This is a list of famous prostitutes and courtesans:
Real-life and historical
- Brenda Allen, 1940s Los Angeles madam
- Aspasia, hetaera companion of Pericles
- Laura Bell, the "Queen of London whoredom"
- Theresa Berkeley, 19th-century dominatrix
- Divine Brown, caught in a compromising situation with Hugh Grant
- Sydney Biddle Barrows, the Mayflower Madam
- Annie Chapman, one of the "canonical five" victims of Jack the Ripper
- Claudia Drexelius, German prostitute exposed through national TV
- Heidi Fleiss, the Hollywood Madam
- Nell Gwynne, courtesan to Charles II of England
- Janie Jones, entertainer and madam
- Christine Keeler, involved in the Profumo Affair
- Mary Jane Kelly, one of the "canonical five" victims of Jack the Ripper
- Margaret MacDonald
- Madame Alex, the Beverly Hills Madam
- Madame Claude
- Mata Hari (born Margaretha Geertruida Zelle)
- Gerda Munsinger, Soviet spy
- Mary Ann Nichols, one of the "canonical five" victims of Jack the Ripper
- Cynthia Payne
- Barbara Payton, 1940s film starlet who turned to prostitution in the late 1950s after the end of her career and collapse of her marriage
- Cora Pearl
- Phryne, Greek hetaera
- Victoria Price, alleged victim, perjurer in the Scottsboro Boys case
- Valerie Solanas, street prostitute turned attempted assassin
- Nancy Spungen, girlfriend of Sid Vicious, murder victim
- Elizabeth Stride, one of the "canonical five" victims of Jack the Ripper
- Martha Tabram, a possible victim of Jack the Ripper
- Sunset Thomas, porn star
- Thais, Greek hetaera who lived during the time of Alexander the Great
- Saint Thais, repentant Egyptian courtesan
- Theodora, Empress of Byzantium
- Aileen Wuornos, serial killer executed in Florida in 2002, subject of the movie Monster
Fictional
- Belle Watling, Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell
- Chandramukhi, Devdas
- Darla, from Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel
- Elisabeth Rouset, Boule de Suif by Guy de Maupassant
- Fanny Hill, Fanny Hill by John Cleland
- Holly Golightly, Breakfast at Tiffany's by Truman Capote (more of a kept woman than a prostitute proper)
- Lozana, Portrait of Lozana by Francisco Delicado
- Nana, Nana by Emile Zola
- Juliette, in the Marquis de Sade's "Juliette"
- Tra La La, Last Exit to Brooklyn by Hubert Selby
- Tamara Sperling in Robert A. Heinlein's Time Enough For Love.
- Sonya Marmeladova, Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky
- Mrs. Rosemary Palm, head of the Guild of Seamstresses in Terry Pratchett's Discworld novels
- Rahab, Biblical prostitute who assisted the Hebrews in capturing Jericho
- Tamar (Bible, Genesis 38) posed as a prostitute
- Tilt, from The Monolith
- Tristessa, Tristessa by Jack Kerouac
- Talanta, Talanta by Pietro Aretino
Alleged prostitutes
Symbolic or allegorical prostitutes
Male prostitutes
- Herbert Huncke, male prostitute, Beat Generation figure
- Jobriath, rock singer, male prostitute prior to launching his musical career
Alleged male prostitutes
See also
