Cardenal is a surname of Spanish origin. People with that name include:
Ernesto Cardenal (born 1925), Nicaraguan cleric and liberation theologianFernando Cardenal (1934–2016), Nicaraguan cleric and liberation theologianJosé Cardenal (born 1943), Cuban-American former baseball playerJosé Francisco Cardenal (born 1940), Nicaraguan businessman and rebelJuan Pablo Cardenal (born 1968), Spanish journalist and sinologistKatia Cardenal (born 1963), Nicaraguan singer/songwriterPeire Cardenal (1180–1278), Occitan troubadourSalvador Cardenal (1960–2010), Nicaraguan singer/songwriterXavier Chamorro Cardenal (1932–2008), Nicaraguan editor of El Nuevo Diario, a Nicaraguan newspaper