List of people from Rockford, Illinois

• James Henry Breasted, scholar, first American teacher of Egyptology
• Griffith Buck, rose breeder
• Richard Bulliet, scholar of the Middle East
• Robert Clodius, educator, acting President of the University of Wisconsin–Madison
• James A. Davis, chair of sociology department, Harvard University, and professor, University of Chicago
• Arnold Krammer, historian, resided in Rockford from 1970 to 1974 while on the faculty of Rockford College; at Texas A&M University from 1974 to retirement in 2015
• James Lindgren, law professor and sociologist, Northwestern University
• John Henry Manny, inventor, founder of Manny Reaper Works
• Fred Merkel, broadcast engineer for Premiere Networks and iHeartMedia
• Anna Peck Sill (1816-1889), educator
• Adaline Emerson Thompson, benefactor and educational leader
• Gordon Tullock, economist and one of the founders of public choice
• Janice E. Voss, astronaut and engineer; lived in Rockford^[1]
• Daniel Hale Williams, surgeon, first doctor to successfully complete open heart surgery;^[2] founder of the first integrated American hospital, Provident Hospital of Cook County^[3]

• Virgil Abloh (1980–2021), fashion designer and businessman
• Robert Greenblatt, Fox, Showtime and NBC producer and executive,^[4] and former Chairman of WarnerMedia Entertainment.
• Albert Henry Loeb (1868–1924), attorney and business executive, Sears
• Pehr August Peterson (1846–1927), business executive, Sundstrand Corporation^[5]
• John Sall, co-founder of SAS Institute
• Albert Spalding (1850–1915), co-founder of Spalding; pitcher with Rockford Forest Citys; manager of Chicago White Stockings; executive of National League of Baseball Clubs; inductee in National Baseball Hall of Fame^[6]

• Ginger Lynn Allen, porn actress
• Jodi Benson, voice actress, Ariel in The Little Mermaid
• Barbara Hale, actress, Perry Mason
• Kathryn Layng, actress, Doogie Howser, M.D.
• Natasha Leggero, comedian, actress
• Joseph Mantello, actor, director, Wicked, Take Me Out, Assassins
• Andra Martin, actress, Up Periscope, The Thing That Couldn't Die
• Marin Mazzie, Tony Award nominated actress and singer known for, Kiss Me, Kate (1999-2001), and her other work in musical theater.
• Aidan Quinn, actor, Desperately Seeking Susan, Elementary, Legends of the Fall
• Anthony Tyler Quinn, actor, Boy Meets World^[7]
• Betty Jane Rhodes, actress, singer, Sweater Girl, The Fleet's In
• Susan Saint James, actress, Kate & Allie, McMillan & Wife
• Linda Wallem, actress, writer, producer, Nurse Jackie
• Stephen Wallem, singer, actor, Nurse Jackie

• Bill Kopp, animator

• Declan Quinn, cinematographer, Leaving Las Vegas, Kama Sutra: A Tale of Love, U2's "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For"
• Jay Bauman, founding member of Red Letter Media^[8]

Adam “Styles McGuillicuty” Schrader, writer/perfomer Slow Children at Play sketch comedy troupe.

• Bing Liu, director, Minding the Gap^[9]

• Emily Bear, pianist, composer
• Bun E. Carlos, drummer, Cheap Trick
• Chuckey Charles, film composer and music producer
• Kurt Elling, jazz vocalist, composer, lyricist
• Katherine Tanner Fisk, contralto concert singer
• Swan Hennessy, classical composer
• Joie De Vivre (band), emo band
• Sarah Kelly, singer, songwriter
• Matthew McDonough, drummer for Mudvayne
• Lou Musa, guitarist, The Verve Pipe^{[10][verification needed]}
• Ann Nesby, singer, producer, part of the urban Gospel group Sounds Of Blackness
• Rick Nielsen, lead guitarist for Cheap Trick
• Tom Petersson, bass guitarist for Cheap Trick^[11]
• Marty Ross, musician, songwriter and performer
• Jake Runestad, composer and conductor
• Nellie Strong Stevenson, pianist, music educator, clubwoman
• Shawn Wade, bass guitarist for 12 Stones^{[citation needed]}
• Ryley Walker, guitarist
• Michelle Williams, singer and member of the R&B group Destiny's Child
• Robin Zander, vocalist and rhythm guitarist for Cheap Trick

• Alvin C. Jacobs Jr., documentary photographer and image activist

• Shaun Smith, visual effects

• Paris Bennett, contestant on Season 5 of American Idol
• Kelly Killoren Bensimon model, former cast member of Real Housewives of New York City
• Auntie Heroine, drag queen and contestant on Season 6 of The Boulet Brothers' Dragula
• Heather Nauert, news anchor on Fox News; born in Rockford

• Robert Lee Maupin Beck, writer, producer, Pimp: The Story of My Life^[12]
• Stewart Brand, writer, editor, publisher and environmentalist: The Whole Earth Catalog, The WELL, Long Now Foundation, and, Whole Earth Discipline: An Ecopragmatist Manifesto.
• Thomas Fleming, writer, editor, Chronicles: A Magazine of American Culture
• John Ortberg, author, pastor
• Will Pfeifer, comic book writer
• Shawn Ryan, television producer, screenwriter (The Shield)
• Barbara Santucci, artist, poet, author^[13]
• Erica Spindler, author
• Leopold Tyrmand, novelist, editor, dissident; originally from Poland
• Kimberla Lawson Roby, New York Times bestselling author
• Cora Stuart Wheeler (1852–1897), poet, author