Pickens is a surname. Notable people with the surname include:
Andrew Pickens (congressman) (1739–1817), American Revolutionary War General and US Congressman, South Carolina
Andrew Pickens (governor) (1779–1838), War of 1812 and Governor of South Carolina
Carl Pickens (born 1970), former NFL player
Francis Wilkinson Pickens (1805–1869), governor of South Carolina
James Pickens, Jr. (born 1954), American actor
Slim Pickens (1919–1983), American actor and cowboy
T. Boone Pickens, Jr. (born 1928) American businessman and philanthropist
J.P. Pickens (1937–1973), Musician, poet and artist
William Pickens (15 January 1881 – 6 April 1954) African-American orator, educator, journalist, and essayist
