This is a list of people from Exeter, a city in south-west England. People from Exeter are known as Exonians. This list is arranged chronologically by date of birth.

Born before 1701

• Baldwin of Exeter (died 1190), Archbishop of Canterbury
• Joseph of Exeter (12th century), poet
• Robert Stone (1516–1613), composer and member of the Chapel Royal
• John Hooker (1525–1601), constitutionalist
• William Peryam (1534 – after 1603), lawyer
• Sir Thomas Bodley (1545–1613), diplomat and founder of the Bodleian Library
• Nicholas Hilliard (c. 1547–1619), portraitist
• John Rainolds (1549–1605), Puritan scholar
• Richard Hooker (1554–1600), Anglican theologian
• William Hakewill (1574–1655), legal antiquarian
• George Hakewill (1578–1649), clergyman and author
• Matthew Locke (c. 1621–1677), Baroque composer
• Henrietta Anne Stuart (1644–1670), daughter of King Charles I
• Peter King, 1st Baron King (1669–1734), Lord Chancellor
• Thomas Yalden (1670–1736), poet
• Simon Ockley (1678–1720), orientalist
• Eustace Budgell (1686–1737), writer
• Andrew Brice (1690–1773), printer and writer

Born 1701–1850

• Thomas Hudson (1701–1779), portrait painter
• Francis Hayman (1708–1776), Rococo artist
• John Rowe (1715–1787), merchant and owner of ship involved in Boston Tea Party
• Thomas Mudge (horologist) (1715-1794), horologist who was responsible for the Lever escapement mechanism
• Samuel Stennett (1727–1795), Baptist minister and hymnwriter
• Richard Langdon (1729–1803), organist and composer
• William Jackson (1730–1803), referred to as Jackson of Exeter, was an organist and composer
• Robert Trewman (1738/39–1802), first proprietor of Trewman's Exeter Flying Post, published 1763–1917
• Sir Francis Baring, 1st Baronet (1740–1810), banker
• Richard Eastcott (baptised 1744–1828), Anglican clergyman and writer on music^[1]
• Robert Hawker (1753–1827), Anglican clergyman
• David Collins (1756–1810), first governor of Van Diemens Land (Tasmania)
• John Stockham (1765–1814), naval officer
• Richard Parker (1767–1797), sailor and mutineer
• John Blackall (1771–1860), physician
• George Oliver (1781–1861), Catholic churchman and historian^[2]
• James Holman (1786–1857), noted blind traveller
• Sir John Bowring (1792–1872), political economist and Governor of Hong Kong
• Thomas Shapter (1809–1902), doctor and author of History of the Cholera in Exeter in 1832
• Samuel Cousins (1801–1887), engraver
• Mary Carpenter (1807–1877), educational and social reformer
• William Benjamin Carpenter (1813–1885), physiologist and naturalist
• John Carne Bidwill (1815–1853), botanist, first director of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Sydney
• Lilly Martin Spencer (1822–1902), US painter
• Lavington Glyde (1824-1890), South Australian politician and accountant
• Henry Chadwick (1824–1908), journalist, "father of baseball"
• Sabine Baring-Gould (1834–1924), writer, clergyman, antiquary and folklorist
• Sir Harry James Veitch (1840–1924), horticulturist
• William John Seward Webber (1842–1919), sculptor
• William Kingdon Clifford (1845–1879), mathematician

Born 1851–1950

• Eva Luckes (1854–1919), matron of The London Hospital 1880–1919, pioneer of training for nurses
• Theodore Bayley Hardy (1863–1918), Army chaplain and VC
• Fred Karno (1866–1941), comedy pioneer and impresario
• Irene Vanbrugh (1872–1949), actress
• Herbert Augustine Carter (1874–1916), army officer and VC
• William Temple (1881–1944), Archbishop of Canterbury
• Ernest Kennaway (1881–1958), pathologist who suggested a link between smoking and lung cancer
• Gordon Steele (1891–1981), recipient of the Victoria Cross
• Primrose Pitman (1902–1998), artist
• W. G. Hoskins (1908–1992), historian of the English landscape
• Cliff Bastin (1912–1991), Arsenal and England footballer
• John Manners (1914–2020), English cricketer and Royal Navy officer; oldest living first-class cricketer
• Tommy Cooper (1921–1984), comedian born in Caerphilly but living in Exeter from the age of three
• Denis Pereira Gray (born 1935), physician
• Tony Burrows (born 1942), pop singer
• Sarah Harrison (born 1946), novelist
• Peter Rutley (born 1946), former professional footballer
• Doug Finley (1946–2013), Canadian Senator and principal operational strategist of the Conservative Party of Canada

Born since 1950

• Clare Morrall (born 1952), novelist
• John Scott (born 1954), England rugby union international
• Beth Gibbons (born 1965), singer with Portishead
• Ben Nealon (born 1966), actor
• Toby Buckland (born 1969), gardener, TV presenter and author
• Michael Caines (born 1969), chef and restaurateur
• Jane Griffiths (born 1970), poet and literary historian
• Chris Martin (born 1977), lead singer of Coldplay
• Mathew Theedom (born 1977), cricketer
• Dominic Wood (born 1978), TV presenter
• Matthew Goode (born 1978), actor
• David Lye (born 1979), cricketer
• Scott C Shephard (born 1979), music executive
• Jim Causley (born 1980), folk singer
• Stuart Hooper (born 1981), rugby union player
• Rebecca Worthley (born 1981), singer/songwriter
• Trevor Anning (born 1982), cricketer
• Bradley James (born 1983), actor
• Kate Bushell (born 1983), victim of a high-profile child murder in the city in 1997, her murder remains unsolved as of 2022
• Tim Shaw (born 1984), American football player for Tennessee Titans
• Harry Treadaway (born 1984), actor
• Ben Aldridge (born 1985), actor
• Liam Tancock (born 1985), world champion swimmer
• Aaron Jarvis (born 1986), Wales rugby union player
• Liam Lewis (born 1986), cricketer
• Kour Pour (born 1987), artist
• James Yeoburn (born 1987), theatre producer and entrepreneur
• Liam Sercombe (born 1990), professional footballer
• Luke Newberry (born 1990), actor
• Joe Launchbury (born 1991), England rugby union international
• Harry Tincknell (born 1991), professional racing driver, 24 Hours of Le Mans LMP2-class winner
• Tristan Evans (born 1994), drummer in The Vamps
• Matt Grimes (born 1995), footballer for Swansea City A.F.C.
• Xia Vigor (born 2009), actress for ABS CBN
• Thomas Cameron (born 1999), classical singer, radio host