Arts
- Adrian Bellani,(Half Salvadoran), actor, plays Miguel Lopez-Fitzgerald on the NBC daytime drama, Passions
- Consuelo de Saint-Exupéry, painter, sculptor, and author, wife of Antoine de Saint Exupéry
- Fernando Llort, painter and sculptor
- Pedro Ipiña, painter
- Toño Salazar, caricaturist
Heroes and Martyrs
- Joaquín Eufrasio Guzmán, national hero
- José Matías Delgado, national hero
- Óscar Romero, former Archbishop and martyr
Fashion Designers and Models
- Christy Turlington (Half Salvadoran), supermodel
- Francesca Miranda Fashion Designer
Musicians
- Álvaro Torres, singer
- DJ Keoki, Techno DJ
- Victor Lopez, member of Crooked Stilo, Latino rap group
Political Figures
- Alfredo Cristiani, former president
- Álvaro Magaña, banker and interim president
- Ana Maria, guerrilla leader
- Antonio Saca, current president
- Armando Calderón Sol, former president
- Carlos Eugenio Vides Casanova, defence minister, convicted of human rights abuses
- Cayetano Carpio, guerrilla leader
- Farabundo Martí, communist leader
- Francisco Flores, former president
- Gerardo Barrios, liberal president
- Guillermo Ungo, opposition leader and former vice-president
- Joaquín Villalobos, guerrilla leader
- José Inocencio Alas, "Chencho", former priest and activist
- José Napoleón Duarte, former president
- Liz Figueroa, California state senator
- Lynda Barros, Latina Civil Rights Activist
- Maximiliano Hernández Martínez, dictator-president
- Roberto D'Aubuisson, politician, ARENA founder
- Rubén Zamora, opposition leader
- Rutilio Grande, martyred priest
- Schafik Hándal, guerrilla leader and presidential candidate
- Sigifredo Ochoa, colonel and ARENA deputy
Scholars, Authors and Educators
- Carlos Córdova, writer
- Claribel Alegría,writer
- Claudia Lars, poet
- Ignacio Martín-Baró, Social psychologist and Jesuit priest
- Jacinta Escudos, novelist
- Manlio Argueta, novelist
- Roque Dalton, poet
- Salarrué (Salvador Salazar Arrué), novelist, poet, painter.
Sports
- Carlos "El Famoso" Hernández, Boxer, holder of the Jr. Lightweight world title
- Eliseo Quintanilla, footballer, in the MLS
- Hugo Perez, footballer, born in El Salvador, played for united states in the 1994 world cup and 1984 summer olympic games
- Jaime Rodriguez, footballer, former player of the Bayer Uerdingen
- Jorge González, footballer, better known as el Mágico González
- Jorge Rodríguez, footballer, in the MLS
- Jose Cortez, NFL Football
- Mauricio Cienfuegos, footballer, former player for the Los Angeles Galaxy
- Raúl Díaz Arce, footballer in the MLS
- Ronald Cerritos, footballer, in the MLS
- Rosemary Casals, Salvadoran parents, American tennis player