This is a list of Panamanian people who are famous or notable and were either born in Panama or have Panamanian ancestry.
- Chafil Cheucarama, Wounaan carver, illustrator, and painter
- Carlos Francisco Chang Marín, folk artist
- Antonio Jose Guzman, artist
- José Luis Rodríguez Pittí, poet and artist
- Pablo Runyan, painter
- George Scribner, artist, director, animator
- Alfredo Sinclair, painter
- Olga Sinclair, painter
- Guillermo Trujillo, painter
- Alicia Viteri, painter
- Sharon Aguilar, musician/composer
- Akinyele, rapper (Panamanian mother)
- Tatyana Ali, actress, calypso singer, and composer (Panamanian mother)
- Nancy Ames, singer
- Tyson Beckford, model (maternal grandmother born in Panama)
- Aloe Blacc, singer
- Pop Smoke, rapper (Panamanian father)
- Rubén Blades, singer, actor, former Minister of Tourism
- Miguel Bosé, Spanish actor and singer (born in Panama)
- Jordana Brewster, actress
- Rod Carrillo, house and Latin music producer, label owner (born in Panama)
- Casanova, rapper
- Billy Cobham, drummer for Mahavishnu Orchestra
- Melissa De Sousa, American actress (Panamanian heritage)
- Edgardo Diaz, music producer (Menudo) (born in Panama)
- Erika Ender, musician/composer
- La Factoría, Spanish reggae duo
- Flex, Spanish reggae artist
- Gaitanes, singers, musical producers, composers
- Carlos Garnett, jazz saxophonist
- El General, Spanish reggae artist
- Hansen, Youtuber
- Margarita Henríquez, singer
- Lori Heuring, actress
- Clark Kent, rap music producer
- Vincent Laresca, actor
- Gladys de la Lastra, drummer, composer, and musician
- Eddy Lover, Spanish reggae artist
- Makano, Spanish reggae artist
- Tony Moro, bolero and chachacha singer
- Jaime Murrell, singer
- Uncle Murda, rapper
- Nando Boom, reggae artist
- Danilo Pérez, jazz pianist, producer, composer
- José Quintero, Broadway director
- Los Rabanes, reggae-rock band
- J. August Richards, actor
- Coco Rodriguez, singer, actress
- José Luis Rodríguez Vélez, orchestra director, clarinetist, composer
- Daphne Rubin-Vega, actress and singer
- Samy y Sandra Sandoval, singer, musician
- Sech, singer-songwriter, rapper, and producer
- DJ Spinna, record producer and DJ (Panamanian roots)
- Santiago Stevenson, singer, composer, ordained minister
- Alexis Texas, American adult film actress
- Tessa Thompson, actress and singer (Panamanian father)
- Ingrid de Ycaza, singer
- Aaron Zebede, actor, director and producer
- Bayano, rebel slave
- Floyd Britton, political dissident
- Edward Ashton Gaskin Stuart, educator and labor leader
- Victoriano Lorenzo, politician and national hero
- Marta Matamoros, trade unionist
- Juan Materno Vásquez de León, lawyer and professor
- Luis Anderson McNeil, former labor minister
- Jerónimo de la Ossa, poet, wrote national anthem
- Belisario Porras, former president
- Urracá, chieftain
- Rosa María Britton, writer
- Carlos Fuentes, Mexican writer (born in Panama)
- Gloria Guardia, novelist and essayist
- Demetrio Korsi, poet, journalist and diplomat
- Ricardo Miró, poet
- Rogelio Sinán, poet and writer
- José Luis Rodríguez Pittí, writer and photographer
- Consuelo Tomás, writer
- Neil Raymond Ricco, Spanish-Italian American poet and writer (born in Panama)
- Arnulfo Arias Madrid, former president
- Harmodio Arias Madrid, former president
- Nicolás Ardito Barletta, former president
- Antonio Dominguez Richa, diplomat and politician
- Guillermo Endara, former president
- Adrian Fenty, former mayor of Washington, D.C. (Panamanian father)
- Esteban Huertas, independence fighter
- Jorge Illueca, diplomat and politician
- Julio E. Linares, former Treasury Minister (1963–1964) and Foreign Minister (1989–1993)
- Ricardo Martinelli, former president
- John McCain, United States politician (born in Panama)
- Mireya Moscoso, former president
- Norberto Navarro, Minister of Public Works under three presidents, 1940s-50s. Founded the PRI party.
- Manuel Antonio Noriega, former dictator
- Carlos Ozores, former first vice president
- Ana Paredes Arosemena, former First Lady of Ecuador
- Rubén Darío Paredes del Río, former military ruler
- Ernesto Pérez Balladares, former president
- Belisario Porras, former president
- José Antonio Price, physician and politician
- Emilio Sempris, former Minister of Environment
- Dudley Thompson, Jamaican Pan-Africanist, politician and diplomat
- Martín Torrijos Espino, former president
- Omar Torrijos, former dictator
- Franklin U. Valderrama, United States district judge (born in Panama)
- Juan Carlos Varela, former president
Scientists and academics
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- Juan Berenguer, professional baseball player
- Johan Camargo, professional baseball player
- Rod Carew, professional baseball player
- Bruce Chen, professional baseball player
- Manuel Corpas, professional baseball player
- Einar Díaz, professional baseball player
- Roberto Kelly, baseball player
- Carlos Lee, professional baseball player
- Héctor López, professional baseball player
- José Macías, professional baseball player
- Ramiro Mendoza, professional baseball player
- Orlando Miller, professional baseball player
- Ramiro Mendoza, professional baseball player
- Orlando Miller, professional baseball player
- Ben Oglivie, professional baseball player
- Mariano Rivera, professional baseball player
- Rubén Rivera, professional baseball player
- Humberto Robinson, major league baseball player
- Davis Romero, professional baseball player
- Carlos Ruiz, professional baseball player
- Olmedo Sáenz, professional baseball player
- Manny Sanguillén, professional baseball player
- Rennie Stennett, professional baseball player
- Ruben Tejada, professional baseball player
- Edwin Aguilar, soccer player
- Michael Amir Murillo, soccer player
- Andrés Andrade Cedeño, soccer player
- Felipe Baloy, soccer player
- Édgar Bárce
- Yoel Bárcenas, soccer player
- Adalberto Carrasquilla, soccer player
- Roberto Corbin, soccer player
- Harold Cummings, soccer player
- Jorge Dely Valdés, soccer player
- Gabriel Enrique Gómez, soccer player
- Luis Ernesto Tapia, soccer player
- Rommel Fernández, soccer player
- Aníbal Godoy, soccer player
- Carlos Harvey, soccer player
- Kevin Kurányi, German soccer player
- Roberto Nurse, soccer player
- Jaime Penedo, soccer player
- Blas Pérez, soccer player
- Luis Antonio Rivera, soccer player
- Arturo Tejada, soccer player
- Luis Tejada, soccer player
- Román Torres, soccer player
- Pedro Alcazar, world boxing champion
- Leonardo Barker, professional American football player
- Reginald Beckford, sprinter
- William Bedford, former basketball player
- Rolando Blackman, former basketball player
- Panama Al Brown, world boxing champion, first Hispanic world champion in history
- Lorenzo Charles, professional basketball player (Panamanian parents)
- Eileen Coparropa, Olympic swimmer
- Ed Cota, basketball player
- Kevin Daley, basketball player and Harlem Globetrotter
- Frank Davis, professional football player
- Roberto Durán, world boxing champion
- Gary Forbes, professional basketball player
- Alfonso Frazer, world champion boxer
- Rubén Garcés, former basketball player
- Stuart Gray, professional basketball player
- Reggie Grenald, professional basketball player
- Darius Holland, professional American football player
- George Headley, cricket player
- Leroy Jackson, professional basketball player
- Guillermo Jones, professional boxer
- Bayano Kamani, track and field athlete
- Lloyd La Beach, first Olympic medal winner from Panama
- Bobby Lashley, professional wrestler and former mixed martial arts fighter
- Jorge Luján, boxer
- Ernesto Marcel, professional boxer
- Donovan Mitchell, professional basketball player
- Eusebio Pedroza, former world boxing champion
- Laffit Pincay, Jr., horse jockey
- Irving Saladino, former World and Olympic track and field champion
- Roberto Vásquez, professional boxer
- Veneno, professional wrestler
- Roberto Wallace, professional football player
- Oscar Willis Layne, cyclist
- Hilario Zapata, professional boxer
