This is a list of famous and notable people from Tamil Nadu, India. This would include persons who are known to a large number of people and is not based on the extent of their popularity. Neither is the list viewed from the context of the present. Their fame could be brief, what matters is that they were well-known during the peak of their popularity.

This list also includes emigrant Tamilians and could be taken as list of famous Tamilians

Presidents

• Abdul Kalam, President of India
• S.R. Nathan, President of Singapore
• Ramaswamy Venkataraman, ex-President of India
• C. Rajagopalachari, ex-Governor General of India; writer & statesman

Politics

Leaders

• CN Annadurai, popularly known as Anna, ex-Chief Minister
• M. Karunanidhi, ex-Chief Minister
• Velupillai Prabhakaran, Chief of the LTTE

Politicians

• Mani Shankar Aiyar, Politician; Oil Minister of India
• P. Chidambaram, Politician; Finance Minister of India
• Murasoli Maran , Politician; ex-Industries Minister of India
• Dayanidhi Maran , Politician; IT & Communications Minister of India
• Kalanidhi Maran , Media Baron
• Chidambaram Subramaniam, ex-Steel & Mines Minister of India; Bharat Ratna Awardee & 'Father of the Indian Green Revolution'
• Subramanian Swamy , Politician
• T.T. Krishnamachari , Industrialist & India's first Finance Minister

Business icons

• Shiv Nadar, Chairman & CEO of HCL & Forbes List of Billionaires
• M.A. Chidambaram , Industrialist
• Indra Nooyi , CFO of PepsiCo US
• S. Ramadorai , CEO of Tata Consultancy Services
• R. Chidambaram , Scientific Adviser to Prime Minister; ex-Chairman of Atomic Energy Commission

Scientists/Mathematicians

• Srinivasa Aiyangar Ramanujan, Brilliant 20th century Mathematician
• Sir Chandrasekhara Venkata Raman, 1930 Nobel Prize Winner in Physics
• Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar, 1983 Nobel Prize Winner in Physics
• S.R. Ranganathan, Eminent librarian who devised the five laws of library science
• V.S. Ramachandran, Neuroscientist; Director Professor at UC San Diego
• C.K. Prahalad , Management Expert; University of Michigan Business School
• Marti Subrahmanyam , Finance Expert; Professor at NYU & Board of Directors of Infosys & ICICI
• George Sudarshan, Physics; Contributions to Particle Physics, Quantum Optics & Field Theory

Cinema

• M. Night Shyamalan, Hollywood Filmmaker (Half Tamilian: Father is Malayali and Mother is Tamilian)
• A.R. Rahman, Musician & Composer
• Kamal Haasan, 3-time National Award winning actor
• Mani Ratnam, Leading Indian filmmaker
• Illayaraja, Musician & Composer
• Sivaji Ganesan, Actor
• Hema Malini, Bollywood Actress
• Rekha , Bollywood Actress
• Sridevi , Bollywood Actress

Sports

• Viswanathan Anand, Chess Grand Master
• Vijay Amritraj, International Tennis Champion & Actor
• Mahesh Bhupathi, Tennis player
• Ramesh Krishnan, Tennis player
• Krishnamachari Srikkanth, ex-Indian Cricket Captain
• Srinivasan Venkataraghavan , ex-Indian Cricketer
• Lakshmipathy Balaji, Cricketer
• Nasser Hussain, former English Cricket Captain

Literature

• Thiruvalluvar, Tamil Author & Poet
• Subramanya Bharathy, Tamil Poet
• Bharathidasan, Tamil Poet & Rationalist
• Prof. Karmegha Konar , Tamil Poet
• R.K. Narayan, Noted Indian Author
• R.K. Laxman, Famous Indian Cartoonist & Humorist

Other

• M.S. Subbulakshmi, Carnatic Singer, Bharat Ratna awardee - 'The Nightingale of India'
• Medha Hari, Bharatanatyam dancer
• Shankaracharya of Kanchi , Hindu Seer & Spiritual preceptor

• Varadharajan Mudaliar , known as Vardha Bhai; former prominent underworld kingpin
• Veerappan, Sandalwood smuggler and forest brigand

Pseudo-Tamilians

People who are not natives of Tamil Nadu, but lived/live in Tamil Nadu

• Thanthai Periyar, Kannadiga, Popularly known for his rationalism
• J Jayalalithaa, Kannadiga, Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu; yesteryears actress
• Rajnikanth One of the most popular Tamil Actors; born in Bangalore

See also: List of people by India state