, Nicaragua", the Nicaraguan national anthem.
• Erwin Krüger, poet and composer.
• Rigoberto López Pérez, poet and writer.
• Francisco Mayorga, writer.
• Christianne Meneses Jacobs, writer, editor, and publisher.
• Rosario Murillo, poet.
• Azarías H. Pallais, poet.
• Joaquín Pasos, poet.
• Horacio Peña, writer and poet.
• Sergio Ramírez, writer.
• Aura Rostand, poet.
• Mariana Sansón Argüello, poet.
• Arlen Siu, essayist.
• Julio Valle Castillo, poet, novelist, essayist, and a critic of literature and art.
• Daisy Zamora, poet.

Military and police

• Enrique Bermúdez, military and political leader of the Nicaraguan Contras from 1979 to 1991.
• Fernando Chamorro Alfaro, general and member of the governing junta of Nicaragua.
• Aminta Granera, police chief of Nicaragua.
• Aristides Sánchez, key figure among the Contras.
• Anastasio Somoza Portocarrero, former commander of the National Guard.

Movies and TV entertainment

• Maurice Benard, actor on American soap operas All My Children and General Hospital
• Barbara Carrera, film, TV actress, former model.
• Oswaldo Castillo, actor, most notable role includes the one in The Hammer.
• Edward'O, notable astroanalyst and co-host of Telemundo's dating show, 12 Corazones.
• Gabriel Traversari, actor, director, writer, singer, songwriter and painter.
• Gabriela Revilla, writer, producer, director

Music

• José Areas, percussionist, former drummer for Santana.
• Lya Barrioz, singer and actress.
• Katia Cardenal, singer-songwriter from Duo Guardabarranco.
• Dimension Costeña, musicians.
• Erwin Krüger, singer and Nicaraguan folklore poet.
• Luis Enrique Mejía López, salsa singer and music composer.
• Carlos Mejía Godoy, musician, composer, singer.
• Alfonso Noel Lovo, composer and guitarist.
• Tony Melendez, guitar player, singer and Christian rock songwriter who was born without arms.
• Maria Mena, Norwegian/Nicaraguan pop singer.
• Otto Benjamín de la Rocha López, singer, songwriter and radio actor.
• T-Bone, rapper.
• Torombolo, reggaeton and hip hop singer.
• J Smooth, bilingual hip hop and Reggaeton singer.
• Donald Vega, jazz musician and composer.
• Hernaldo Zúñiga, singer and music composer.

Non-Governmental Organizations

• Reinaldo Aguado Montealegre, President of the International Society for Human Rights in Nicaragua.
• Aubry Campbell Ingram, baseball player who helped found the Asociación de Scouts de Nicaragua.
• Myrna Cunningham, Miskita indigenous rights activist and physician.
• Joseph A. Harrison, Moravian Pastor who helped start the first scout troop in Nicaragua.
• Bianca Jagger, social and political activist, former wife of Mick Jagger.
• Mario Sacasa, Director, Future of Nicaragua Foundation, Fundación Futuro de Nicaragua

Religion

• Reyna I. Aburto, religious leader of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
• Leopoldo Brenes, Archbishop of Managua, cardinal.
• Ernesto Cardenal, Catholic priest and liberation theologian.
• Fernando Cardenal, Jesuit priest, director at the Fe y Alegría organization in Managua.
• Miguel D'Escoto Brockmann, Roman Catholic priest, former foreign minister of Nicaragua, received the Lenin Peace Prize in 1985.
• Uriel Molina Oliú, Franciscan priest.
• Pablo Antonio Vega Mantilla, Roman Catholic bishop and bishop Emeritus.
• Maria Romero Meneses, Salesian nun, beatified in 2002.
• Miguel Obando y Bravo, archbishop emeritus of Managua, cardinal.
• Jesus Rojas, Jesuit priest.

Revolutionaries

• Patrick Argüello, Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.
• Nora Astorga, Sandinista revolutionary, lawyer, politician, judge and Nicaraguan ambassador to the UN.
• Benigna Mendiola, Sandinista revolutionary and peasant leader
• Antonio Cardenal Caldera, also known as Jesus Rojas, major leader of the Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front.
• Arturo Cruz, Jr., revolutionary, writer, professor and diplomat.
• Rigoberto Cruz, one of the founders of the FSLN.
• Ajax Delgado, student activist of the Sandinista revolution.
• José Dolores Estrada, famed for his part in the battle Hacienda San Jacinto in 1856.
• Idania Fernandez, Sandinista revolutionary.
• Carlos Fonseca, teacher, founder of FSLN.
• Maximo Jerez, lawyer, politician, general, president.
• Augusto César Sandino, revolutionary, symbol of the FSLN.
• Arlen Siu, Sandinista revolutionary.
• Dora María Téllez, Sandinista revolutionary, founded the MRS, historian.

Science

• Clodomiro Picado Twight, Pasteur Institute, biologists whose work on molds was a precursor to the formal discovery of penicillin.
• Pedro Jose Alvarez, [Rice University, environmental engineer and scientist, pioneer of bioremediation and environmental nanotechnology.
• Gabriel Montoya, Purdue University, biomedical engineer.

Sports

Baseball

• Porfirio Altamirano, former Major League Baseball player.
• Marvin Benard, former Major League Baseball player.
• Everth Cabrera, Major League Baseball player.
• Tony Chévez, Major League Baseball player.
• Cheslor Cuthbert, Major League Baseball player.
• David Green, former Major League Baseball player.
• Devern Hansack, current Major League Baseball player.
• Wilton López, former Major League Baseball player.
• Oswaldo Mairena, Major League Baseball player.
• Dennis Martínez, first Nicaraguan to play in Major League Baseball, pitched the 13th ever perfect game in major league history.
• Vicente Padilla, current Major League Baseball player.
• Erasmo Ramirez, Major League Baseball player.
• J. C. Ramirez, Major League Baseball player.

Boxing

• Román González, boxer, world champion.
• José Alfaro, boxer, world champion.
• Rosendo Alvarez, boxer, former world champion.
• Alexis Argüello, boxer, former three-division world champion.
• Julio Gamboa, lightweight boxer.
• Eddie Gazo, super welterweight world champion boxer.
• Ricardo Mayorga, boxer, former WBA/WBC Welterweight champion and WBC Junior Middleweight world champion.
• David Obregon, professional boxer.
• Juan Palacios, professional boxer, reigning WBC Interim Minimumweight World champion.
• Luis Alberto Pérez, boxer, former IBF world junior-bantamweight champion.
• Adonis Rivas, boxer, former world champion.
• Roberto Arriaza former WBO NABF Welterweight champion.
• Yokasta Valle, current female IBF and WBO junior flyweight champion.

Football (soccer)

• Armando Collado, professional soccer player.
• Denis Espinoza, professional soccer player.
• Shawn Hasani Martin, professional soccer player.
• Emilio Palacios, professional soccer player, Nicaraguan to score a hat-trick in an international competition.
• Wilber Sanchez, professional soccer player.
• Simrry Villareyna, soccer player.
• Samuel Wilson, professional soccer player who currently plays for Atletico Olanchano.

Martial arts

• Diana López, Olympic bronze medalist in the sport of taekwondo.
• Mark López, Olympic silver medalist in the sport of taekwondo.
• Steven López, first official Olympic gold medalist in the sport of taekwondo.
• Jason González, fighter in the UFC Lightweight division

Swimming

• Claudia Poll, swimmer, won the gold medal at the 1996 Summer Olympics.
• Silvia Poll, swimmer, won the silver medal at the 1988 Summer Olympics.

Other sports

• Jessica Aguilera, track and field sprint athlete, competed in the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
• Karla Moreno, weightlifter, competed in the 2008 Beijing Olympics.