List of people from Charleston, South Carolina

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):

Academia

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
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
Lewis Timothy (1699–1738), first American librarian
William Charles Wells (1757–1817), physician

Art and architecture

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

Athletics

Jarrell Brantley (born 1996), basketball player
Luther Broughton (born 1974), NFL player
Nehemiah Broughton (born 1982), NFL player
Kwame Brown (born 1982), basketball player
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), USL player
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

Business

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

Entertainment

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
Angry Grandpa (1950–2017), internet personality
Frank Birnbaum (1922–2005), 20th century classical composer and Jewish cantor
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
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
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
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

Law

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
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

Literature and journalism

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

Military figures

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

Politics

William Aiken Jr. (1806–1887), Governor of South Carolina
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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