# The 31 Best Grey's Anatomy Characters

> Scalpels down: surgeons who stayed two decades share the board with a heart patient who never made it out of bed, and with residents fans still argue about.

*By YPB Team · Published November 11, 2026 · https://youpick.best/ranking/the-31-best-greys-anatomy-characters*

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## Current results (no votes yet)

1. **Cristina Yang** — score 1000/1000
   Sandra Oh's fiercely ambitious cardiothoracic surgeon and Meredith's best friend, a series regular for the first ten seasons.
2. **Meredith Grey** — score 759/1000
   The show's title character, played by Ellen Pompeo, who rose from surgical intern in the 2005 pilot to chief of general surgery.
3. **Alex Karev** — score 730/1000
   Justin Chambers' brash intern who grew into a pediatric surgeon over 16 seasons before leaving the show in 2020.
4. **Owen Hunt** — score 691/1000
   Kevin McKidd's former Army trauma surgeon who joined in season 5 and later became chief of surgery.
5. **Tom Koracick** — score 669/1000
   Greg Germann's sardonic neurosurgeon and former mentor of Amelia Shepherd, promoted to series regular in season 16.
6. **April Kepner** — score 647/1000
   Sarah Drew's devout, high-strung surgeon who arrived from Mercy West and became an attending trauma surgeon.
7. **Miranda Bailey** — score 647/1000
   Chandra Wilson's no-nonsense resident nicknamed The Nazi, who later became the hospital's chief of surgery.
8. **Derek Shepherd** — score 597/1000
   Patrick Dempsey's neurosurgeon, nicknamed McDreamy, whose romance with Meredith anchored the show until his death in season 11.
9. **Levi Schmitt** — score 478/1000
   Jake Borelli's intern nicknamed Glasses, who joined in season 14 and later dated orthopedic surgeon Nico Kim.
10. **Teddy Altman** — score 478/1000
   Kim Raver's cardiothoracic surgeon and Owen's Army friend, who joined in season 6 and returned in season 14.
11. **Addison Montgomery** — score 478/1000
   Kate Walsh's neonatal surgeon and Derek's estranged wife, whose popularity earned her the spinoff Private Practice.
12. **Ben Warren** — score 478/1000
   Jason George's anesthesiologist turned surgeon and Bailey's husband, who later became a firefighter on the spinoff Station 19.
13. **Catherine Fox** — score 478/1000
   Debbie Allen's urologist and Jackson's mother, who heads the Fox Foundation and married Richard Webber.
14. **Maggie Pierce** — score 478/1000
   Kelly McCreary's cardiothoracic chief, revealed in season 11 as Meredith's half-sister through Ellis Grey and Richard Webber.
15. **George O'Malley** — score 478/1000
   T. R. Knight's gentle intern nicknamed 007, who was fatally hit by a bus in the season 5 finale while saving a stranger.
16. **Mark Sloan** — score 404/1000
   Eric Dane's plastic surgeon, nicknamed McSteamy, who was Derek's former best friend and the father of Callie's daughter Sofia.
17. **Amelia Shepherd** — score 404/1000
   Caterina Scorsone's neurosurgeon and Derek's younger sister, who crossed over from Private Practice and joined Grey's full time in season 11.
18. **Preston Burke** — score 404/1000
   Isaiah Washington's cardiothoracic surgeon, who left Cristina at the altar at the end of season 3.
19. **Jo Wilson** — score 319/1000
   Camilla Luddington's resident turned general surgeon and OB-GYN, who joined in season 9 and married Alex Karev.
20. **Atticus Lincoln** — score 319/1000
   Chris Carmack's orthopedic surgeon nicknamed Link, who joined in season 15 and fathered a son with Amelia.
21. **Jackson Avery** — score 319/1000
   Jesse Williams' plastic surgeon and heir to the Avery family fortune and foundation, a regular from season 7 to season 17.
22. **Denny Duquette** — score 319/1000
   Jeffrey Dean Morgan's heart-transplant patient, whose romance with Izzie ended with his death in the season 2 finale.
23. **Stephanie Edwards** — score 319/1000
   Jerrika Hinton's surgical resident, who joined in season 9 and left after the season 13 finale.
24. **Nathan Riggs** — score 319/1000
   Martin Henderson's cardiothoracic surgeon, who joined in season 12 and left with Owen Hunt's sister Megan Hunt in season 14.
25. **Richard Webber** — score 217/1000
   James Pickens Jr.'s longtime chief of surgery and mentor to Meredith, and a former lover of her mother Ellis Grey.
26. **Arizona Robbins** — score 217/1000
   Jessica Capshaw's pediatric surgeon who married Callie and lost a leg after the season 8 plane crash.
27. **Izzie Stevens** — score 217/1000
   Katherine Heigl's former model turned intern, whose romance with heart patient Denny Duquette drove the show's second season.
28. **Lexie Grey** — score 217/1000
   Chyler Leigh's photographic-memory surgeon and Meredith's half-sister, who died in the season 8 finale plane crash.
29. **Andrew DeLuca** — score 217/1000
   Giacomo Gianniotti's intern turned surgeon, who joined in season 11 and was stabbed to death in season 17.
30. **Ellis Grey** — score 217/1000
   Kate Burton's renowned general surgeon and Meredith's mother, whose Alzheimer's disease shaped the first three seasons.
31. **Callie Torres** — score 0/1000
   Sara Ramírez's orthopedic surgeon, recurring in season 2 and a series regular from season 3 to season 12, who married pediatric surgeon Arizona Robbins.

Tags: tv shows, characters, doctors, grey's anatomy