Grey's Anatomy is an American television medical drama series created by Shonda Rhimes and broadcast by ABC. The show features an ensemble cast of lead characters, along with multiple supporting cast members. During its first season, the show featured nine lead characters. Throughout subsequent seasons, many characters have been written out, either due to actors electing to depart the show or due to screenwriters altering character arcs. The following is a list of characters by role type who have appeared over the various seasons since the drama's premiere.

Main characters

Chiefs of Surgery

Department Chiefs

Attending physicians

Surgical fellows

Resident physicians

Surgical interns

Supporting characters

Hospital surgeons

The following listings reflect each character's status at the time of their first appearance on staff at Seattle Grace/Seattle Grace Mercy West/Grey Sloan Memorial.

Department Chiefs

Attending physicians

Surgical fellows

Resident physicians

Surgical interns

Hospital nurses

Other hospital physicians

Non-staff physicians

Family members

Meredith Grey's family

Lexie Grey's family

Derek Shepherd's family

Cristina Yang's family

Izzie Stevens's family

Richard Webber's family

George O'Malley's family

Alex Karev's family

Miranda Bailey's family

Mark Sloan's family

Teddy Altman's family

Callie Torres's family

Arizona Robbins's family

Jackson Avery's family

Guest stars

Other characters