This is a list of notable Vietnamese Americans.
To be included in this list, the person must have a Wikipedia article showing they are Vietnamese American, or must be cited in multiple independent and reliable sources showing they are Vietnamese American and are notable. Arts and entertainment
Actors and actresses
Kieu Chinh – actress, producer James Duval – actor Eileen Fogarty – actor, writer, and producer Lance Krall – actor Hiep Thi Le (1971–2017) – actress Jeannie Mai – makeup artist, fashion expert Dustin Nguyen – actor "I was only the first Vietnamese kid in the state..." Olivia Munn – former model, TV personality Maggie Q – former model and actress "She’s a gorgeous, Hawaiian born, Vietnamese/American actress, a model gone action star in films in Japan and China" Tiffany Pham – actress, model, author, and entrepreneur Ke Huy Quan – actor and stunt choreographer "Vietnamese newcomer Ke Huy Quan makes a shrill debut..." Chantal Thuy – actress Rosie Tran – writer, actress, and comedian Thuy Trang (1973–2001) – actress "Vietnamese-American actress, and was born in Saigon, South Vietnam." Kathy Uyen – actress, producer, and writer Xanthe Huynh – anime English voice actress Ali Wong – comedian, actress, and writer Lana Condor – actress Levy Tran – actress and model La Thoại Tân (1937–2008) – actor Kelly Marie Tran – actress Hong Chau – actress Loan Chabanol – actress Patti Harrison – actress, writer, and comedian Johnny Trí Nguyễn - action choreographer, film actor, martial artist Vyvan Pham – voice actress Kimlinh Tran – voice actress Thalia Tran – actress Tien Tran – actress Tiana Alexandra – actress and filmmaker Kim Mai Guest – voice actress Courtney Reed – actress Ian Alexander – actor Porter Duong – actress Todd Haberkorn – voice actor
Anchors and reporters Betty Nguyen – CBS Early Morning News anchor, former CNN anchor "Like most Vietnamese-Americans, I was going to pursue a career that’s often regarded as bringing honor to the family..." Mary Nguyen – reporter; first Asian-American Miss Teenage America Leyna Nguyen – anchor Vicky Nguyen – NBC Investigate and Consumer Correspondent Thuy Vu – anchor and reporter for CBS-5 Television in San Francisco
Chau Nguyen – news anchor on KHOU TV
Directors and film crew Tim Dang – theatre director and actor Doan Hoang – director and producer Steve Nguyen – director and film producer Linh Nga – director and film producer Michael Dougherty – director/writer Ham Tran – director Derek Nguyen – writer/director Timothy Linh Bui - filmmaker, film producer, and screenwriter Tony Bui – film director Charlie Nguyễn – film director, screenwriter, and producer Victor Vu – film director, writer, and producer Chi Muoi Lo – actor, writer, and entrepreneur Nadine Truong – director, photographer Qui Nguyen – playwright, screenwriter, and director Thuc Doan Nguyen – filmmaker, screenwriter, producer Mike Nguyen Le – screenwriter, producer, and film director James Nguyen – filmmaker and director Bao Nguyen – director, producer Nguyễn Võ Nghiêm Minh – film director Tom Cross – film editor Vu T. Thu Ha – director, producer, conceptual artist
Musicians Trúc Hồ – songwriter, producer Như Quỳnh – singer Tyga – Vietnamese and Jamaican rapper Keshi – singer, songwriter, producer, and multi-instrumentalist Sierra Deaton – singer, songwriter, dancer Nguyễn Cao Kỳ Duyên – MC co-host Thanh Lan – singer, actress Minh Tuyết – singer Ý Lan – singer Don Hồ – singer Bao Vo – musician, singer-songwriter, composer Quang Lê – singer Thái Thanh – singer Khánh Ly – singer Thủy – independent singer-songwriter Thao Nguyen – singer-songwriter Trish Thuy Trang – singer-songwriter Lâm Nhật Tiến – pop singer V-Nasty – rapper Maliibu Miitch – rapper, singer Cuong Vu – jazz trumpeter and singer "CUONG VU is a Vietnamese born jazz trumpeter" Sangeeta Kaur – singer, composer, producer Matt Nguyen – DJ, choreographer, dancer Quynh Nguyen – classical pianist Viet Cuong – composer Lynda Trang Dai – singer Phạm Phi Nhung – singer, humanitarian, and actress Thanh Hà – singer Sailorr – singer-songwriter Hana Vu – singer-songwriter Tila Tequila – singer
Artists, models, chefs, and other Daniel K. Winn – painter/sculptor Binh Danh – photographer Chloe Dao – fashion designer/winner of television show Project Runway "That is, after all, how the 34-year-old Vietnamese-American refugee became a successful..." Dat Phan – comedian, winner of first Last Comic Standing "Dat Phan is actually my real name. It's actually derived from China, even though I'm Vietnamese" Jonas Bevacqua (1977–2011) – adopted Vietnamese American fashion designer Linda Le – cosplayer and model Hung Huynh – chef, Top Chef season 3 winner Tom Vu – infomercial icon, professional poker player, and real estate investor Christine Ha – chef, winner of MasterChef Phong Bui – artist and writer Truong Tran – poet, visual artist, teacher Bao Phi – artist, writer, and community activist Dan Lam – sculptor Cherie Roberts – photographer and model Khoi Vinh – graphic designer and blogger Binh Danh – artist known for chlorophyll prints and daguerreotypes Savannah Gankiewicz – model and beauty pageant titleholder Jenn Tran – television personality Thai Nguyen – fashion designer, television personality Christina Nguyen – chef and restaurateur Tuan Andrew Nguyen – artist known for moving-image works, sculptures, and installations Navia Nguyen – model, actress, and entrepreneur Ha Nguyen – costume designer Dinh Q. Lê – multimedia artist John Pham – comic creator Charles Phan – chef Ann Phong – painter Tam Pham – chef and co-owner of Tâm Tâm; 2024 MICHELIN Florida Young Chef Award winner Viet Pham – chef and winner of Iron Chef America Jack Lee – celebrity chef Thi Bui – graphic novelist and illustrator Peter Do – fashion designer Karrueche Tran – American model and actress Andrea Nguyen – food writer and cookbook author Vân Sơn – comedian, founder and director of Vân Sơn Entertainment
Social media influencers Michelle Phan – YouTuber Mina Le - fashion YouTuber, podcaster, and content creator Nikita Dragun – YouTuber, make-up artist, and model RiceGum - YouTuber and online streamer Cassey Ho – American social media fitness entrepreneur, YouTuber Sykkuno – YouTuber and live streamer Ryan Kaji – YouTuber; known for Ryan's World Haley Pham – YouTuber and writer
Business Trung Dung – founder of OnDisplay, sold to Vignette Corporation in 2000 for $1.8 billion Frank Jao – pioneer behind Little Saigon, Westminster, California, and the Asian Garden Mall Eric Ly – co-founder of LinkedIn, a social networking service Johnny Dang – notable Vietnamese American jeweler "How Vietnamese Immigrant Johnny Dang Became Rap’s Favorite Jeweler" Bill Nguyen – founder of onebox.com and lala.com, sold for $850 million and $80 million respectively "Nguyen parlayed his ascending reputation and Onebox.com's buzz into an $850 million merger with Phone.com" Kieu Hoang – pharmaceutical billionaire, CEO of RAAS, Inc (USA) and Vice Chairman of Shanghai RAAS Blood Products, China Thuan Pham – engineer, former CTO of Uber and Coupang Henry Nguyen – venture capitalist/investor, brought McDonald's, Pizza Hut, and Forbes to Vietnam Tran Dinh Truong – hotel magnate, owned NYC’s infamous Hotel Carter Danh Quach – pioneer of Little Saigon, Orange County, real estate investor, businessman, pharmacist Chinh Chu – co-chair of Blackstone Private Equity and founder of CC Capital "A Conversation with Chinh Chu" Thuy Thanh Truong (1985–2020) – serial entrepreneur, technology influencer, and cancer advocate
Literature, authors and journalism Aimee Phan – author of We Should Never Meet "Aimee Phan offers her observations as a Vietnamese American..." Andrew X. Pham – author of Catfish and Mandala: A Two-Wheeled Voyage Through the Landscape and Memory of Vietnam (1999) Chau Nguyen – news anchor; first Vietnamese-American to be awarded a regional Emmy Award Andy Ngo – right-wing author, journalist, social media influencer Đỗ Ngọc Yến (1941–2016) – founder of Nguoi Viet Daily News, the oldest and largest Vietnamese daily publication in the US, and a founding father of Little Saigon, Orange County, California Đoàn Văn Toại (1945–2017) – author of The Vietnamese Gulag Huỳnh Sanh Thông (1926–2008) – author known for An Anthology of Vietnamese Poems: From the Eleventh through the Twentieth Centuries Jenna Lê – poet and physician; author of "A History of the Cetacean-American Diaspora" Kien Nguyen – author of The Unwanted, a Memoir of Childhood Lan Cao – former attorney and current law professor, author of Monkey Bridge Le Ly Hayslip – author of When Heaven and Earth Changed Places, which was turned into a motion picture (Heaven & Earth) directed by Oliver Stone Le Thi Diem Thuy – award-winning-author of the novel The Gangster We Are All Looking For Mong-Lan – college professor and author of Song of the Cicadas Monique Truong – author of The Book of Salt Andrew Lam – writer and journalistAndrew Lam Author of Perfume Dreams: Reflections On The Vietnamese Diaspora Nguyễn Chí Thiện (1939–2012) – poet and winner of the international poetry award in 1985 Nguyen Do – poet, editor and translator; co-author of Black Dog, Black Night Contemporary Vietnamese Poetry (2008) and Beyond the Court Gate: Selected Poems of Nguyen Trai (2010) Nguyen Qui Duc – essayist, radio producer, and author of Where the Ashes Are: The Odyssey of a Vietnamese Family Lê Xuân Nhuận – author of Vietnamese poems; human rights activist; author of Poems by Selected Vietnamese Ocean Vuong – poet and 2016 Whiting Award Winner Quang X. Pham – author; founder of Lathian Systems, Chairman and CEO of Cadrenal Therapeutics (Nasdaq: CVKD) Stephanie Trong – Jane executive editor Trinh T. Minh-ha – author, post-colonial scholar, and filmmaker Ut Huynh Cong – photographer; first Vietnamese American to win the Pulitzer Prize for Spot News Photography (1973) and the World Press Award Viet Thanh Nguyen – author of The Sympathizer, the 2016 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. The novel was adapted as a television series of the same name on HBO. Vu Tran – author of Dragonfish Linh Dinh – poet, writer, translator, and photographer Kimberly Nguyễn – poet and author of ghosts in the stalks and a forthcoming collection in fall Soleil Ho – San Francisco Chronicles restaurant critic, writer, podcaster, and chef Julie C. Dao – best known for her debut novel Forest of a Thousand Lanterns, an East Asian-inspired retelling of the Evil Queen legend from Snow White, and its sequel Kingdom of the Blazing Phoenix. Diana Khoi Nguyen – poet, her debut Ghost Of, was a finalist for the 2018 National Book Award in Poetry. She is currently an assistant professor at the University of Pittsburgh. Van Hoang – author best known for her debut novel Girl Giant and the Monkey King Hoa Nguyen – poet, academic Mong-Lan – writer, poet LeUyen Pham – Children's book illustrator and writer of more than 120 books. In 2020 she won a Caldecott Medal for her illustrations in Bear Came Along Bao Phi – poet and artist Amy Quan Barry – poet, recipient of the Agnes Lynch Starrett Poetry Prize Thanhha Lai – writer who won the 2011 National Book Award for Young People's Literature and a Newbery Honor for her debut novel, Inside Out & Back Again Lê Xuân Nhuận – poet and writer Beth Nguyen – novelist and nonfiction writer who won an American Book Award for novel Short Girls Hieu Minh Nguyen – poet Thuc Doan Nguyen – writer Quan Barry – poet and novelist
Military
Viet Xuan Luong – Major General, Commander of United States Army, Japan Lapthe Flora – Major General, Commander of Combined Joint Task Force – Horn of Africa William H. Seely III – Major General, US Marine Corps; Director of Marine Corps Intelligence; American father/Vietnamese mother. Quang X. Pham – First Vietnamese American to earn naval aviator's wings in the US Marine Corps; author and CEO Huan Nguyen – Engineer, Rear Admiral In the United States Navy