List of people from Cincinnati

This is a list of notable residents of Cincinnati, Ohio.

This is a dynamic list and may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. You can help by adding missing items with reliable sources.

Politics

William Howard Taft

• Stan Aronoff – member of Ohio Senate 1967–1996, its president from 1989–96
• William Evans Arthur (1825–1897) – born in Cincinnati, United States Congressman from Kentucky
• Steve Austria – Republican Congressman, 2009–2013
• Jess L. Baily – United States Ambassador to North Macedonia, 2015–2019
• Walt Bachrach – long-serving Mayor of Cincinnati
• Ken Blackwell – former mayor of Cincinnati 1999–2007, Republican, Ohio Secretary of State and unsuccessful 2006 candidate for Governor of Ohio
• James G. Birney – abolitionist and Liberty Party presidential candidate
• John Boehner – Congressman and former Speaker of the House
• William K. Bond – Whig Congressman, 1849–1853
• Stanley E. Bowdle – Democratic Congressman, 1913–1915
• John Bridgeland – lawyer and activist
• Tom Brinkman – Republican Ohio House of Representatives member
• Ethan Allen Brown – 7th Governor of Ohio
• Frank Brogan – 15th Lieutenant Governor of Florida
• Henry Francis Bryan – United States Navy Rear Admiral and the 17th governor of American Samoa
• Jacob Burnet – U.S. Senator, 1828–1831
• Phillip Burton – Democratic Congressman from California
• Benjamin Butterworth – Republican Congressman, 1879–1883, 1885–1891
• Mary Edith Campbell – Suffragette, Board of Education member
• Samuel Fenton Cary – Congressman and temperance movement leader
• John Cranley – former mayor of Cincinnati, 2013–2022
• Steve Chabot – Republican Congressman, 1995–2009; 2011–2023
• Thomas R. Chandler – perennial candidate
• Donald D. Clancy – former Republican Congressman
• Levi Coffin – Abolitionist, member of the Underground Railroad
• Aaron H. Conrow – Confederate congressman and general
• Moses Dickson – Abolitionist leader
• David T. Disney – Democratic Congressman, 1849–1855
• Ozro J. Dodds – Democratic Congressman, 1872–1873
• Steve Driehaus – Democratic Congressman, 2009–2011
• Alexander Duncan – physician, Democratic Congressman, 1837–1841, 1843–1845
• Thomas O. Edwards – Whig Congressman, 1847–1849
• Edwin Einstein – Republican Congressman from New York, 1879–1881
• Richard Kenneth Fox – United States Ambassador to Trinidad and Tobago, 1977–1979
• George Fries – physician, Democratic Congressman, 1845–1849
• James W. Gazlay – Republican Congressman, 1823–1825
• Thomas Geoghegan – labor lawyer
• John J. Gilligan – former Governor of Ohio
• Herman P. Goebel – Republican Congressman, 1903–1911
• Bill Gradison – Republican Congressman, former mayor of Cincinnati
• Buddy Gray – activist and social worker
• William S. Groesbeck – lawyer, Democratic Congressman, 1857–1859
• John A. Gurley – Republican Congressman, 1859–1863
• George W. Hayes – slave, Republican Ohio House of Representatives member
• William E. Hess – Republican Congressman, 1929–1937, 1939–1949, 1951–1961
• Dave Hobson – former Republican congressman
• Cynthia Hogan – counsel to Joe Biden
• Henry Thomas Hunt – former mayor of Cincinnati, 1912–1913
• Andy Ireland – Democrat/Republican Congressman from Florida, 1977–1993
• B. Todd Jones lawyer, Director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives 2011–2015
• Joel Hills Johnson - Utah Territorial legislator, 1849-1850
• William J. Keating – former Republican Congressman, brother of Charles Keating
• Simon L. Leis, Jr. – Hamilton County, Ohio prosecutor and sheriff
• Mark Lippert – former ambassador to South Korea
• Nicholas Longworth – former Speaker of the House and Majority Leader
• Charlie Luken – former Congressman and Mayor of Cincinnati
• Tom Luken – former Congressman
• Greg Landsman – Democratic Congressman, 2023–
• Robert Todd Lytle – Congressman, 1833–1835
• Mark L. Mallory – former mayor of Cincinnati, 2005–2013
• William L. Mallory, Sr. – first African-American Ohio House of Representatives majority leader
• Sam Malone – former Cincinnati city councilman
• Lawrence Maxwell, Jr. – United States Solicitor General, 1893–1895
• Neil H. McElroy – Secretary of Defense, 1957–1959
• John McLean – Congressman, 1813–16, U.S. Postmaster General, 1823–1829, U.S. Supreme Court justice, 1829–1861
• Alexander C. Mitchell – Republican congressman from Kansas, 1911
• Tom Mooney – teacher, labor union activist
• Harold G. Mosier – Democratic congressman, 1937–1939
• Edward Follansbee Noyes – Governor of Ohio, Ambassador to France
• Kabaka Oba – civil rights activist
• Lucy Evelyn Peabody – conservation activist
• Aaron F. Perry – Congressman, 1871–1872
• Rob Portman – Congressman, United States Trade Representative; Director of Office of Management and Budget; U.S. Senator 2011–2023
• Todd Portune – former Cincinnati city councilman
• Trey Radel – former Republican Congressman from Florida
• James B. Ray – Governor of Indiana, 1825–1831
• Lindsay Reynolds – chief of staff to First Lady of the United States Melania Trump
• Carl West Rich – Republican Congressman, three-time mayor of Cincinnati
• Eugene P. Ruehlmann – Mayor of Cincinnati, 1967–1971
• Jerry Rubin – political activist, Chicago Seven
• Charles W. Sawyer – United States Secretary of Commerce, 1948–1953 under President Harry Truman
• Milton Sayler – Cincinnati city councilman, Congressman, 1873–1879
• Bob Schaffer – former Republican Congressman from Colorado
• Jean Schmidt – Republican Congresswoman, 2005–2013; Ohio State Senator 2001–2004, 2021–
• Bob Schuler – Ohio State Senator, 2002–2009
• P.G. Sittenfeld – former Cincinnati city councilman, convicted of felony bribery
• Kathleen Sebelius – Governor of Kansas 2003–2009, United States Secretary of Health and Human Services 2009–14
• William B. Shattuc – Congressman, 1897–1903
• Christopher Smitherman – former Cincinnati city councilman
• Potter Stewart – lawyer, U.S. Supreme Court justice, 1958–1981
• Bellamy Storer (1796–1875) – lawyer, Congressman, 1835–1837
• Bellamy Storer (1847–1922) – Congressman, 1891–1895, diplomat
• Bob Taft – Governor of Ohio, 1999–2007
• Charles Phelps Taft II – Mayor of Cincinnati, 1955–1957
• Robert A. Taft – Senate leader; son of William Howard Taft
• Robert Taft Jr. – Congressman 1963–1965, 1967–1971; U.S. Senator 1971–1976
• William Howard Taft – 27th President of the United States, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court

Business

Ted Turner

• Marcellus Bailey – patent attorney for Alexander Graham Bell
• Emma Beckwith – bookkeeper, optician, inventor, suffragette
• Powel Crosley Jr. – inventor and entrepreneur
• Francis L. Dale – lawyer, Cincinnati Reds owner, Republican Party operative
• Maxwell Dane – advertising executive
• Sam Dunham – Executive Chef at Red Cedar Flats
• James Gamble – co-founder of Procter & Gamble
• Alfred T. Goshorn – businessman, civic booster, founder of the Cincinnati Red Stockings, the first professional baseball team
• Lou Groen – entrepreneur, inventor of the Filet-O-Fish sandwich
• Kevin Harrington – infomercial entrepreneur
• Bob Herbold – former executive vice president and chief operating officer of Microsoft Corporation
• Louise McCarren Herring – leader of the credit union movement
• Charles R. Hook Sr. – steel industrialist
• Ronald Howes – inventor of the Easy-Bake Oven
• Jeffrey R. Immelt – CEO of General Electric
• Charles Keating – banker involved in savings and loan crisis of the 1980s
• Jim Koch – founder of Boston Beer Company
• Bernard Kroger – founder of the Kroger supermarket chain
• Chris Kempczinski – President & CEO of McDonald's Corporation (born in Boston, raised in Cincinnati)
• Isaac Herbert Kempner – founder of Imperial Sugar
• James Michael Lafferty – CEO of Fine Hygienic Holding. Former Regional CEO for Procter & Gamble, Coca-Cola and British American Tobacco; Olympic Track and Field Coach
• Harry Ward Leonard – electrical engineer and inventor
• Carl Lindner, Jr. – businessman and co-founder of United Dairy Farmers; founder of American Financial Group
• William F. Nast – diplomat, railroad businessman
• Henry Nicholas – communications technology entrepreneur
• Stephen Sanger – former chairman of General Mills
• Marge Schott – women's business pioneer; former owner of the Cincinnati Reds
• David Sinton – pig iron industrialist
• Ted Turner – founder of Turner Broadcasting System
• David Uible – businessman and county commissioner
• Douglas A. Warner III – banker
• Joseph Ray Watkins – born in city, was an entrepreneur and founder of Watkins Incorporated
• Luman Watson – 19th century clockmaker
• Granville Woods – inventor
• Vivek Ramaswamy – biopharmaceutical entrepreneur, Republican Party presidential candidate

Science

Albert Sabin

• Cleveland Abbe – meteorologist
• C. David Allis – geneticist
• Richard Allison – Surgeon General of the Army
• Ellen Harding Baker – astronomer and teacher
• Charles J. Bates – food scientist
• Amanda Bauer – astronomer
• George Robert Carruthers – physicist
• Robin T. Cotton – pediatrician
• Naomi Deutsch – nurse and educator
• Michael Dine – theoretical physicist
• William Doherty – entomologist
• Joseph Leo Doob – mathematician
• Ronald G. Douglas – mathematician and university provost
• Daniel Drake – physician and writer
• Richard S. Hamilton – mathematician
• Olive Hazlett – mathematician
• Henry Heimlich – co-developer of the Heimlich maneuver
• Karl Gordon Henize – NASA astronaut
• Robert Kistner – gynecologist, textbook author
• Thomas Samuel Kuhn – science historian
• John Mauchly – physicist, co-designer of ENIAC
• Ann Moore – pediatric nurse, inventor of the Snugli baby carrier
• Sharlotte Neely -anthropologist
• Louis Harry Newburgh - Professor of Clinical Investigation
• Joseph Ransohoff – neurosurgeon
• Samuel Mitja Rapoport — biochemist, Communist activist in Cincinnati in the 1930s
• Tom Rapoport – cell biologist at the Harvard Medical School
• Marion Rawson – archaeologist
• George Rieveschl – inventor of Benadryl
• Rae Robertson-Anderson – biophysicist
• Albert Sabin – discoverer of oral polio vaccine

Journalism and media

Dan Patrick

Tony Snow

• Jon Arthur – syndicated radio personality
• Gamaliel Bailey – journalist and abolitionist
• Delilah L. Beasley – first African American woman to be published regularly in a major metropolitan newspaper
• Marty Brennaman – Cincinnati Reds radio play-by-play announcer 1974–2019
• Thom Brennaman – sports broadcaster
• Gary Burbank – radio personality
• Nick Clooney – journalist, anchorman, and television host, father of George Clooney
• Gail Collins – columnist for The New York Times
• The Cool Ghoul, real name Dick VonHoene – news anchor, talk show and horror-movie show host
• Bill Cunningham – attorney, radio and television talk show host
• Paul Dixon – Cincinnati-area daytime television host
• Elizabeth Drew – political journalist and author
• Sara Eisen – CNBC news anchor
• Courtis Fuller – local news anchor
• Bill Hemmer – Fox News Channel anchor and correspondent; former CNN anchor and reporter
• Steven L. Herman – Voice of America bureau chief and correspondent
• Derrin Horton – sportscaster
• Mary Coffin Johnson - newspaper publisher, activist
• Joe Kernen – CNBC news anchor
• Dan La Botz – journalist, author and socialist activist
• Alan Light – former editor of VIBE and Spin
• Ruth Lyons – radio and television personality
• Edward Deering Mansfield – 19th-century newspaper editor
• William Maxwell – engraver, printer, publisher of the first newspaper in Cincinnati
• Mike McConnell – syndicated radio talk show host
• John Roll McLean – owner and publisher of The Cincinnati Enquirer and The Washington Post
• Washington McLean – owner and publisher of The Cincinnati Enquirer and The Washington Post
• Erin McPike – White House Correspondent for Independent Journal Review, formerly with CNN and NBC News
• David Mendell – journalist and Barack Obama biographer
• Dan Patrick – sportscaster and radio personality (from Mason, Ohio, a suburb of Cincinnati)
• Virginia Payne – radio actress
• Wally Phillips – radio personality
• James S. Robbins – opinion journalist, author and scholar
• Glenn Ryle – television personality
• Al Schottelkotte – television news anchor and reporter
• Bob Shreve – early television personality
• Larry Smith – Puppeteer and children's television host
• Tony Snow – news commentator, White House Press Secretary for George W. Bush administration
• Dale Sommers – radio personality also known as "the Truckin' Bozo"
• Estelle Sternberger – radio commentator and women's activist
• Anne Marie Tiernon – local news anchor
• Linda Vester – Fox News Channel anchor
• Carolyn Washburn – former vice president and editor of The Cincinnati Enquirer
• Liz Wheeler – conservative political commentator, formerly with One America News Network
• Todd Wright – Sports radio personality
• Frederick Ziv – television producer and syndication pioneer

Artists and entertainment

Acting, motion pictures, and television

Doris Day

Roy Rogers

Steven Spielberg

• Kevin Allison – actor, sketch comedian (The State)
• Patti Astor – Underground film actress
• Theda Bara – silent film actress
• Powhatan Beaty – American Civil War soldier and stage actor
• Louise Beavers – actress
• Andy Blankenbuehler – dancer and choreographer
• Ron Bohmer – singer and actor
• Zach Bolton – voice actor and ADR director affiliated with Funimation
• Mark Boone Junior – actor
• Lee Bowman – film and television actor
• Bob Braun – local television and radio personality
• Don Brodie – actor and director
• Nana Bryant – actress
• Mabel Brownell – stage actress
• Rebecca Budig – soap opera and television actress
• Marty Callner – music video director
• Rocky Carroll – actor (NCIS)
• Marguerite Clark – stage and silent film actress
• Majel Coleman – actress and model
• Ray Combs – host of Family Feud, 1988–1994
• Walter Connolly – film actor
• Shamika Cotton – actress
• Chase Crawford – actor and producer
• Joel Crothers – actor
• Raymond Garfield Dandridge – poet
• Doris Day – popular singer and actress
• Tim de Zarn – actor
• Gabrielle Dennis – actress (The Game)
• John Diehl – actor
• John Dierkes – actor
• Pamella D'Pella – actress
• Carmen Electra (born Tara Leigh Patrick) – actress, singer
• Vera-Ellen – actress and dancer (White Christmas)
• Susan Floyd – actress
• Trixie Friganza – vaudeville and film actress
• Stephen Geoffreys – film, stage, and gay pornography actor
• Sidney M. Goldin – silent film director
• Charles Guggenheim – movie director
• Julie Hagerty – model and actress (Airplane!)
• Pauline Hall – stage actress and dancer
• Porter Hall – actor (Miracle on 34th Street)
• Emily Harper – actress
• Maurice Hegeman – Broadway musical actor, lyricist, and playwright
• Tiffany Hines – actress
• Libby Holman – torch singer and actress
• Tonya Ingram – poet, disability activist, mental health advocate
• IShowSpeed, real name Darren Watkins Jr. – YouTube personality, streamer, rapper, and songwriter
• Arthur V. Johnson – silent film actor and director
• Lanny Joon – actor
• Noah Keen – actor
• Dagney Kerr – actress
• Mike Kleinhenz – voice actor
• Ida Koverman – Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer film executive
• Eric Lange – actor (Lost and Victorious)
• Dorothy Layton – actress
• KiKi Layne – actress
• Hal Le Roy – dancer, singer, stage actor
• Hudson Leick – actress
• Edward LeSaint – silent film actor and director
• Marcia Lewis – actress
• Vicki Lewis – actress (NewsRadio)
• Floriana Lima – actress
• Todd Louiso – actor
• Gina Malo – actress
• Irene Manning – actress and singer
• Jack Manning – actor
• Markiplier, real name Mark Edward Fischbach – YouTube personality, originally from Honolulu, later moved to Los Angeles
• Ann May – silent film actress
• Eve McVeagh – actress
• Benjamin S. Mears – actor and playwright
• Blanche Mehaffey – showgirl and actress
• Gertrude Michael – film and television actress
• Fanny Midgley – silent film actress
• Harry F. Millarde – silent film actor and director
• Marjorie Monaghan – actress
• J. Madison Wright Morris – actress and model
• Kathryn Morris – actress (Cold Case)
• Sydney Morton – actor
• Heidi Mueller – actress
• Pamela Myers – Broadway and television actress
• Stephen Nichols – actor
• Luke Null – comedian, cast member on Saturday Night Live
• Gary Owen – stand-up comedian and actor
• Jay Patterson – actor
• Jo Ellen Pellman - actress
• Richard M. Powell – television and film screenwriter
• Tyrone Power – actor (The Mark of Zorro, Witness for the Prosecution)
• Lee Roy Reams – Broadway actor and director, born in Covington, Kentucky
• Theresa Rebeck – television (NYPD Blue) and film screenwriter
• Theodore Reed – movie director
• Hari Rhodes – actor
• Sy Richardson – actor
• Diana-Maria Riva – actress
• Dennis Roady – actor and YouTube personality
• Wendy Robie – actress
• Roy Rogers – actor and singer, iconic western film star
• Bonnie Rotten – porn star
• Brenda Scott – actress
• Tom Segura – comedian
• Iva Shepard – silent film actress
• Gertrude Short – silent film actress
• Hal Sparks – actor and comedian
• Shane Sparks – choreographer
• Steven Spielberg – Oscar-winning film director
• Jerry Springer – mayor of Cincinnati, talk show host (born in London, of Austrian parents)
• Pat Stanley – actress, dancer, and singer
• Galadriel Stineman – actress
• Brette Taylor – actress and singer-songwriter
• Amanda Tepe – actress
• Jordan Trovillion – actress and singer
• Evelyn Venable – actress
• Daniel von Bargen – actor
• Patricia Wettig – actress and playwright
• Robert J. Wilke – actor
• Katt Williams – stand-up comedian and actor
• Jennie Worrell – 19th century burlesque actress
• Rudy Wurlitzer – screenwriter
• Amy Yasbeck – actress
• Wolfgang Zilzer – actor

Music

Nick Lachey

Andy Williams

• Marty Balin – founder and original lead singer of Jefferson Airplane
• Matt Berninger – lead singer of The National
• LaKiesha Berri – R&B singer
• Boom Bip – electronic musician
• Andy Biersack – rock singer (Black Veil Brides)
• Bobby Borchers – country music singer-songwriter
• Earl Bostic – jazz and rhythm and blues alto saxophonist
• Mia Carruthers – singer-songwriter
• Mel Carter – R&B singer
• Bootsy Collins – Parliament Funkadelic funk bass player
• Danny Cox – folk singer/songwriter
• Gustav Dannreuther – violinist and conductor
• Hal Davis – songwriter and record producer for Motown Records
• Carl Dobkins, Jr. – rockabilly singer
• George Duning – trumpet and piano player
• Fat Jon – hip hop producer
• Frank Foster – jazz saxophonist, composer and arranger
• Stephen Foster – songwriter and arranger
• Homer and Jethro – Grammy-winning country comedy duo
• H-Bomb Ferguson – jump blues singer
• Henry Fillmore – march music composer
• Peter Frampton – musician, previously lived in Cincinnati
• Jane French – singer-songwriter
• Reed Ghazala – electronic musician and instrument builder
• Larry Hall – singer ("Sandy")
• Fred Hersch – jazz pianist
• Hi-Tek – rapper and producer
• Joel Hills Johnson - gospel songwriter called "Zion's Songster"
• Gloria Jones – singer-songwriter
• Grandpa Jones – entertainer, banjo player and "old time" country and gospel singer
• Kenna – electronic musician
• Steve Kipner – songwriter ("Let's Get Physical")
• Drew Lachey – winner of Dancing With The Stars
• Nick Lachey – lead singer of 98 Degrees
• James Levine – conductor
• Scott Lindroth – composer
• Lonnie Mack – blues artist
• Arlo McKinley – singer-songwriter
• Len Mink – Christian evangelist and musician
• Sonny Moorman – blues guitarist
• Nicole C. Mullen – songwriter and choreographer
• Naked Cowboy – busker
• Curtis Peagler – jazz saxophonist
• Ralph Penland – jazz drummer
• Awadagin Pratt - concert pianist
• Tyler Ramsey – guitarist for Band of Horses
• Antonio "L.A." Reid – record executive
• Katie Reider – singer-songwriter
• Sheldon Reynolds – R&B guitarist
• George Russell – jazz pianist and composer
• Mamie Smith – blues singer
• Sudan Archives — violinist and R&B singer
• Merle Travis – country and western singer, songwriter, and guitarist
• Constance Cochnower Virtue - composer
• Speed Walton – hip hop musician
• David Wolfenberger – singer-songwriter
• Andy Williams – pop singer
• Philippe Wynne – lead singer for The Spinners

Groups

• 98 Degrees – boy band of the 1990s
• Afghan Whigs – rock band
• Ass Ponys – rock band
• The Bears – rock band
• Beneath the Sky – metalcore band
• Black Veil Brides – rock band
• Blessid Union of Souls – rock band
• Buffalo Killers – rock band
• The Casinos – doo-wop group
• The Deele – R&B/Soul group
• Bo Donaldson and The Heywoods – 1970s pop band
• Ellery – alt-folk band
• Five Deez – Hip Hop group
• Foxy Shazam – rock band
• The Greenhornes – rock band
• Heartless Bastards – indie rock band
• The Isley Brothers – R&B/soul group
• The Lemon Pipers – pop band from the 1960s
• The National – indie rock band
• Otis Williams and the Charms – doo-wop vocal group
• Over the Rhine – rock band
• RyanDan – dual operatic singer/gospel
• Pure Prairie League – pop/country band
• Pomegranates – indie rock band
• The Students – doo-wop group
• Walk the Moon – indie-rock band
• Wussy – indie rock band

Authors

Harriet Beecher Stowe

• Karen Ackerman – children's author
• Melissa Elizabeth Riddle Banta (1834–1907) – poet
• Thomas Berger – author
• Christopher Bollen – novelist
• Fredric Brown – author
• Alice Cary – poet
• Phoebe Cary – poet
• Stuart Archer Cohen – novelist
• Sharon Creech – novelist
• Michael Cunningham – novelist (The Hours)
• Nikki Giovanni – poet and author
• Shari Goldhagen – novelist
• Richard Hague – poet, author and educator
• Kenneth Koch – New York School poet
• Tim Lucas – film critic, novelist, author
• William Matthews – poet
• William Holmes McGuffey – educator, author of McGuffey Readers
• Karen Marie Moning – paranormal romance/thriller author
• David Quammen – science and travel writer
• Susan Elizabeth Phillips – author
• Mike Resnick – Hugo Award-winning science fiction writer
• Helen Hooven Santmyer – writer
• Stanley Schmidt – science fiction author and magazine editor
• Curtis Sittenfeld – novelist
• Henry Thew Stevenson – academic and writer
• Harriet Beecher Stowe – author and abolitionist
• Edmund White – author
• Jonathan Valin – novelist

Visual artists

Snow in New York by Robert Henri

• James Presley Ball – photographer and abolitionist
• Karl Bissinger – photographer
• Robert Frederick Blum – lithographer
• Jim Borgman – Pulitzer Prize-winning editorial cartoonist
• Jim Dine – pop artist
• Robert S. Duncanson – painter and muralist
• Frank Duveneck – figure and portrait painter
• Elliot Earls – graphic designer
• Alfred Oscar Elzner – architect
• Suzanne Farrell – ballerina
• Tim Folzenlogen – realist painter
• William H. Fry – Aesthetic movement wood carver and gilder
• Frank J. Girardin – painter
• Daniel Greene – painter
• Harry Hake – architect
• Samuel Hannaford – architect, designer of Cincinnati's Music Hall
• Charley Harper – wildlife artist
• Robert Henri – painter, leader of the Ashcan School movement
• Ida Holterhoff Holloway – painter
• Charles S. Kaelin – American Impressionist painter
• Graham Ingels – comic book and magazine illustrator
• Thomas Rogers Kimball – architect
• Janis Crystal Lipzin – multi-media artist, filmmaker, photographer
• Gary Lord (artist) – faux painter and decorator
• Mary Louise McLaughlin – ceramic painter and studio potter
• Lewis Henry Meakin – American Impressionist painter
• Henry Mosler – painter
• Alfred B. Mullett – architect
• Frank Harmon Myers – painter
• Charles Henry Niehaus – sculptor
• Thomas Satterwhite Noble – painter
• Elizabeth Nourse – painter
• Diane Pfister – artist and painter
• Edward Henry Potthast – American Impressionist painter
• Hiram Powers – sculptor
• John Ruthven – painter of wildlife
• Kataro Shirayamadani – ceramic painter
• Sheida Soleimani – Iranian-American multidisciplinary artist
• Lilly Martin Spencer – painter
• Francis Marion Stokes – architect
• Maria Longworth Nichols Storer – founder of the Rookwood Pottery Company
• Adolph Strauch – landscape architect
• John Robinson Tait – landscape painter
• Tony Tasset – contemporary artist
• Mary Lee Tate – African American painter, educator
• Tom Tsuchiya – sculptor
• John Henry Twachtman – impressionist landscape painter
• Leon Van Loo – photographer
• Edward Charles Volkert – American Impressionist painter
• Tom Wesselmann – pop artist

Sports

Baseball

Buck Ewing

Ken Griffey Jr.

Miller Huggins

Barry Larkin

Kevin Youkilis

• Mike Adams – MLB outfielder
• Ethan Allen – MLB player, coach at Yale University
• Nick Altrock – MLB pitcher
• Charlie Armbruster – MLB catcher
• Skeeter Barnes – MLB utility player
• Al Bashang – MLB outfielder
• Buddy Bell - MLB third baseman and manager
• Charlie Bell – MLB pitcher
• David Bell – MLB third baseman and Cincinnati Reds manager
• Frank Bell – MLB player
• Mike Bell – MLB third baseman
• Andrew Benintendi – MLB outfielder
• Ralph Birkofer – MLB pitcher
• Red Bittmann – MLB second baseman
• Ethan Blackaby – MLB outfielder
• Jim Bolger – MLB outfielder
• Barry Bonnell – MLB player
• Daryl Boston – MLB outfielder
• Buzz Boyle – MLB outfielder
• Jack Boyle – MLB player
• Jimmy Boyle – MLB catcher
• Andrew Brackman – former MLB pitcher
• Ed Brinkman – MLB player
• Jim Brosnan – MLB pitcher, author of The Long Season and Pennant Race
• Nelson Burbrink – MLB catcher and scout
• Moe Burtschy – MLB pitcher
• Jack Bushelman – MLB pitcher
• Flea Clifton – MLB pitcher
• Joe Crotty – MLB catcher
• Bob Daughters – MLB player
• Zach Day – MLB pitcher
• Dory Dean – MLB pitcher
• Drew Denson – MLB first baseman
• Red Dooin – MLB player and manager
• Bill Doran – MLB second baseman
• Richard Dotson – MLB pitcher
• Dick Drott – MLB pitcher
• Louis Dula – Negro leagues pitcher
• Leon Durham – MLB player
• Joe Ellick – MLB player
• Buck Ewing – Hall of Fame catcher and manager
• Bill Faul – MLB pitcher
• Tom Flanigan – MLB pitcher
• Danny Friend – MLB pitcher
• Charlie Grant – Negro leagues second baseman
• Bob Gilks – MLB player
• Ed Glenn – MLB player
• Charlie Gould – National League baseball player
• Ken Griffey Jr. – MLB outfielder, Baseball Hall of Famer (born in Donora, Pennsylvania, but grew up in Cincinnati)
• Tommy Griffith – MLB outfielder
• Heinie Groh – MLB third baseman
• Josh Harrison – MLB third baseman
• Dan Hayden – Miami University (OH) baseball coach
• August Herrmann – Cincinnati Reds president, 1903–1920
• Johnny Hodapp – MLB infielder
• Ed Hug – MLB catcher
• Miller Huggins – MLB player; Hall of Fame manager for the New York Yankees
• Roy Hughes – MLB infielder
• Tom Hume – MLB pitcher and coach
• Adam Hyzdu – MLB and Japanese baseball outfielder
• Larry Jacobus – MLB pitcher
• Betsy Jochum – All-American Girls Professional Baseball League player
• Lance Johnson – MLB player
• David Justice – MLB player
• Al Kaiser – MLB outfielder
• Dorothy Kamenshek – All-American Girls Professional Baseball League player
• Scott Klingenbeck – MLB pitcher
• Eddie Kolb – MLB pitcher, businessman
• Al Lakeman – MLB player
• Margie Lang – All-American Girls Professional Baseball League player
• Barry Larkin – MLB shortstop, Baseball Hall of Famer
• Stephen Larkin – MLB first baseman
• Steve Larkin – MLB pitcher
• Charlie Leesman – MLB pitcher
• Dick LeMay – MLB pitcher
• Jensen Lewis – MLB pitcher
• Jim Leyritz – MLB catcher
• Bill Long – MLB pitcher
• Garry Maddox – MLB outfielder
• Lee Magee – MLB player and manager
• Art Mahaffey – MLB pitcher
• Lefty Marr – MLB third baseman
• Len Matuszek – MLB first baseman
• Wally Mayer – MLB catcher
• Roger McDowell – MLB pitcher and coach
• Bobby Mitchell – MLB pitcher
• Ralph Miller – MLB pitcher
• Ron Moeller – MLB pitcher
• Bobby Moore – MLB player who is currently a coach for the Atlanta Braves organization
• Red Munson – MLB catcher
• Charles Murphy – sportswriter, owner of the Chicago Cubs
• Tim Naehring – MLB player
• Russ Nagelson – MLB player
• Chris Nichting – MLB pitcher
• Bob Nieman – MLB player
• Russ Nixon – MLB player and manager (born in Cleves, a suburb of Cincinnati)
• Joe Nuxhall – pitcher, later long-time color commentator for Cincinnati Reds games (from Hamilton, Ohio)
• Brian O'Connor MLB pitcher
• Ron Oester – MLB player
• Jayhawk Owens – MLB player
• Dave Parker – MLB player, born in Mississippi, grew up in Cincinnati
• George Paynter – MLB outfielder
• George Pechiney – MLB pitcher
• Dave Pember – MLB pitcher
• Shannon Penn – MLB designated hitter
• Eduardo Pérez – MLB player; son of Tony Pérez
• Jack Pfiester – MLB pitcher
• Cy Pfirman – MLB umpire
• Icicle Reeder – MLB outfielder
• Tuffy Rhodes – MLB and Japanese player
• Billy Riley – MLB player outfielder
• Pete Rose – All-Star MLB player, holds record for most hits in a career
• Pete Rose Jr. – minor league baseball player
• Jeff Russell – MLB pitcher
• Scott Sauerbeck – MLB pitcher
• Admiral Schlei – MLB catcher
• Jimmy Shevlin – MLB first baseman
• John Shoupe – 19th-century shortstop
• Joe Smith – MLB player
• Rudy Sommers – MLB pitcher
• Ed Sperber – MLB outfielder
• Jake Stenzel – MLB outfielder
• Shannon Stewart – MLB player
• Eric Surkamp – MLB pitcher
• Brent Suter – MLB pitcher
• Pat Tabler – MLB player and baseball analyst
• Kent Tekulve – MLB pitcher
• Bill Wegman – MLB pitcher
• Marie Wegman – All-American Girls Professional Baseball League player
• Alex Wimmers – MLB pitcher
• Jimmy Wynn – MLB outfielder
• George Yeager – MLB catcher
• Kevin Youkilis – All-Star MLB first and third baseman
• Don Zimmer – MLB player and manager

Basketball

• Luke Babbitt – NBA player
• Dennis Bell – NBA player
• Tom Boerwinkle – NBA player
• Ric Bucher – ESPN NBA analyst
• Rick Calloway – NBA player
• Jeremy Chappell – Robert Morris and European league player
• Kwan Cheatham (born 1995) - basketball player in the Israel Basketball Premier League
• Semaj Christon – Xavier University and NBA Development League player
• Mick Cronin – UCLA and University of Cincinnati basketball coach
• Ralph Crosthwaite – Western Kentucky University and NBA player
• Erik Daniels – University of Kentucky and NBA player
• Dee Davis – WNBA player
• Derrek Dickey – NBA player and analyst
• Justin Doellman – Xavier University and Spanish League player
• Josh Duncan – Xavier University and European league player
• Jacob Eisner – Israeli basketball player
• Robin Freeman – 1955 and 1956 All-American at Ohio State
• Yancy Gates – player for Ironi Nahariya of the Israeli Premier League
• Matt Harpring – NBA player
• Tyrone Hill – Xavier University and NBA player
• Robert Hite – NBA player
• Rick Hughes – NBA player
• Brandon Hunter – NBA player
• Kannard Johnson – NBA player
• Pat Kelsey – College of Charleston Cougars men's basketball head coach
• Shane Larkin – plays in the Turkish Basketbol Süper Ligi for Anadolu Efes S.K. , son of Barry Larkin
• Brad Loesing – Wofford and European league player
• Mike Mathis – NBA referee
• Kelsey Mitchell – 2018 Big Ten Women's Basketball Player of the Year for Ohio State
• Louis Orr – NBA player and college coach
• Dave Robisch – NBA and ABA player
• Kelly Schumacher – WNBA basketball player
• Jordan Sibert – NBA player
• Mel Thomas – UConn player
• LaSalle Thompson – NBA player
• Bob Wiesenhahn – NBA player
• Devin Williams – West Virginia and NBA G League player

Boxing

• Tim Austin – 1992 Olympic bronze medalist and bantamweight boxing champion
• Adrien Broner – light welterweight boxer
• Ezzard Charles – heavyweight champion boxer
• Larry Donald – Olympic and professional heavyweight boxer
• George Foster – featherweight boxer
• Billy Joiner – heavyweight boxer and trainer
• Freddie Miller – featherweight boxer
• Aaron Pryor – world light welterweight champion boxer
• Brad Rone – journeyman boxer who died in the ring
• Ronald Siler – 2004 Olympic flyweight boxer
• Wallace Smith – lightweight boxer
• Reggie Strickland – has the most known losses of any boxer in history
• Tony Tubbs – heavyweight boxer
• Rau'shee Warren – bantamweight boxer
• Ricardo Williams – 2000 Olympic light welterweight silver medalist boxer
• Harry Woodson – 19th century boxer

Football

Roger Staubach

• Alex Albright – NFL linebacker
• Kevin Allen – NFL offensive tackle
• Darren Anderson – NFL cornerback
• Mel Anthony – Michigan and CFL fullback; 1965 Rose Bowl MVP
• Steve Apke – replacement player during 1987 NFL players' strike
• B.J. Askew – NFL fullback
• Alex Bannister – NFL wide receiver
• Darren Barnett – NFL cornerback
• Ron Beagle – College Football Hall of Fame end for Navy
• Bruce Beekley – NFL linebacker
• Ed Biles – NFL Houston Oilers head coach, 1981–1983
• Rocky Boiman – Notre Dame and NFL linebacker, radio host
• Vaughn Booker – NFL defensive end
• Jim Boyle – NFL offensive tackle
• Colin Branch – NFL safety
• Tyrone Brown – NFL and CFL wide receiver
• Al Brosky – College Football Hall of Fame cornerback
• Dante Brown – NFL running back
• Ricky Brown – NFL linebacker for Boston College and the Oakland Raiders
• Trevor Canfield – NFL offensive lineman
• Tank Carradine – Florida State and NFL defensive tackle
• Brent Celek – NFL tight end
• Garrett Celek – NFL tight end
• Frank Clair – Canadian Football League coach
• Vinnie Clark – NFL cornerback
• Robert Cobb – NFL defensive end
• John Conner – University of Kentucky and New York Jets fullback
• Bob Crable – NFL player, businessman
• Shane Curry – NFL defensive end; murdered in 1992
• Dane Dastillung – American football player
• Jerome Davis – NFL nose tackle
• Wayne Davis – NFL cornerback
• Jerry Doerger – NFL center
• Nate Ebner – Ohio State and NFL New England Patriots safety and 2016 rugby sevens Olympian
• Dixon Edwards – NFL linebacker
• Marc Edwards – NFL fullback
• Ray Edwards – NFL defensive end
• Mark Elder – Eastern Kentucky college football head coach
• Mark Fischer – Purdue and Washington Redskins offensive lineman
• Dave Foley – Ohio State and NFL offensive tackle
• Greg Frey – Ohio State quarterback
• Bob Fry – NFL offensive lineman
• Dave Frye – NFL linebacker
• Bob Goodridge – NFL wide receiver
• Dick Gordon – Pro Bowl wide receiver
• Carlton Gray – NFL cornerback
• Gino Guidugli – University of Cincinnati quarterback
• Darryl Hardy – NFL linebacker
• Maurice Harvey – NFL safety
• Clint Haslerig – Michigan and NFL wide receiver
• Don Hasselbeck – NFL tight end
• Joel Heath – NFL defensive tackle
• Rodney Heath – NFL cornerback
• Mark Herrmann – NFL quarterback
• Jordan Hicks – NFL linebacker
• Alex Higdon – Ohio State and NFL tight end
• Darius Hillary – Wisconsin and NFL cornerback
• Robert Hoernschemeyer – NFL running back
• Jack Hoffman – NFL player
• Sam Hubbard – defensive end for the Ohio State Buckeyes and the Cincinnati Bengals
• Kevin Huber – NFL punter
• Russ Huesman – college football coach
• Tony Hunter – Notre Dame and NFL tight end
• Tom Jackson – NFL player and ESPN analyst (lives in Cincinnati)
• Dan James – NFL and Ohio State offensive lineman
• Melvin Johnson – NFL safety
• Paris Johnson Jr. – Ohio State offensive lineman
• Greg Jones – NFL linebacker
• Michael Jordan – NFL offensive lineman
• Steve Junker – NFL tight end
• Mark Kamphaus – Boston College quarterback
• Eric Kattus – NFL tight end
• Terry Killens – NFL linebacker
• Austin King – NFL center
• Eric Joel Kresser – NFL quarterback
• Luke Kuechly – NFL linebacker; 2013 NFL Defensive Player of the Year
• David Long Jr. – NFL linebacker
• Dante Love – Ball State wide receiver
• Greg Mancz – NFL center
• Michael Matthews – NFL tight end
• Napoleon McCallum – College Football Hall of Fame running back for Navy
• Jake McQuaide – Los Angeles Rams Pro Bowl Long snapper
• Brandon Miree – NFL fullback
• Michael Muñoz – Tennessee offensive tackle
• Justin Murray – NFL offensive tackle
• Leon Murray – Tennessee State quarterback
• Rico Murray – NFL cornerback
• Al Nelson – former NFL cornerback
• Steve Niehaus – first draft choice of NFL Seattle Seahawks; defensive tackle
• Ray Nolting – NFL running back, University of Cincinnati football coach
• Andrew Norwell – NFL offensive lineman, 2017 All-Pro
• David Nugent – NFL defensive lineman
• Tom O'Brien – North Carolina State Wolfpack football head coach
• Antwan Peek – NFL linebacker
• Ahmed Plummer – NFL cornerback (from Wyoming, suburb of Cincinnati)
• P. J. Pope – NFL running back
• DeVier Posey – NFL wide receiver
• George Ratterman – football player
• Reggie Redding – NFL offensive lineman
• Ike Reese – NFL linebacker and radio host
• Jack Reynolds – NFL linebacker
• J. Burton Rix – SMU and Miami (FL) head football coach
• Kurt Rocco – Arena Football League quarterback
• Kyle Rudolph – Minnesota Vikings tight end
• Marcus Rush – NFL linebacker
• Abdul Salaam – NFL defensive tackle
• Greg Scruggs – NFL linebacker
• Mike Sensibaugh – NFL safety
• Tyler Sheehan – NFL and indoor football quarterback
• Ed Shuttlesworth – Michigan and CFL fullback
• Chris Smith – NFL running back
• Sean Smith – NFL defensive end
• Kirk Springs – NFL safety
• Ryan Stanchek – NFL offensive lineman
• Ralph Staub – Cincinnati Bearcats football player and coach
• Roger Staubach – Heisman Trophy-winning Pro Football Hall of Fame quarterback
• Milt Stegall – NFL and CFL wide receiver, Canadian Football Hall of Famer
• Greg Stemrick – NFL cornerback
• Ken Stone – NFL safety
• Zach Strief – NFL offensive lineman
• Dana Stubblefield – NFL defensive tackle
• Steve Sylvester – NFL offensive lineman
• Matthew Teague – NFL and CFL linebacker
• Matt Tennant – NFL offensive lineman
• Steve Tensi – NFL quarterback
• Brian Townsend – NFL linebacker
• DeJuan Tribble – NFL cornerback
• Tom Waddle – NFL wide receiver and football analyst
• Eric Wood – NFL center
• Spencer Ware – NFL running back
• Adolphus Washington – Ohio State and NFL defensive tackle
• John Wiethe – All-Pro NFL guard/linebacker and Cincinnati Bearcats men's basketball head coach, 1946–1952
• Russell Wilson – NFL quarterback and Super Bowl XLVIII Champion
• DeShawn Wynn – NFL running back

Golf

• Steve Flesch (1967-) – professional golfer
• Jim Herman (1977-) - professional golfer
• Bob Lohr (1960-) – professional golfer
• Tom Nieporte (1928-2014) – professional golfer
• Marissa Steen (1989-) – professional golfer
• Brett Wetterich (1973-) – professional golfer

Tennis

• Winona Closterman (1877-1944) – tennis player
• Ruth Sanders Cordes (1890-1968) – tennis player
• Steve DeVries (1964-) – tennis player
• Nat Emerson (1874-1958) – tennis player
• Nicole Gibbs (1993-) – tennis player
• Reuben A. Holden III (1890-1967) – tennis player
• Emmy Kaiser (1990-) – Wheelchair tennis player
• Louis Kuhler (1902-1925) – tennis player
• Paul Kunkel (1903-1977) – amateur tennis player
• Barry MacKay (1935-2012) – tennis player and broadcaster
• Caty McNally (2001-) – tennis player
• Monica Nolan (1913-1995) – tennis player
• Eric Quigley (1989-) – tennis player
• Dudley Sutphin (1875-1926) – tennis player, lawyer
• Bill Talbert (1918-1999) – tennis player and administrator
• Tony Trabert (1930-2021) – tennis player and instructor
• Clara Louise Zinke (1909-1978) – tennis player
• J.J. Wolf (1998 - ) – tennis player
• Peyton Stearns (2001 - ) – tennis player

Other

Jonathan "Jon Moxley" Good

Rose Lavelle

• Rachael Adams – 2016 Olympic women's volleyball bronze medalist
• Eddie Arcaro – Triple Crown-winning jockey
• Amanda Borden – 1996 gold-medal winning gymnast
• Danielle Borgman – professional soccer player
• Jordan Brauninger – figure skater
• Aimee Bruder – bronze medal-winning Paralympics swimmer
• Caleb Bragg – racecar driver and automobile inventor
• Marc Burch – Major League Soccer defender
• Amber Campbell – 2008 and 2012 Olympic Games hammer thrower
• Steve Cauthen – Triple Crown-winning jockey (from Covington, Kentucky)
• Rodney Combs – NASCAR driver
• Katherine Copely – Lithuanian ice dancer
• Angelo Dawkins – WWE tag team wrestler with Street Profits
• Deena Deardurff – 1972 Olympic swimming gold medalist
• Rich Franklin – Ultimate Fighting Championship champion
• Curt Fraser – National Hockey League (NHL) player and coach
• Christina Gao – figure skater
• Mike Goldberg – Ultimate Fighting Championship play-by-play commentator
• Jonathan Good – AEW professional wrestler known as Jon Moxley; formerly known as Dean Ambrose in WWE
• Nick Hagglund – FC Cincinnati soccer player
• Maxwell Holt – 2016 Olympic men's volleyball bronze medalist
• Harlan Holden – track and field athlete at the 1912 Summer Olympics
• Ted Horn – race car driver
• DeHart Hubbard – first African-American to win an individual Olympic gold medal
• Joseph Hudepohl – Olympic swimmer
• Tori Huster – soccer player
• Julie Isphording – long-distance runner
• Rebecca Jasontek – 2004 bronze medal-winning synchronized swimmer
• Jenny Kemp – 1972 Olympic swimming gold medalist
• Dan Ketchum – Olympic swimmer
• Aubrey Kingsbury – professional soccer player of Washington Spirit and the United States national team
• Walter Laufer – 1928 gold medal-winning swimmer
• Rose Lavelle – 2019 World Cup champion and NWSL player
• Linda Miles – professional wrestler (WWE's "Shaniqua")
• Betsy Mitchell – 1984 Olympic swimming gold medalist
• Heather Mitts – soccer player
• Darrell Pace – 1976 and 1984 Olympic gold-medal winning archer
• David Payne – hurdler
• Erin Phenix – gold-medal winning swimmer at the 2000 Summer Olympics
• Brian Pillman – NFL nose tackle and professional wrestler
• Brian Pillman Jr. – professional wrestler, son of Brian Pillman
• Lexie Priessman – gymnast
• Kerry Schall – UFC fighter
• Vivian St. John – professional wrestler
• Josh Schneider – former World Record holder, swimming
• Robert Shmalo – ice dancer
• Bridget Sloan – Olympic gymnast and 2009 world all-around champion
• Sam Stoller – sprinter and long jumper
• Les Thatcher – professional wrestler, announcer, and trainer
• Nick Thoman – 2012 swimming gold medalist
• Mary Lee Tracy – gymnastics coach
• Albertson Van Zo Post – 1904 double gold medal-winning fencer
• Bryan Volpenhein – 2004 gold medal-winning rower
• Olga Strashun Weil – amateur golfer and tennis player
• Mary Wineberg – 2008 Olympic gold medalist, track and field
• Russ Witherby – Olympic ice dancing competitor
• Brian Woermann – professional wrestler ("Matt Stryker")
• Jimmy Yang – professional wrestler
• Jeanne Zelasko – sports broadcaster

Military

William Haines Lytle

• Christian Albert – Medal of Honor recipient at Siege of Vicksburg
• Nicholas Longworth Anderson – American Civil War Colonel
• George J. Austin (c. 1881–1930), Black military officer; worked for Black representation in the U.S. military during segregation
• Edward William Boers – Navy Medal of Honor recipient
• Henry Francis Bryan – United States Navy Rear Admiral and 17th governor of American Samoa
• James Calhoun – cavalryman killed at Battle of the Little Bighorn
• Henry M. Cist – American Civil War general
• Charles Clark – Confederate Army general, plantation owner, Confederate Governor of Mississippi
• Cordelia E Cook – first woman to receive both the Bronze Star Medal and Purple Heart
• John Cook – Medal of Honor recipient at Battle of Antietam
• Hubert Dilger – Civil War artillery officer
• William Dwight – Union Civil War general
• Wilson V. Eagleson II – U.S. Army Air Force officer and decorated combat fighter pilot with the prodigious Tuskegee Airmen
• James E. Earheart, Jr. – Marine killed in action during World War II
• William S. Fellers – Marine Corps Major general, Director of Staff of Inter-American Defense Board
• Manning Force – American Civil War general and Medal of Honor recipient
• John R. Fox – World War II-era Medal of Honor recipient
• Kenner Garrard – American Civil War general
• James Augustin Greer – Civil War-era Admiral
• Webb Hayes – Medal of Honor recipient, co-founder of Union Carbide
• Victor Heintz – decorated World War I veteran; Republican Congressman, 1917–1919
• Andrew Hickenlooper – American Civil War general
• Heinrich Hoffman – American Civil War Medal of Honor recipient
• Francis Lupo – World War I soldier whose remains were discovered in 2003
• William Haines Lytle – poet; Civil War general; killed at Battle of Chickamauga (1863)
• Keith Matthew Maupin – soldier, missing and captured in Iraq for nearly four years
• Nathaniel McLean – Union Civil War general
• John Moore – Surgeon General of the Army
• Abram S. Piatt – Union Civil War general
• James Pine – United States Coast Guard Vice Admiral
• John P. Slough – Union Civil War general
• George E. Stratemeyer – Air Force general
• Melancthon S. Wade – Union Civil War general
• Godfrey Weitzel – Union Civil War general

Other notable people

Nelson Glueck

• Clara Adams – aviation pioneer
• Pierre Adrian – chef at The Maisonette
• Joseph H. Albers – first bishop of Lansing, Michigan
• Anthony Allaire – New York City Police inspector
• Michael Anthony – chef
• Levi Addison Ault – businessman, naturalist, donor of Cincinnati's Ault Park
• John Bardo – 13th President of Wichita State University, 10th Chancellor of Western Carolina University
• Samri Baldwin – stage magician
• Daniel Carter Beard – founder Sons of Daniel Boone
• Betty Blake – historic preservationist
• Kim Bobo – labor activist
• Thomas D. Boyatt – former United States Ambassador to Burkina Faso and Colombia
• Kitty Burke – nightclub entertainer who attempted to bat in a baseball game
• Mary Towne Burt – temperance reformer, newspaper publisher, and benefactor
• Oba Chandler – rapist and murderer on death row in Florida
• Peter H. Clark – abolitionist and educator
• Levi Coffin – abolitionist
• Lorenzo Collins – mentally ill man shot by Cincinnati police in 1997
• Robert Daniel Conlon – Roman Catholic Bishop of Steubenville, Ohio
• Sara Jane Crafts (1845–1930), educator, author, social reformer
• Moses Dickson – African-American abolitionist, soldier and minister
• Jonathan Edwards – first president of Washington & Jefferson College
• William Henry Elder – long-serving Roman Catholic Bishop of Cincinnati
• Audrey Emery – heiress and socialite
• Mary Emery – philanthropist
• T. Higbee Embry – aviation enthusiast and co-founder of Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University
• Dana Fabe – Chief Justice Alaska Supreme Court
• Bernard T. Espelage – first Bishop of Gallup, New Mexico
• Mary Jane Farell – Contract bridge player
• Susan Fessenden (1840–1932) – activist, social reformer
• Thomas Milton Gatch – president of Willamette University, Oregon State University and University of Washington
• Nelson Glueck – rabbi and archaeologist
• Alfred Gottschalk – President of Hebrew Union College and leader in Reform Judaism.
• Henry Joseph Grimmelsmann – first Bishop of Evansville
• Alice Claypoole Gwynne – wife of Cornelius Vanderbilt II
• Don Helbig – Guinness World Record holder for roller coaster riding
• John R. Hicks – murderer executed by the State of Ohio
• Helena Keith-Falconer, Countess of Kintore – heiress and socialite
• Charles L. Kuhn – art historian
• Alice Stone Ilchman – eighth president of Sarah Lawrence College
• Joseph Jonas – first Jew to settle in Cincinnati, founder of the Old Jewish Cemetery
• Stewart Judah – card magician
• Posteal Laskey – serial killer nicknamed the "Cincinnati Strangler"
• William Mackey Lomasney – Irish revolutionary
• Longworth family – early leading Cincinnati family
• Lytle family – early leading Cincinnati family
• Mike Mangold – pilot
• Helen Taft Manning – daughter of William Howard Taft, historian
• Charles Manson – cult leader, convicted murderer
• Carl K. Moeddel – auxiliary bishop of Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cincinnati, 1993–2007
• Julian Morgenstern – rabbi, professor, and president of Hebrew Union College
• Sara Murphy – socialite, Pablo Picasso portrait subject
• Anthony John King Mussio – first Roman Catholic bishop of Steubenville, Ohio
• David Leroy Nickens – freed slave, first African American licensed minister in Ohio
• Jack Norris – dietitian and vegan activist
• Olive Peterson – Contract bridge player and teacher
• David Philipson – Reform rabbi
• John Baptist Purcell – long-serving Roman Catholic Bishop of Cincinnati
• George Remus – bootlegger
• Robert Ruwe – United States Tax Court judge
• William Knox Schroeder – student killed in the Kent State shootings
• William Smith – murderer executed in 2005
• Hermann, Freiherr von Soden – biblical scholar
• Joseph Strauss – chief engineer of the Golden Gate Bridge
• Jule Sugarman – creator of Head Start
• Denise Trauth – 9th President of Texas State University
• Myra L. Uhlfelder – classicist
• Otto Warmbier – University of Virginia student arrested in North Korea; later died in custody in 2017
• Irvin F. Westheimer – founder of Big Brothers Big Sisters of America