| Hugh Latimer (c. 1485–1555), English Bishop |
| Brunetto Latini (1220–1295), Italian philosopher and scholar |
| Latinus, Eponymous hero of the Latin race |
| Henri de Latouche (1785–1851), French poet and novelist |
| Maurice Quentin de La Tour (1704–1788), French pastellist |
| Théophile Malo Corret de La Tour d’Auvergne (1743–1800), French soldier |
| Pierre André Latreille (1762–1833), French naturalist |
| La Trémoille, old French family |
| Charles Joseph Latrobe (1801–1875), Australian governor |
| Henri Masers de Latude (1725–1805), Prisoner of the Bastille |
| Heinrich Laube (1806–1884), German dramatist, novelist and theatre-director |
| L’Aubespine, French family |
| William Laud (1573–1645), English Archbishop |
| Sir Thomas Dick Lauder (1784–1848), Scottish author |
| William Lauder (d. 1771), Scottish literary forger |
| John Maitland, Duke of Lauderdale (1616–1682), Scottish noble |
| Gideon Ernst, Freiherr von Laudon (1717–1790), Austrian soldier |
| Joseph von Lauff (1855–1933), German poet and dramatist |
| James Laurence Laughlin (1850–1933), American economist |
| Sir John Knox Laughton (1830–1915), English naval historian |
| John Laurance (1750–1810), American statesman |
| Henry Laurens (1724–1792), American statesman |
| François Laurent (1810–1887), Belgian historian and jurisconsult |
| Paul Laurentius (1554–1624), Lutheran divine |
| Roger de Lauria (d. 1305), Admiral of Aragon and Sicily |
| Sir Wilfrid Laurier (1841–1919), Canadian statesman |
| Jacques Alexandre Bernard Law, Marquis de Lauriston (1768–1828), French soldier and diplomatist |
| Odet de Foix, Vicomte de Lautrec (1485–1528), French soldier |
| Antonin Nompar de Caumont, Duc de Lauzun (1632/3–1723), French courtier and soldier |
| Seigneurs and Counts of Laval |
| André de Laval (c. 1408–1485), French soldier |
| Louise de La Vallière (1644–1710), mistress of Louis XIV. |
| Johann Caspar Lavater (1741–1801), German poet and physiognomist |
| Henri Lavedan (1859–1940), French dramatist and man of letters |
| Émile de Laveleye (1822–1892), Belgian economist |
| Clément Charles François de Laverdy (1723–1793), French statesman |
| John Lavery (1856–1941), British painter |
| Charles Martial Allemand Lavigerie (1825–1892), French divine, Cardinal Archbishop of Carthage and Algiers and primate of Africa |
| Hersart de la Villemarqué (1815–1895), French philologist and man of letters |
| Ernest Lavisse (1842–1922), French historian |
| Antoine Laurent Lavoisier (1743–1794), French chemist |
| La Voisin (Catherine Deshayes Monvoisin) (d. 1680), French sorceress |
| Andrew Bonar Law (1858–1923), British statesman |
| John Law (1671–1729), Scots economist, best known as the originator of the “Mississippi scheme” |
| William Law (1686–1761), English divine |
| Henry Lawes (1596–1662), English musician |
| Sir John Bennet Lawes (1814–1900), English agriculturist |
| Emily Lawless (1845–1913), Irish novelist and poet |
| Saint Lawrence (d. 258), Christian martyr |
| Amos Lawrence (1786–1852), American merchant and philanthropist |
| Amos Adams Lawrence (1814–1886), American philanthropist |
| Eugene Lawrence (1823–1894), American historical writer |
| George Alfred Lawrence (1827–1876), English novelist |
| Sir Henry Montgomery Lawrence (1806–1857), British soldier and statesman in India |
| James Lawrence (1781–1813), American naval officer |
| John Laird Mair, Baron Lawrence (1811–1879), Viceroy and governor-general of India |
| Stringer Lawrence (1697–1775), English soldier |
| Sir Thomas Lawrence (1769–1830), English painter |
| T. E. Lawrence (1888–1935), British traveller, archæologist and soldier |
| William Beach Lawrence (1800–1881), American jurist |
| Cecil Gordon Lawson (1851–1882), English landscape painter |
| Sir John Lawson (d. 1665), British sailor |
| Sir Wilfrid Lawson (1829–1906), English politician and temperance leader |
| Jean Louis Laya (1761–1833), French dramatist |
| Layamon (Twelfth/Thirteenth Century), early English poet |
| Austen Henry Layard (1817–1894), British author and diplomatist, the excavator of Nineveh |
| Lazarus, name which occurs in the New Testament |
| Emma Lazarus (1849–1887), American Jewish poetess |
| Henry Lazarus (1815–1895), British clarinetist |
| Moritz Lazarus (1824–1903), German philosopher |
| Henry Charles Lea (1825–1909), American historian |
| Benjamin Williams Leader (1831–1923), English painter |
| William Martin Leake (1777–1860), British antiquarian and topographer |
| Charles Léandre (1862–1934), French caricaturist and painter |
| Edward Lear (1812–1888), English artist and humorist |
| Stanley Leathes (1830–1900), English divine and orientalist |
| Joshua Leavitt (1794–1873), American journalist |
| Charles Le Bargy (1858–1936), French actor |
| Charles Le Beau (1701–1778), French historical writer |
| Joseph Lebeau (1794–1865), Belgian statesman |
| Jean Lebel (d. c. 1370), Belgian chronicler |
| Constant Leber (1780–1859), French historian and bibliophile |
| Jean Lebeuf (1687–1760), French historian |
| Nicolas Leblanc (1742–1806), French chemist |
| Edmond Lebœuf (1809–1888), Marshal of France |
| Joseph Le Bon (1765–1795), French politician |
| René Le Bossu (1631–1680), French critic |
| Charles Le Brun (1619–1690), French painter |
| Charles-François Lebrun, duc de Plaisance (1739–1824), French statesman |
| Pierre Lebrun (1785–1873), French poet |
| Ponce Denis Écouchard Le Brun (1729–1807), French lyric poet |
| Nicolas Le Camus de Mézières (1721–1789), French architect |
| Henri Le Caron (1841–1894), British secret service agent |
| Isaac-René-Guy Le Chapelier (1754–1794), French politician |
| Gotthard Victor Lechler (1811–1888), German Lutheran theologian |
| William Edward Hartpole Lecky (1838–1903), Irish historian and publicist |
| Jean Le Clerc (1657–1736), French Protestant theologian |
| Charles Lecocq (1832–1918), French musical composer |
| Michel Mathieu Lecointe-Puyraveau (1764–1827), French politician |
| Joseph LeConte (1823–1901), American geologist |
| Charles Marie René Leconte de Lisle (1818–1894), French poet |
| Robert le Coq (d. 1373), French Bishop |
| Pierre François Le Courayer (1681–1776), French Roman Catholic theological writer |
| Adrienne Lecouvreur (1692–1730), French actress |
| Olivier le Daim (d. 1484), favourite of Louis XI. of France |
| Mieczysław Halka Ledóchowski (1822–1902), Polish Cardinal |
| Ledru-Rollin (1807–1874), French politician |
| John Ledyard (1751–1789), American traveller |
| Ann Lee (1736–1784), English religious visionary |
| Arthur Lee (1740–1792), American diplomatist |
| Charles Lee (1731–1782), British soldier |
| Fitzhugh Lee (1835–1905), American cavalry general |
| George Alexander Lee (1802–1851), English musician |
| Henry Lee III. (1756–1818), American general, called “Light Horse Harry” |
| James Prince Lee (1804–1869), English divine |
| Nathaniel Lee (c. 1653–1692), English dramatist |
| Richard Henry Lee (1732–1794), American statesman and orator |
| Robert E. Lee (1807–1870), American soldier, general in the Confederate States army |
| Rowland Lee (d. 1543), English Bishop |
| Sir Sidney Lee (1859–1926), English man of letters |
| Sophia Lee (1750–1824), English novelist and dramatist |
| Stephen Dill Lee (1833–1908), Confederate general in the American Civil War |
| Vernon Lee (Violet Paget) (1856–1935), English author |
| John Leech (1817–1864), English caricaturist |
| Thomas Osborne, Duke of Leeds (1631–1712), English statesman |
| Eugene Lee-Hamilton (1845–1907), English poet |
| Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu (1814–1873), Irish journalist and author |
| Jules Joseph Lefebvre (1836–1911), French painter |
| Pierre-François-Joseph Lefebvre, Duke of Danzig (1755–1820), Marshal of France |
| Tannegui Lefebvre (1615–1672), French classical scholar |
| Charles Lefebvre-Desnouettes (1773–1822), French cavalry general |
| Jean Le Fèvre (c. 1395–1468), Burgundian chronicler |
| Jacques Lefèvre d’Étaples (c. 1455–c. 1536), pioneer of the Protestant movement in France |
| Jean-Jacques Le Franc de Pompignan (1709–1784), French poet |
| Richard Le Gallienne (1866–1947), English poet and critic |
| Hugh Swinton Legaré (1797–1843), American lawyer and statesman |
| Bartholomew Legate (c. 1575–1612), English fanatic |
| Adrien Marie Legendre (1752–1833), French mathematician |
| Louis Legendre (1752–1797), French revolutionist |
| James Legge (1815–1897), British Chinese scholar |
| Ernest Legouvé (1807–1903), French dramatist |
| Alphonse Legros (1837–1911), Anglo-French artist |
| Johann Gottlob Lehmann (d. 1767), German mineralogist and geologist |
| Liza Lehmann (1862–1918), English singer and composer |
| Orla Lehmann (1810–1870), Danish statesman |
| Karl Lehrs (1802–1878), German classical scholar |
| Gottfried Wilhelm von Leibniz (1646–1716), German philosopher, mathematician and man of affairs |
| Earls of Leicester |
| Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester (1532?–1588), favourite of Queen Elizabeth |
| Ludwig Leichhardt (1813–1848), German explorer |
| Joseph Leidy (1823–1891), American naturalist and palæontologist |
| Leif Ericsson (fl. 999–1000), Scandinavian explorer, of Icelandic family |
| Edward Leigh (1602–1671), English Puritan and theologian |
| Lord Frederick Leighton (1830–1896), English painter and sculptor |
| Robert Leighton (1611–1684), Archbishop of Glasgow |
| Leiningen, name of an old German family |
| Jacob Leisler (c. 1635–1691), American political agitator |
| Gottlieb Wilhelm Leitner (1840–1899), Anglo-Hungarian orientalist |
| Louis François, Baron Lejeune (1775–1848), French general, painter, and lithographer |
| Lekain (1728–1778), French actor |
| Charles Godfrey Leland (1824–1903), American author |
| John Leland (c. 1506–1552), English antiquary |
| John Leland (1691–1766), English Nonconformist divine |
| Joachim Lelewel (1786–1861), Polish historian, geographer and numismatist |
| Jacques Le Long (1665–1721), French bibliographer |
| Sir Peter Lely (1618–1680), English painter |
| Robert Le Maçon (c. 1365–1443), Chancellor of France |
| Jean Lemaire de Belges (1473–c. 1525), French poet and historiographer |
| François Élie Jules Lemaître (1853–1914), French critic and dramatist |
| Frédérick Lemaître (1800–1876), French actor |
| John Gaspard Le Marchant (1766–1812), English major-general |
| Louis Jean Népomucène Lemercier (1771–1840), French poet and dramatist |
| Nicolas Lémery (1645–1715), French chemist |
| Antoine-Marin Lemierre (1723/33–1793), French dramatist and poet |
| Jules Lemire (1853–1928), French priest and social reformer |
| John Émile Lemoinne (1815–1892), French journalist |
| Mark Lemon (1809–1870), editor of Punch |
| Camille Lemonnier (1844–1913), Belgian poet |
| Pierre-Charles Le Monnier (1715–1799), French astronomer |
| Jean-Baptiste Lemoyne (1704–1778), French sculptor |
| Pierre Le Moyne d’Iberville (1661–1706), French-Canadian explorer, founder of Louisiana |
| John Lemprière (c. 1765–1824), English classical scholar |
| Charles Marie Le Myre de Vilers (1833–1918), French diplomatist |
| Le Nain, name of three brothers, French painters |
| Louis-Sébastien Le Nain de Tillemont (1637–1698), French ecclesiastical historian |
| Nicolaus Lenau (1802–1850), Austrian poet |
| Franz von Lenbach (1836–1904), German painter |
| Ninon de Lenclos (1620–1705), Frenchwoman |
| Jacques Lenfant (1661–1728), French Protestant divine |
| Vladimir Lenin (1870–1924), Russian Communist leader |
| Jacob van Lennep (1802–1868), Dutch poet and novelist |
| Charlotte Lennox (c. 1729–1804), British writer |
| Margaret Douglas, Countess of Lennox (1515–1578), English noble |
| Dan Leno (1860–1904), English comedian |
| François Lenormant (1837–1883), French Assyriologist and archæologist |
| William Lenthall (1591–1662), English parliamentarian, speaker of the House of Commons |
| Lentulus, name of a Roman family |
| Jakob Michael Reinhold Lenz (1751–1792), German poet |
| Leo, name of thirteen popes |
| Leo (Emperors), name of six emperors of the East |
| Leo Africanus (c. 1492–c. 1550), author of a Descrizione dell’ Affrica |
| Brother Leo (d. 1271), favourite disciple, secretary and confessor of St. Francis of Assisi |
| Heinrich Leo (1799–1878), German historian |
| Leonardo Leo (1694–1744), Italian musical composer |
| Leochares (Fourth Century B.C.), Greek sculptor |
| Leofric (d. 1057), Earl of Mercia |
| Luis de León (1528?–1591), Spanish poet and mystic |
| Leon of Modena (1571–1648), Jewish scholar |
| Lupercio Leonardo de Argensola (1559–1613), Spanish dramatist and poet |
| Ruggiero Leoncavallo (1858–1919), Italian operatic composer |
| Leonidas (d. 480 B.C.), King of Sparta |
| Leontius (fl. Sixth Century), theological writer |
| Alessandro Leopardi (1460?–1522/3), Italian sculptor |
| Giacomo Leopardi (1798–1837), Italian poet |
| Leopold I. (1640–1705), Roman Emperor |
| Leopold II. (1747–1792), Roman Emperor |
| Léopold I. (1790–1865), King of the Belgians |
| Léopold II. (1835–1909), King of the Belgians |
| Leopold II. (1797–1870), Grand-duke of Tuscany |
| Leopold I., Prince of Anhalt-Dessau (1676–1747), General field marshal in the Prussian army |
| Leotychides (c. 545–469 B.C.), Spartan King |
| Leovigild (d. 586), King of the Visigoths |
| Jean Le Pautre (1618–1682), French designer and engraver |
| Charles-Michel de l’Épée (1712–1789), celebrated for his labours in behalf of the deaf and dumb |
| Louis-Michel Le Peletier de Saint-Fargeau (1760–1793), French politician |
| Lepidus, name of a Roman family |
| Frédéric Le Play (1806–1882), French engineer and economist |
| Richard Lepsius (1810–1884), German Egyptologist |
| Leptines, Athenian orator |
| Sebastián Lerdo de Tejada (1823–1889), President of Mexico |
| Francisco Sandoval y Rojas, Duke of Lerma (1552–1625), Spanish minister |
| Mikhail Lermontov (1814–1841), Russian poet and novelist |
| Pierre Leroux (1797–1871), French philosopher and economist |
| Anatole Leroy-Beaulieu (1842–1912), French publicist |
| Paul Leroy-Beaulieu (1843–1916), French economist |
| Alain René Lesage (1688–1747), French novelist and dramatist |
| Lesbonax (First Century B.C.–First Century A.D.), Greek sophist and rhetorician |
| Lesches (Seventh Century B.C.), reputed author of the Little Iliad |
| Louis-Marie Joseph, Marquis de Lescure (1766–1793), French soldier and anti-revolutionary |
| François de Bonne, Duc de Lesdiguières (1543–1626), Constable of France |
| J. Peter Lesley (1819–1903), American geologist |
| Charles Leslie (1650–1722), Anglican nonjuring divine |
| Charles Robert Leslie (1794–1859), one of the most popular of English genre-painters |
| Fred Leslie (1855–1892), English actor |
| John Leslie (1527–1596), Scottish Bishop and historian |
| Sir John Leslie (1766–1832), Scottish mathematician and physicist |
| Thomas Edward Cliffe Leslie (1827–1882), English economist |
| Julie de Lespinasse (1732–1776), French author |
| Ferdinand de Lesseps (1805–1894), French diplomatist and maker of the Suez Canal |
| Gotthold Ephraim Lessing (1729–1781), German critic and dramatist |
| Sir Roger L’Estrange (1616–1704), English pamphleteer |
| Eustache Le Sueur (1616–1655), one of the founders of the French Academy of painting |
| Le Sueur (1760–1837), French musical composer |
| Michel Le Tellier (1603–1685), French statesman |
| William Richard Lethaby (1857–1931), English architect |
| Giulio Pomponio Leto (1428–1497), Italian humanist |
| Antoine-Jean Letronne (1787–1848), French archæologist |
| Leucippus (Fifth Century B.C.), Greek philosopher |
| Emanuel Leutze (1816–1868), American artist |
| Pierre Levasseur (1828–1911), French economist |
| Alexander Leslie, Earl of Leven (c. 1580–1661), Scottish general |
| Earls of Leven and Melville |
| Charles Lever (1806–1872), Irish novelist |
| William Hesketh Lever, Viscount Leverhulme (1851–1925), British soap manufacturer |
| Urbain Jean Joseph Leverrier (1811–1877), French astronomer |
| Oscar Ivan Levertin (1862–1906), Swedish poet and man of letters |
| Hermann Levi (1839–1900), German orchestral conductor |
| Leone Levi (1821–1888), English jurist and statistician |
| Elijah Levita (1468/9–1549), Jewish grammarian |
| Levites, a sacred caste in ancient Israel |
| Amy Levy (1861–1889), English poetess and novelist |
| Fanny Lewald (1811–1889), German author |
| Lewanika (d. 1916), Paramount chief of the Barotse |
| Charles Lee Lewes (1740–1803), English actor |
| George Henry Lewes (1817–1878), British philosopher and literary critic |
| Thomas Lewin (1805–1877), English author |
| Andrew Lewis (1720–1781), American general |
| Sir George Cornewall Lewis (1806–1863), English statesman and man of letters |
| Sir George Henry Lewis (1833–1911), English solicitor |
| Henry Carvill Lewis (1853–1888), American geologist |
| Isaac Newton Lewis (1858–1931), American soldier and inventor |
| James Lewis (c. 1837–1896), American actor |
| John Frederick Lewis (1804–1876), British painter |
| Matthew Gregory Lewis (“Monk Lewis”) (1775–1818), English romance-writer and dramatist |
| Meriwether Lewis (1774–1809), American explorer |
| Morgan Lewis (1754–1844), American general and statesman |
| Baron Lexington |
| John Leyden (1775–1811), British orientalist and man of letters |
| Baron Hendrik Leys (1815–1869), Belgian painter |
| Michel de l’Hôpital (1507–1573), French statesman |
| Edward Lhuyd (1660–1709), British naturalist and antiquary |
| Libanius (314–393), Greek sophist and rhetorician |
| Liberius (d. 366), Pope |
| Libo, in ancient Rome, the name of a family belonging to the Scribonian gens |
| Libon of Elis (Fifth Century B.C.), Greek architect |
| Karl Max, Fürst von Lichnowsky (1860–1928), German diplomatist |
| Georg Christoph Lichtenberg (1742–1799), German physicist and satirical writer |
| Licinius (263–324), Roman Emperor |
| Gaius Licinius Calvus Stolo (Fourth Century B.C.), Roman statesman |
| Gaius Licinius Macer Calvus (82–47 B.C.), Roman poet and orator |
| James Lick (1796–1876), American philanthropist |
| Henry George Liddell (1811–1898), English scholar and divine |
| Henry Parry Liddon (1829–1890), English divine |
| Jonas Lie (1833–1908), Norwegian novelist |
| Sophus Lie (1842–1899), Norwegian mathematician |
| Francis Lieber (1800–1872), German-American publicist |
| Max Liebermann (1847–1935), German painter and etcher |
| Justus von Liebig (1803–1873), German chemist |
| Karl Liebknecht (1871–1919), German Socialist and revolutionary leader |
| Wilhelm Liebknecht (1826–1900), German socialist |
| Hunter Liggett (1857–1935), American soldier |
| John Lightfoot (1602–1675), English divine and rabbinical scholar |
| Joseph Barber Lightfoot (1828–1889), English theologian and Bishop of Durham |
| Charles Joseph, Prince de Ligne (1735–1814), soldier and writer |
| John, Earl Ligonier (1680–1770), British Field Marshal |
| Alfonso Maria de’ Liguori (1696–1787), Saint and doctor of the Church of Rome |
| Li Hongzhang (1823–1901), Chinese statesman |
| John Lilburne (c. 1614–1657), English political agitator |
| Detlev von Liliencron (1844–1909), German poet and novelist |
| Lilioukalani (1838–1917), Ex-Queen of Hawaii |
| George Lillo (1693–1739), English dramatist |
| William Lilly (1602–1681), English astrologer |
| William Samuel Lilly (1840–1919), English man of letters |
| William Lily (c. 1468–1522), English scholar |
| Otto Liman von Sanders (1855–1929), Prussian general |
| Philipp van Limborch (1633–1712), Dutch Remonstrant theologian |
| Léonard Limosin (c. 1505–c. 1575), French painter |
| Thomas Linacre (1460–1524), English humanist and physician
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