Italians (Italian: italiani) are an ethnic group native of Southern Europe that share a common Italian culture, ancestry and speak the Italian language as a mother tongue. Within Italy, Italians are defined by citizenship, regardless of ancestry or country of residence (though the principle of jus sanguinis is used extensively and arguably more favorably in the Italian nationality law), and are distinguished from people of Italian descent and, historically, from ethnic Italians living in the unredeemed territories adjacent to the Italian Peninsula.

In 2012, in addition to the 60 million Italians in Italy and 3,000 in San Marino, Italian-speaking, autonomous groups are found in neighboring countries: about 500,000 in Switzerland, a large, but undefined population in France (Nice, Corsica), and smaller groups in Slovenia and Croatia, primarily in Istria. If regarded as an ethnic group, they constitute one of the world's largest.

Because of wide-ranging and long-lasting diaspora, about 4 and half million Italian citizens and over 70 million people of full or part Italian ancestry live outside of Italy, most notably in South America, North America, Australia and parts of Europe.

This is a list of notable Italians in alphabetical order.

Daniel Franzese (born May 9, 1978) is an American actor. He has worked in film, TV and theater.

Franzese was born in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn, New York, the son of Denise and Ralph "R. J." Franzese, a lounge singer. Franzese attended Piper High School in Sunrise, Florida from 1992–1996.

Daniel has appeared in more than fourteen films, including Bully, Party Monster, Mean Girls, Bristol Boys and War of the Worlds. Daniel also featured in the web series Foodies the first episode aired in 2011.

On October 12, 2007 Daniel curated his first art show called Halloween, a multi-artist show which examined celebrity, vanity, money and the day we get to dress up and ask strangers for goodies.

On April 25, 2008, at the World of Wonder Storefront Gallery in Los Angeles, California, Franzese curated an art show called depARTed. The show featured art inspired by stars that died before their time. All art was inspired by famous personalities from Marilyn Monroe, James Dean and Anna Nicole Smith to notable figures like Abraham Lincoln and Martin Luther King Jr., to artists like Keith Haring and Isabella Blow. Artists included dRon English, Keyth Ryden (also known as KRK Ryden), and Jessicka.

Aries Spears (born April 3, 1975) is an American stand-up comedian, actor, voice artist, and comedian. Spears was a regular on Fox's sketch comedy series MADtv, appearing in 198 episodes, making him the second longest-serving original cast member on the show. He recently released a new special called Aries Spears: Hollywood, Look I'm Smiling.^{[citation needed]}

Spears was born in Chicago, Illinois. His mother Doris Spears is a jazz singer. Spears moved to New Jersey at age 11 and attended Arthur M. Judd Elementary School. He became a comedian at 14, performing stand-up comedy in various comedy clubs in New York City. He was expelled for fighting during his sophomore year in North Brunswick Township High School in North Brunswick Township, at age 17. Spears started doing his own comedy routine around his hometown. He is a self-professed Michael Jordan fan.

Spears' first television appearance was on Russell Simmons's Def Comedy Jam, followed by It's Showtime at the Apollo (1987). He moved to Los Angeles in 1992, landed a recurring role on A Different World (1993) and became a regular at The Comedy Store, The Improv and The Laugh Factory. Other television credits include Crosstown Traffic, The Adventures of Brisco County, Jr. (1993) and Soul Train.

Adam Ferrara (born February 2, 1966) is an American actor and comedian who played the role of Chief "Needles" Nelson on the critically acclaimed FX series Rescue Me and is also a co-host on the U.S. version of Top Gear. He also played Detective Tommy Manetti on the television series The Job.

Adam grew up in Huntington Station, New York in an Italian-American family and is engaged to indie actress Alex Tyler, who is also on the cover of his comedy DVD Funny as Hell.

He has performed on Comedy Central Presents and was nominated twice for the American Comedy Award for Best Male Stand-Up. Ferrara frequently performs stand-up at Caroline's and the Comedy Cellar, both of which are in Manhattan. Ferrara also tours often, performing stand-up at the top clubs around the country.

He has performed stand-up several times on The Tonight Show, The Late Show with David Letterman, and Comedy Central. His stand up was featured in Comedy Central's animated series Shorties Watchin' Shorties in 2004.

Performed an hour stand-up special which aired on Comedy Central entitled Funny As Hell, and was released on DVD the same day.