List of people from Lafayette, Louisiana
This is a list of individuals who are or were natives of, or notable as residents of, or in association with the city of Lafayette, Louisiana, United States.
Notable residents
Natives
Some of the notable people that were born in Lafayette:
- Danneel Ackles, television actress, One Tree Hill
- Felecia Angelle, anime voice-over actress
- Fernest Arceneaux (deceased), zydeco musician
- Nnamdi Asomugha, NFL defensive back[1]
- Autumn!, rapper
- Paul Bako, catcher in Major League Baseball for the Cincinnati Reds
- Marc Breaux, choreographer of movies such as Mary Poppins, The Sound of Music, and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang
- Jefferson Caffery (deceased), former U.S. ambassador
- Mark Carrier, former NFL wide receiver[2]
- Irvin Castille, Negro American League player for the Birmingham Black Barons
- Daniel Cormier, Olympic wrestler and former UFC Light Heavyweight and Heavyweight Champion
- Cupid, R&B singer; known for writing the "Cupid Shuffle"
- Lauren Daigle, Grammy-winning singer
- Walter Davis, triple jump athlete
- Michael Doucet, Cajun musician
- Armand Duplantis, Olympic-champion pole vaulter representing Sweden
- Kevin Faulk, NFL running back
- Ron Guidry, MLB pitcher
- Hunter Hayes, country musician
- Jimmy Hayes, former member of the United States House of Representatives from the since disbanded 7th congressional district
- Lionel Hebert, professional golfer
- Alan Jouban, MMA fighter
- Richard Keith, born Keith Thibodeaux, known for playing "Little Ricky" on I Love Lucy
- Angela Kinsey, television actress, The Office
- Lash Leroux, professional wrestler, illustrator for Pro Wrestling Illustrated and other wrestling magazines
- Nghana Lewis, District Court Judge, Division B, 40th Judicial District Court, Louisiana
- Mikie Mahtook, MLB outfielder and first round draft pick; currently plays for the Detroit Tigers
- Gil Meche, MLB pitcher, Kansas City Royals
- R.J. Mitte, actor with cerebral palsy, supporting actor in Breaking Bad
- Alfred Mouton, Civil War general
- Ann McBride Norton (1944–2020), activist and business executive
- Kim Perrot (1967–1999), WNBA basketball player
- Dustin Poirier, former interim UFC Lightweight Champion
- Addison Rae (born 2000), social media personality, dancer, actress and singer
- SSGKobe, rapper
- Summrs, rapper
- Joe Walker, zydeco musician
- Brett Weaver, anime voiceover actor; mostly known for his work with ADV Films
- Gus Weill, political consultant, television host, novelist, playwright, poet, born in Lafayette in 1933
- Domanick Williams, NFL running back
- Jessica Zajicek, former PA of Kathy Griffin; starring in Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D-List
Residents
Other notable current and/or former residents of Lafayette:
- C. C. Adcock, musician, producer
- Royd Anderson, filmmaker
- Kevyn Aucoin (deceased), professional makeup artist
- Ray Authement (born 1928), president of the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, 1974–2008
- Jamie Baldridge (born 1975), visual artist, writer
- Carl W. Bauer (1933–2013), member of both houses of the Louisiana State Legislature; lobbyist for the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, 1990–2010
- Henri Willis Bendel, fashion designer and entrepreneur
- Captain Steven L. Bennett, posthumous Vietnam War Medal of Honor recipient
- Kathleen Blanco, former Louisiana governor
- Roy Bourgeois, priest and founder of human rights group SOA Watch
- Marc Broussard, musician
- James Lee Burke, mystery novelist, Pulitzer Prize nominee
- Kody Chamberlain, comic book writer and artist
- Jermall Charlo, boxer, IBF Junior Middleweight Champion
- Jermell Charlo, boxer, WBC Super Welterweight Champion
- Hollis Conway, Olympic medalist
- Albert H. Crews, astronaut
- Charles B. DeBellevue, highest-scoring American flying ace during the Vietnam War
- Jefferson J. DeBlanc, World War II flying ace and Medal of Honor recipient
- Jake Delhomme, NFL quarterback
- David Egan (deceased), musician
- Ernest Gaines, fiction author, Pulitzer Prize nominee
- Deirdre Gogarty, world champion boxer
- Hedwig Gorski, poet and writer
- Amy Guidry, surrealist painter
- Leigh Hennessy, world champion gymnast and movie/TV stuntwoman
- Clay Higgins, member of the U.S. House of Representatives for Louisiana's 3rd congressional district, former reserve deputy marshal of Lafayette known as the "Cajun John Wayne"
- Sammy Kershaw, country & western musician
- Bennett Landreneau, U.S. Army major general
- Ali Landry, former Miss USA, model and actress
- John L. Loos (deceased), American historian; Louisiana State University professor; spent last years in Lafayette, where he died in 2011[3]
- Eugene J. Martin (deceased), visual artist originally from Washington D.C.
- Alex McCool, manager of NASA Space Shuttle Projects Office
- Elizabeth McNulty, Miss Louisiana 2007
- Brian Mitchell, former NFL running back, special teams returner
- Elemore Morgan, Jr. (deceased), professor and visual artist
- Paul Prudhomme, chef
- Robert Rauschenberg (deceased), artist, National Medal of Arts winner
- Zachary Richard, musician
- George Rodrigue, artist, The Blue Dog
- Chanda Rubin, USTA tennis player
- Clifford Schoeffler, U.S. Air Force general
- J. Minos Simon, attorney, author, sportsman
- Richard Simmons, exercise guru
- Brandon Stokley, NFL wide receiver
- Daniel Sunjata, film, television, and Tony Award-nominated stage actor
- Sam H. Theriot, Louisiana state representative from Vermilion Parish from 1979 to 1996, subsequently relocated to Lafayette
- Hugh Thompson, Jr., hero of My Lai, helicopter pilot
- John Kennedy Toole (deceased), author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel A Confederacy of Dunces
- A. Hays Town, architect
- Javon Walker, NFL wide receiver
- Tyler James Williams, actor
Notable local politicians
- Page Cortez, District 43 state representative since 2008
- John Malcolm Duhé, Jr. (born 1933), retired U.S. district and appellate court judge
- Joey Durel (born 1953), former mayor-president of Lafayette consolidated government (2004–2016)
- Richard T. Haik (born 1950), United States District Judge for the Western District of Louisiana, based in Lafayette since 1991
- Roderick Miller (deceased), first Republican member of the Louisiana House of Representatives from Lafayette since Reconstruction
