There have been several famous men with the name Richard Allen:

• Richard Allan, Liberal Democrat politician from Sheffield, England.
• Richard Allen (politician), Member of Provincial Parliament (1982-1995) and cabinet minister (1990-1994) in Ontario, Canada.
• Richard Allen (Reverend), the former slave, and founder and first Bishop of the African Methodist Episcopal Church.
• Richard Allen, pen name of James Moffat, British author.
• Richard V. Allen, United States National Security Advisor under President Ronald Reagan from 1981 to 1982.

• Richard Allen (abstract minimalist painter).
• Richard Allen (bird artist).
• Richard Allen Davis, convicted murderer whose criminal record resulted in California's "Three strikes law".
• Richard Allen, television scriptwriter and college professor.