Messianic Jews and Hebrew Christians are mostly persons who consider themselves to be Jewish by birth, ancestry, or culture, but believe that Jesus (whom Messianic Jews generally call Yeshua) is the Messiah, a position rejected by all recognized branches of Judaism. The two movements are distinct but have certain similarities, and there is some overlap between them. Members of congregations and organizations specifically affiliated to the self-described Messianic Jewish movement, which seeks to express its faith in Yeshua in ways that are recognizably Jewish, generally call themselves Messianic Jews. On the other hand, many Catholic and Protestant congregations have members of Jewish birth or ancestry who continue to regard themselves as ethnic Jews: these are generally known as Hebrew Christians, Jewish Christians, or Christian Jews. Although the distinction between Messianic Jews and Hebrew Christians is not rigid, and some persons (such as Moishe Rosen) self-identify in both categories, there are enough differences between the two movements to regard them as separate.

Messianic Jews

• Jonathan Bernis - evangelist.
• Ron Cantor - evangelist, now based in Israel. Associated with the Brownsville Revival in Pensacola, Florida.
• Asher Intrater - evangelist and theologian. Now based in Israel.
• Dan Juster - leading Messianic theologian. (He is also widely respected as a theologian by many Pentecostal and Charismatic Christians, but is firmly in the Messianic camp).

Hebrew Christians

• Boris Berezovsky - exiled Russian billionaire (converted to Russian Orthodoxy)
• Niels Bohr - Danish physicist; (raised Lutheran; mother Jewish)
• Benjamin Disraeli, 1st Earl of Beaconsfield - British Prime Minister (1868; 1874-1880) (raised as an Anglican)
• Malcolm Fraser - Prime Minister of Australia (1975-1983) (raised Presbyterian; mother Jewish).
• Adam Goldberg - American actor; father Jewish, but raised Catholic by his mother
• Jean-Marie Lustiger - Catholic Cardinal and Archbishop of Paris
• Alexander Men - Russian Orthodox priest and martyr.
• Felix Mendelssohn - composer (1809-1847)
• Bernard Nathanson - former abortionist turned pro-life activist. Converted to Catholicism.
• Robert Novak - journalist; convert to Catholicism; calls himself a "cultural Jew."
• Harry Oppenheimer - South African billionaire (converted to Anglicanism)
• Howard Phillips - American conservative activist; founder of U.S. Taxpayers Party / Constitution Party
• Stan Telchin - author. (Formerly a Messianic Jew, but has since written a book and articles critical of the Messianic movement.)
• Richard Wurmbrand (1909-2001) - Romanian underground church leader; founder of Voice of the Martyrs.
• Israel Zolli - Chief Rabbi of Rome; converted to Catholicism

Marginal

(Persons who use both labels to describe themselves)

• Michael Brown - writer and theologian; for several years he was one of the leaders of the Brownsville Revival centered on the Brownsville Assembly of God in Pensacola, Florida.
• Arnold Fruchtenbaum - theologian
• Zola Levitt - author and televangelist
• Steve Myers - conservative political commentator, founder of Radio Steve and The American Renewal Foundation, and publisher of Page One News and From Here to Reality. Once trained as a rabbi; became Christian in 1982.
• Moishe Rosen - founder of Jews for Jesus
• Jonathan Sarfati - scientist and creationist theologian.