Dhanapala is both a given name and a surname. Notable people with the name include:
Dhanapala Attygalle, Ceylonese lawyer Dhanapala Udawaththa, Sri Lankan singer Dhanapala Weerasekera (1924–2011), Ceylonese politician D. B. Dhanapala (1905–1971), Sri Lankan journalist Jayantha Dhanapala (1938–2023), Sri Lankan diplomat Thiran Dhanapala (born 1996), Sri Lankan cricketer