Arts and entertainment

• David Brown (British artist) (fl. 1792–1797), British painter
• David Robertson Brown (1869–1946), Canadian architect
• David Brown (American artist), American visual artist based in Old Saybrook, Connecticut, active since 2004
• Dave Brown (cartoonist) (born 1957), British cartoonist for The Independent in the UK
• David Brown (producer) (1916–2010), American movie producer
• Dave Brown (comedian) (born 1973), British actor and comedian
• David Brown (radio host), American lawyer, radio personality and journalist
• David Jay Brown (born 1961), American writer, interviewer, and consciousness researcher
• David W. Brown (born 1979), American author
• David Brown, animator who serves as a main artist for the rhythm game Friday Night Funkin'
• David Brown, American actor and producer, played in Inside Man

Business

• David Brown (1734–1804), Scottish-Danish merchant and shipowner
• David Brown (entrepreneur) (1904–1993), British entrepreneur (David Brown & Sons, Aston Martin, Vosper Thorneycroft)

Music

• David Arthur Brown (born 1967), American vocalist and songwriter
• David Brown (American musician) (1947–2000), American musician, bass player with Santana, 1966–1976
• David Brown (Australian musician) (born 1956), Australian musician, active since 1978
• David Brown (British musician) (born 1987), better known as Boyinaband, YouTube personality and musician
• David Brown (double-bassist), American double-bassist with Rising Appalachia
• David Brown, American guitarist with Billy Joel
• David Brown, vocalist with Canadian band The New Cities
• David Darnell Brown (born 1981), birth name of Young Buck, American Southern rapper
• David Debrandon Brown (born 1985), singer/songwriter & American Idol season 4] semifinalist, a.k.a. pseudonym Lucky Daye

Politics and law

• David Brown (Canadian politician) (born 1990), Ottawa city councillor
• Dave Brown (Montana politician) (1948–1998), member of the Montana House of Representatives
• Dave Brown (Minnesota politician) (born 1961), member of the Minnesota Senate
• David Brown, mayor of Charlottesville, Virginia in 2004–2008
• David Brown (Massachusetts protester) (1740–1812), convicted of sedition because of his criticism of the United States federal government
• David Brown (police officer) (born 1960), superintendent of the Chicago Police Department 2020–2023
• David Paul Brown, convicted kidnapper and child sexual assaulter, who changed his name to Nathaniel Bar-Jonah (1957–2008)

Religion

• David Brown (East India Company chaplain) (1762–1812), English chaplain in Bengal
• David Brown (Free Church of Scotland) (1803–1897), Scottish professor of theology at the University of Aberdeen
• David Brown (bishop) (David Allan Brown, 1922–1982), Bishop of Guildford 1973–1982
• David Brown (theologian) (David William Brown, born 1948), Scottish professor of theology, aesthetics, and culture, University of St. Andrews

Science

• David Alexander Brown (1916–2009), Australian geologist
• Dave Brown (meteorologist) (born 1946), American meteorologist at WMC-TV and former professional wrestling commentator
• David Brown (meteorologist) (born 1959), Australian meteorologist
• David R. Brown (neuroscientist) (born 1964), Australian-born research scientist
• David Brown (geneticist) (born 1968), American geneticist
• David J. Brown (computer scientist) (born 1957), American computer scientist
• David R. Brown (engineer) (1923–2016), American computer scientist
• David Brown (pharmacology professor) (1936–2023), English professor of pharmacology
• David F. M. Brown, American physician

Sports

Other people

• David Brown (musicologist) (1929–2014), English musicologist, Tchaikovsky specialist
• David R. Brown (graphic designer), American graphic designer and academic administrator
• David S. Brown (born 1966), American historian
• David K. Brown (1928–2008), British naval architect, author, and historian
• David Tilden Brown (1823–1889), American psychiatrist
• David Brown (Royal Navy officer) (1927–2005), British admiral
• David M. Brown (1956–2003), American astronaut
• David Brown (Scottish Jew), the first Jew known to have lived in Edinburgh in 1691
• David Brown (translator) (c. 1790–1829), Cherokee translator and clergyman
• David Brown, who was convicted of the murder of David Knapps