| Josiah Quincy, Jr. (1744–1775), American patriot |
| Josiah Quincy III. (1772–1864), American lawyer and author |
| Edgar Quinet (1803–1875), French historian and man of letters |
| Manuel José Quintana (1772–1857), Spanish poet and man of letters |
| Quintilian (c. 35–c. 95 A.D.), Roman rhetorician |
| Quintus Smyrnaeus (fl. Fourth Century A.D.), Greek epic poet |
| Quirinus, name borne by two saints |
| Hedwig Raabe (1844–1905), German actress |
| Wilhelm Raabe (Jacob Corvinus) (1831–1910), German novelist |
| Raba Ben Joseph Ben Ḥama (c. 280–352), Babylonian rabbi or amora |
| Rabah Zubeir (d. 1900), the conqueror of Bornu |
| Rabanus Maurus (c. 784–856), Archbishop of Mainz, and one of the most prominent teachers and writers of the Carolingian age |
| Paul Rabaut (1718–1794), French pastor of “the Church of the Desert” |
| Jean Paul Rabaut Saint-Étienne (1743–1793), French revolutionist |
| Rabbah bar Naḥmani (c. 270–c. 330), Babylonian rabbi or amora |
| Rabban Bar Sauma (c. 1220–1294), Nestorian traveller and diplomatist |
| Rabbūlā (c. 350–435), distinguished Bishop of the Syrian church |
| François Rabelais (c. 1490–1553), French humorist |
| Gottlieb Wilhelm Rabener (1714–1771), German satirist |
| Rabirius (First Century B.C.), Latin epic poet of the age of Augustus |
| Gaius Rabirius (First Century B.C.), Roman senator |
| Honorat de Bueil, Marquis de Racan (1589–1670), French poet |
| Rachel (1821?–1858), French actress |
| Sergei Rachmaninoff (1873–1943), Russian composer and pianist |
| Jean Racine (1639–1699), French tragic dramatist |
| Louis Racine (1692–1763), French poet |
| Ann (Ward) Radcliffe (1764–1823), English novelist |
| Sir George Radcliffe (1593–1657), English politician |
| John Radcliffe (1650–1714), English physician |
| Saint Radegunda (d. 587), Frankish queen |
| Josef Radetzky, Count of Radetz (1766–1858), Austrian soldier |
| Earls of Radnor |
| Joseph von Radowitz (1797–1853), Prussian general and statesman |
| John Rae (1813–1893), Scottish Arctic explorer |
| Sir Henry Raeburn (1756–1823), Scottish portrait painter |
| Rædwald (d. c. 620), King of the East Angles |
| Louis Raemakers (1868–1956), Dutch cartoonist |
| Joachim Raff (1822–1882), German composer and orchestral conductor |
| Raffaellino del Garbo (c. 1470–1524), Florentine painter |
| Denis-Auguste-Marie Raffet (1804–1860), French illustrator and lithographer |
| Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles (1781–1826), English administrator, founder of Singapore |
| Carl Christian Rafn (1795–1864), Danish archæologist |
| FitzRoy James Henry Somerset, Baron Raglan (1788–1855), British field marshal |
| Abdur Rahman Khan (c. 1844–1901), Amir of Afghanistan |
| Friedrich Wilhelm Raiffeisen (1818–1888), founder of the German system of agricultural co-operative banks |
| Robert Raikes (1736–1811), English educationist, the founder of Sunday schools |
| Abraham Raimbach (1776–1843), English line-engraver |
| Marcantonio Raimondi (c. 1480–c. 1534), chief Italian master of the art of engraving |
| Ferdinand Raimund (1790–1836), Austrian actor and dramatist |
| Rainer (1827–1913), Archduke of Austria |
| John Rainolds (1549–1607), English divine |
| Robert Rainy (1826–1906), Scotch Presbyterian divine |
| Gilles de Rais (1404–1440), Marshal of France |
| Rákóczy, name of a noble Hungarian family |
| Sébastien Rale (1657–1724), French missionary |
| Cecil Raleigh (1856–1914), English actor and playwright |
| Sir Walter Raleigh (1554?–1618), British explorer, poet and historian |
| Walter Raleigh (1861–1922), English man of letters |
| Ralph (d. 1122), Archbishop of Canterbury |
| Ralph de Guader (fl. 1070), Earl of Norfolk |
| Ralph of Coggeshall (d. after 1227), English chronicler |
| William Ralston Shedden Ralston (1828–1889), English writer and lecturer on Russian subjects |
| Pierre François Xavier Ram (1804–1865), Belgian churchman and historian |
| Alfred Rambaud (1842–1905), French historian |
| Eugène Rambert (1830–1886), Swiss author |
| Catherine de Vivonne, Marquise de Rambouillet (1588–1665), lady famous in the literary history of France |
| Jean-Philippe Rameau (1683–1764), French musical theorist and composer |
| Bartolomeo Ramenghi (1484–1542), Italian painter |
| Rameses |
| Karl Wilhelm Ramler (1725–1798), German poet |
| Carl Friedrich Rammelsberg (1813–1899), German mineralogist |
| Rammohun Roy (1772?–1833), Indian religious reformer |
| Mariano Rampolla del Tindaro (1843–1913), Italian Cardinal |
| Allan Ramsay (1686–1758), Scottish poet |
| Allan Ramsay (1713–1784), Scotch portrait-painter |
| Andrew Michael Ramsay (1686–1743), French writer, of Scottish birth |
| David Ramsay (1749–1815), American physician and historian |
| George Gilbert Ramsay (1839–1921), British classical scholar |
| Robert Ramsay (1842–1882), Australian statesman |
| Sir William Ramsay (1852–1916), British chemist |
| Sir William Mitchell Ramsay (1851–1939), British archæologist |
| Jesse Ramsden (1735–1800), English astronomical instrument maker |
| Alexander Ramsey (1815–1903), American statesman |
| Sir Andrew Crombie Ramsey (1814–1891), British geologist |
| Petrus Ramus (1515–1572), French humanist |
| Ramusio, noble Italian family |
| Mahadev Govind Ranade (1842–1901), Indian lawyer, reformer and author |
| Ranavalona III. (1861–1917), last queen of Madagascar |
| Arthur Ranc (1831–1908), French politician and writer |
| Armand Jean Le Bouthillier de Rancé (1626–1700), founder of the Trappist Cistercians |
| James Ryder Randall (1839–1908), American journalist and song-writer |
| Samuel Jackson Randall (1828–1890), American politician |
| Alberto Randegger (1832–1911), musical composer and conductor |
| Edmund Randolph (1753–1813), American statesman |
| John Randolph (1773–1833), American statesman |
| Peyton Randolph (1721–1775), American politician |
| Thomas Randolph (1523–1590), English diplomatist |
| Thomas Randolph (1605–1635), English poet and dramatist |
| Henry Ward Ranger (1858–1916), American artist |
| Ranjit Singh (1780–1839), native Indian ruler |
| Alexandros Rizos Rankaves (1809–1892), Greek savant, poet and statesman |
| Leopold von Ranke (1795–1886), German historian |
| William John Macquorn Rankine (1820–1872), Scottish engineer and physicist |
| Thomas Edwin Greenfield Ransom (1834–1864), one of the bravest generals in the American Civil War |
| Sir Dinkar Rao (1819–1896), Indian statesman |
| Sir T. Madhava Rao (1828–1891), Indian statesman |
| Raoul (d. 936), King of the Franks and Duke of Burgundy |
| Raoul de Houdenc (c. 1165–c. 1230), French trouvère |
| François Marie Raoult (1830–1901), French chemist |
| Jean Raoux (1677–1734), French painter |
| Raphael (1483–1520), great Italian painter |
| Morris Jacob Raphall (1798–1868), Jewish rabbi |
| Paul de Rapin de Thoyras (1661–1725), French historian |
| Samuel Judah Leib Rapoport (1790–1867), Jewish scholar |
| George Rapp (1757–1847), the founder of the communistic religious sect of Harmonists |
| Rashbam (1085–1174), Jewish scholar |
| Rashi (1040–1105), Jewish scholar |
| Rashtrakuta, Indian dynasty |
| Rasmus Rask (1787–1832), Danish scholar and philologist |
| François-Vincent Raspail (1794–1878), French scientist and revolutionary politician |
| Rudolf Erich Raspe (1736–1794), original author of the Adventures of Baron Munchausen |
| Rasputin (1871–1916), Russian monk and court favourite |
| Hormuzd Rassam (1826–1910), Assyriologist and traveller |
| John Rastell (d. 1536), English printer and author |
| William Rastell (c. 1508–1565), English printer and judge |
| Gerhard vom Rath (1830–1888), German mineralogist |
| Louis Ratisbonne (1827–1900), French man of letters |
| Wolfgang Ratke (1571–1635), German educationist |
| Ratramnus (d. c. 868), theological controversialist |
| Urbano Rattazzi (1808–1873), Italian statesman |
| Karl Heinrich Rau (1792–1870), German political economist |
| Christian Daniel Rauch (1777–1857), German sculptor |
| Mlle. Raucourt (1756–1815), French actress |
| Friedrich von Raumer (1781–1873), German historian |
| Ernst Benjamin Salomo Raupach (1784–1852), German dramatist |
| François Ravaillac (1578–1610), assassin of Henry IV. of France |
| Félix Ravaisson (1813–1900), French philosopher and archæologist |
| Maurice Ravel (1875–1937), French musical composer |
| Jacques Raveneau de Lussan (b. 1663), French buccaneer |
| Leonard Raven-Hill (1867–1942), English artist and illustrator |
| Ernst Georg Ravenstein (1834–1913), German geographer and statistician |
| John Aaron Rawlins (1831–1869), American general |
| George Rawlinson (1812–1902), English scholar and historian |
| Sir Henry Creswicke Rawlinson (1810–1895), English soldier and orientalist |
| Henry Seymour, Baron Rawlinson (1864–1925), British general |
| Richard Rawlinson (1690–1755), English antiquary and divine |
| Sir Robert Rawlinson (1810–1898), English engineer and sanitarian |
| John Ray (1627–1705), sometimes called the father of English natural history |
| John William Strutt, Lord Rayleigh (1842–1919), English physicist |
| Henry Jarvis Raymond (1820–1869), American journalist |
| Raymund of Antioch (1099–1149), Prince |
| Raymond of Sabunde (d. 1436), Spanish scholar |
| Raymund of Toulouse (d. 1105), one of the leaders of the first Crusade |
| Raymund of Tripoli (c. 1140–1187), Count |
| Abbé Raynal (1713–1796), French writer |
| Raynald of Châtillon (d. 1187), Knight |
| François-Just-Marie Raynouard (1761–1836), French dramatist and savant |
| Fakhr ud-Dīn Rāzī (1149/50–1210), Arabian historian and theologian |
| Stephen Timofeevich Razin (d. 1671), Cossack hetman and rebel |
| Samuel Rea (1855–1929), American railway official |
| George Read (1733–1798), signer of the Declaration of Independence |
| Opie Read (1852–1939), American author |
| Thomas Buchanan Read (1822–1872), American poet and artist |
| Charles Reade (1814–1884), English novelist and dramatist |
| William Winwood Reade (1838–1875), English traveler and author |
| Rufus Daniel Isaacs, Marquess of Reading (1860–1935), British lawyer and statesman |
| Sir Cowasjee Jehanghier Readymoney (1812–1878), “The Peabody of Bombay” |
| John Henninger Reagan (1818–1905), American politician |
| René-Antoine Ferchault de Réaumur (1683–1757), French man of science |
| Jeanne Françoise Julie Adélaïde Récamier (1777–1849), famous Frenchwoman |
| Bernhard, Count von Rechberg-Rothenlöwen (1806–1899), Austrian statesman |
| Élisée Reclus (1830–1905), French geographer |
| Robert Recorde (c. 1510–1558), Welsh physician and mathematician |
| John Mitford, Baron Redesdale (1748–1830), English lawyer and politician |
| Richard Redgrave (1804–1888), English artist |
| Red Jacket (c. 1756–1830), American Indian, a celebrated chief of the Senecas |
| John Edward Redmond (1856–1918), Irish politician |
| James Redpath (1833–1891), American author and journalist |
| Oskar von Redwitz (1823–1891), German poet |
| Andrew Reed (1787–1862), English nonconformist divine and philanthropist |
| Isaac Reed (1742–1807), English Shakespearian editor |
| Joseph Reed (1741–1785), American politician |
| Thomas Brackett Reed (1839–1902), American statesman |
| Adriaan Reelant (1676–1718), Dutch orientalist |
| Abraham Rees (1743–1825), British educator and encyclopædist |
| Thomas Rees (1777–1864), Welsh Nonconformist divine |
| Clara Reeve (1729–1807), English novelist |
| Henry Reeve (1813–1895), English publicist |
| Tapping Reeve (1744–1823), American Lawyer |
| Sims Reeves (1818–1900), English vocalist |
| Regino of Prüm (840–915), medieval chronicler |
| Joannes Regiomontanus (1436–1476), German astronomer |
| Jean-François Regnard (1655–1709), French comic dramatist |
| Henri Regnault (1843–1871), French painter |
| Jean-Baptiste Regnault (1754–1829), French painter |
| Victor Regnault (1810–1878), French chemist and physicist |
| Michel Louis Étienne Regnault de Saint-Jean d’Angély (1761–1819), French politician |
| Henri de Régnier (1864–1936), French poet |
| Mathurin Régnier (1573–1613), French satirist |
| Marcus Atilius Regulus (d. 250? B.C.), Roman general and consul |
| Ada Rehan (1857–1916), American actress |
| Rehoboam, son of Solomon and first King of Judah |
| Anton Reicha (1770–1836), French musical theorist and teacher of composition |
| Georg von Reichenbach (1771–1826), German astronomical instrument maker |
| August Reichensperger (1808–1895), German politician |
| Sir George Reid (1841–1913), Scottish artist |
| Sir George Houstoun Reid (1845–1918), Australian statesman |
| Mayne Reid (1818–1883), British novelist |
| Robert Reid (1862–1929), American artist |
| Sir Robert Gillespie Reid (1842–1908), Canadian railway contractor |
| Samuel Chester Reid (1783–1861), designer of the present American flag |
| Thomas Reid (1710–1796), Scottish philosopher |
| Thomas Wemyss Reid (1842–1905), English journalist |
| Whitelaw Reid (1837–1912), American journalist and diplomatist |
| Sir William Reid (1791–1858), Scottish administrator and man of science |
| Hermann Samuel Reimarus (1694–1768), German philosopher and man of letters |
| Joseph Reinach (1856–1921), French author and politician |
| Joseph Toussaint Reinaud (1795–1867), French orientalist |
| Carl Reinecke (1824–1910), German composer and pianist |
| Charles Stanley Reinhart (1844–1896), American painter and illustrator |
| Joachim Christian Reinhart (1761–1847), German painter and etcher |
| Karl Leonhard Reinhold (1758–1823), German philosopher |
| Joseph Hubert Reinkens (1821–1896), German Old Catholic Bishop |
| Johann Jacob Reiske (1716–1774), German scholar and physician |
| Gabrielle Réjane (1856–1920), French actress |
| Rembrandt (1606–1669), Dutch painter |
| Saint Remigius (c. 437–c. 533), Bishop of Reims and the friend of Clovis |
| Frederic Remington (1861–1909), American artist |
| Abel Rémusat (1788–1832), French Chinese scholar |
| Charles de Rémusat (1797–1875), French politician and man of letters |
| Ernest Renan (1823–1892), French philosopher and orientalist |
| Alphonse François Renard (1842–1903), Belgian geologist and petrographer |
| Renaud de Montauban, one of the most famous figures of French and Italian romance |
| Eusèbe Renaudot (1646–1720), French theologian and orientalist |
| Théophraste Renaudot (1586–1653), French physician and philanthropist |
| René I. (1409–1480), Duke of Anjou, of Lorraine and Bar, Count of Provence and of Piedmont, King of Naples, Sicily and Jerusalem |
| Renée of France (1510–1575), French noble |
| Renée de Rieux (1550–1586), French noble |
| Eugène Renevier (1831–1906), Swiss geologist |
| Guido Reni (1575–1642), prime master in the Bolognese school of painting |
| James Rennell (1742–1830), British geographer |
| Pavel Karlovich Rennenkampf (1854–1918), Russian general |
| Karl Renner (1870–1950), Austrian politician |
| Constantin de Renneville (c. 1650–1723), French writer |
| John Rennie (1761–1821), British engineer |
| Jesse Lee Reno (1823–1862), American general |
| Auguste Renoir (1841–1919), French painter |
| Sir Peter Le Page Renouf (1822–1897), Egyptologist |
| Charles Renouvier (1815–1903), French philosopher |
| James Renwick (1662–1688), Scottish covenanting leader |
| Ilja Jefimovich Repin (1844–1930), Russian painter |
| Philip Repingdon (d. 1424), English Bishop and Cardinal |
| Repnin, name of an old Russian princely family |
| Agnes Repplier (1855–1950), American writer |
| Johann Georg Repsold (1770–1830), German instrument maker |
| Luis de Zuñiga y Requesens (1528–1576), Spanish governor of the Netherlands |
| André de Resende (1498–1573), father of archæology in Portugal |
| Garcia de Resende (c. 1470–1536), Portuguese poet and editor |
| Mustafa Reshid Pasha (1800–1858), Turkish statesman and diplomatist |
| Restif de La Bretonne (1734–1806), French novelist |
| Jean Restout (1692–1768), French painter |
| Jean de Reszke (1850–1925), operatic singer |
| Alfred Rethel (1816–1859), German historical painter |
| Seigneurs and Dukes of Retz |
| Jean François Paul de Gondi de Retz (1613–1679), Cardinal, French churchman and agitator |
| Jean-François Reubell (1747–1807), French politician |
| Reuben, a tribe of Israel |
| Johann Reuchlin (1455–1522), German humanist and Hebraist |
| Alfred von Reumont (1808–1887), German scholar and diplomatist |
| Franz Heinrich Reusch (1825–1900), Old Catholic theologian |
| Hans Henrik Reusch (1852–1922), Norwegian geologist |
| August Emanuel von Reuss (1811–1873), Austrian geologist and palæontologist |
| Eduard Reuss (1804–1891), Protestant theologian |
| Fritz Reuter (1810–1874), German novelist |
| Paul Julius, Baron de Reuter (1816–1899), founder of Reuter’s News Agency |
| Gustaf Adolf Reuterholm (1756–1813), Swedish statesman |
| Christian Ditlev Frederick, Count Reventlow (1748–1827), Danish statesman and reformer |
| Paul Revere (1735–1818), American engraver and patriot |
| Albert Réville (1826–1906), French Protestant theologian |
| Louis Reybaud (1799–1879), French writer, economist and politician |
| Ernest Reyer (1823–1909), French composer |
| John Fulton Reynolds (1820–1863), American soldier |
| Sir Joshua Reynolds (1723–1792), most prominent figure in the English school of painting |
| Stephen Reynolds (1881–1919), English author |
| Walter Reynolds (d. 1327), Archbishop of Canterbury |
| Nicolai Petrovich de Rezánov (1764–1807), Russian nobleman and administrator |
| Rhampsinitus, popular name of Rameses III., King of Egypt of the XXth Dynasty |
| Josef Rheinberger (1839–1901), German composer |
| Beatus Rhenanus (1485–1547), German humanist |
| George Joachim Rheticus (1514–1574), German astronomer and mathematician |
| Rhianus (Third Century B.C.), Greek poet and grammarian |
| Constantine Rhigas (1757?–1798), Greek patriot and poet |
| Rhinthon (c. 323–285 B.C.), Greek dramatist |
| Cecil Rhodes (1853–1902), British colonial and Imperial statesman |
| James Ford Rhodes (1848–1927), American historian |
| Rhoecus (Sixth Century B.C.), Samian sculptor |
| David Alfred Thomas, Viscount Rhondda (1856–1918), British colliery owner and Food Controller in the World War |
| Sir John Rhys (1840–1915), British archæologist and Celtic scholar |
| Riaz Pasha (c. 1835–1911), Egyptian statesman |
| Pedro de Ribadeneyra (1526–1611), hagiologist |
| Jean Ribaut (c. 1520–1565), French navigator |
| Otto Ribbeck (1827–1898), German classical scholar |
| Bernardim Ribeiro (1482–1552), father of bucolic prose and verse in Portugal |
| Jusepe de Ribera (1591–1652), leading painter of the Neapolitan or partly of the Spanish school |
| Alexandre Félix Joseph Ribot (1842–1923), French statesman |
| Théodule Ribot (1823–1891), French painter |
| Théodule Ribot (1839–1916), French psychologist |
| Gustave Ricard (1823–1873), French painter |
| David Ricardo (1772–1823), English economist |
| Bettino Ricasoli (1809–1880), Italian statesman |
| Jacopo Riccati (1676–1754), Italian mathematician |
| Matteo Ricci (1552–1610), Italian missionary to China |
| Riccio (1470–1532), Italian sculptor and architect |
| David Riccio (c. 1533–1566), Secretary of Mary, queen of Scots |
| Marie Jeanne Riccoboni (1713–1792), English author |
| Riccoldo da Montecroce (1242/3–1320), Italian Dominican missionary |
| Edmund Ignatius Rice (1762–1844), Irish philanthropist, founder of the “Irish Christian Brothers” |
| James Rice (1843–1882), English novelist |
| Barnabe Rich (c. 1540–1617), English author and soldier |
| Claudius James Rich (1787–1821), English traveller and scholar |
| John Rich (1682?–1761), English actor, the “father of English pantomime” |
| Lady Penelope Rich (c. 1562–1607), the Stella of Sir Philip Sidney’s Astrophel and Stella |
| Richard Rich (fl. 1610), English soldier and adventurer, the author of Newes from Virginia |
| Sir Richard Rich (1496?–1567), Lord Chancellor |
| Saint Richard (1197/8–1253), English Bishop |
| Richard (d. 1184), Archbishop of Canterbury |
| Richard (1209–1272), Earl of Cornwall and King of the Romans |
| Richard I. (1157–1199), King of England, nicknamed “Cœur de Lion” |
| Richard II. (1367–1400), King of England |
| Richard III. (1452–1485), King of England |
| Richard, Duke of York (1411–1460), English noble |
| Richard of Cirencester (c. 1335–c. 1401), historical writer |
| Richard of Devizes (c. 1150–c. 1200), English chronicler |
| Richard of Hexham (fl. 1141), English chronicler |
| Richard of Ilchester (d. 1188), English statesman and prelate |
| Richard of St. Victor (d. 1173), theologian and mystic |
| François Marie Benjamin Richard (1819–1908), Archbishop of Paris, French prelate |
| Henry Richard (1812–1888), Welsh politician |
| Alfred Bate Richards (1820–1876), English journalist |
| Brinley Richards (1819–1885), English pianist and composer |
| Theodore William Richards (1868–1928), American chemist |
| William Trost Richards (1833–1905), American marine painter |
| Charles Richardson (1775–1865), English lexicographer |
| George Richardson (1736?–1817?), English architect and designer |
| Henry Hobson Richardson (1838–1886), American architect |
| Sir John Richardson (1787–1865), British naturalist |
| Samuel Richardson (1689–1761), English novelist
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