To be included in this list, the person must have a Wikipedia article showing they are Vietnamese American, or must have independent reliable source references showing they are Vietnamese American and are notable.
Maggie Q – former model and actress Archived February 11, 2009, at the Wayback Machine "She’s a gorgeous, Hawaiian born, Vietnamese/American actress, a model gone action star in films in Japan and China"</ref>
Tiffany Pham – actress, model, author, and entrepreneur
Mina Le - fashion YouTuber, podcaster, and content creator
Tom Vu – infomercial icon, professional poker player and real estate investor
Tila Tequila – popular woman on MySpace; starred on her own MTV show; appeared in FHM magazine, singer
Christine Ha – first blind contestant on MasterChef and the winner of its third season in 2012
Phong Bui – artist, writer, independent curator; co-founder, editor-in-chief, and publisher of The Brooklyn Rail, a monthly arts, culture, and politics journal in New York[12]
Karrueche Tran – American model and actress, dated Chris Brown one of the most prominent artists in R&B music and US pop culture for several years
Cassey Ho Vinh – American social media fitness entrepreneur, YouTuber. Was listed in Time's third annual list of "The 25 Most Influential People on the Internet" in 2017[13]
Khoi Vinh – graphic designer, blogger, and former Design Director for The New York Times, Fast Company named Vinh one of "The 50 Most Influential Designers in America" in 2011.[14]
Binh Danh – artist known for chlorophyll prints and daguerreotypes
Andrew Lam – writer and journalist[22] Author of "Perfume Dreams: Reflections On The Vietnamese Diaspora"[23]
Nguyễn Chí Thiện (1939–2012) – poet and winner of 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 and 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[24]
Linh Dinh – poet, writer, translator, and photographer
Do Nguyen Mai – poet and author of Ghosts Still Walking
Thanh Bui – editor-in-chief, ASN magazine, founder of Shiba Rescue Society
Kimberly Nguyễn – poet and author of ghosts in the stalks and a forthcoming collection in fall
Soleil Ho – San Francisco Chronicle’s 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.
John Quoc Duong – President George W. Bush's appointee as executive director of the White House Initiative on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders[31] (Republican)
Jacqueline Nguyen – U.S. circuit judge; first Vietnamese-American federal judge;[33] first Asian-American woman to sit on the federal appellate court[34]
Mina Nguyen – Deputy Assistant Secretary for Business Affairs and Public Liaison at the US Treasury Department[35]
J. Peter Pham, United States Special Envoy for the Sahel Region of Africa, first Vietnamese American with the rank of ambassador.[36]
Tho Bella Dinh-Zarr – Public health scientist, specializing in injury prevention. Dinh-Zarr was the 42nd Member of the National Transportation Safety Board, and served as vice-chairman and acting chairman during her tenure
Bùi Diễm (1923–2021) – one of the last Vietnamese ambassadors to the United States during the final phase of the Vietnam War
Amanda Nguyen – Civil rights activist and CEO of Rise (non-governmental organization), she proposed and help draft the Sexual Assault Survivors' Rights Act, a landmark for civil rights and victims rights legislation in the United States that establishes, for the first time, statutory rights in federal code for survivors of sexual assault and rape. The law impacts nearly 25 million estimated rape survivors in the United States, which passed unanimously in Congress and was signed by President Barack Obama in 2016.[46][47] She was listed in 2022 Time Women of the Year.[48]
Minh Dang – speaker, and advocate on matters of human trafficking and social justice. Cofounder of anti-human trafficking organizations. She was also appointed by President Obama to serve on the U.S. Advisory Council to End Human Trafficking[49]
Wendy Duong – first Vietnamese-American to hold judicial office in the United States
Kiem Do – Former officer of the Republic of Vietnam Navy. When Saigon fell he secretly organized the successful evacuation of over 30,000 refugees aboard 32 naval ships. Ultimately preventing those 32 vessels and everyone aboard from falling into the hands of North Vietnamese forces. Later US schoolteacher and cost engineer
Tuan Vo-Dinh – inventor, professor and Director of the Fitzpatrick Institute for PhotonicsofDuke University; ranked No. 43 on a list of the world's top 100 living geniuses[60]
My Hang V. Huynh – Chemist in the High Explosives Science and Technology Group at Los Alamos National Laboratory. Huynh's research has led to the creation of "Green Primary Explosives" which are "designed to replace traditional mercury and lead-based explosives and reduce damaging side-effects to the environment and human health”
John Pham (scientist) – Molecular biologist and editor-in-chief of Cell, a scientific journal publishing research papers across a broad range of disciplines within the life sciences
Mark Tatum – Sports and business executive who is currently serving as the Deputy Commissioner of the NBA under Adam Silver, also currently holds the position of the NBA's chief operating officer
Kaylynne Truong – professional basketball player, first of Vietnamese descent to be selected in the WNBA
David Pham – professional poker, won two World Series of Poker bracelets and has made seven final tables at the World Poker Tour[72]
J.C. Tran – professional poker player; as of 2010, his total live tournament winnings amounted to $7,996,635
Mimi Tran – professional poker player; as of 2008, her total live tournament winnings exceeded $1,400,000[73]
Nam Le – professional poker player as of August 2014, his total live tournament winnings exceed $6,800,000.[74] His 24 cashes at the WSOP account for $854,337 of those winnings.[75]
Ken Hoang – American professional Super Smash Bros. Melee player and television personality. He was widely considered the most dominant Melee player in the world during the early years of the game's competitive scene in the early to mid-2000s. He pioneered several gameplay techniques integral to the game's competitive play. An gained the nickname "The King of Smash". Hoang was the 2004–2005 national champion of Major League Gaming, the 2007 international champion of Evolution Championship Series World Finals, and was the highest ranked Super Smash Bros. Melee player in the United States, Survivor contestant
Dat Nguyen – NFL football player who was a linebacker for seven seasons with the Dallas Cowboys and is the first Vietnamese-American to be drafted, play, and be recognized as an All-Pro in the NFL. In 2017, he was elected to the College Football Hall of Fame.,[80]Dallas Cowboys assistant linebackers and defensive quality control coach
Alain Nu – mentalist, illusionist, television personality, author, and speaker. He is known for demonstrations of ESP, mind reading, telekinesis, metal bending, and illusions
Thích Thiên-Ân (1925–1980) – Buddhist monk, meditation teacher and founder of International Buddhist Meditation Center in the Koreatown section of Los Angeles
Luong Kim Dinh (1914–1997) – Catholic priest, scholar and philosopher
^[1] "Vietnamese newcomer Ke Huy Quan makes a shrill debut..."
^"Thuy Trang | Retro Junk". Archived from the original on April 20, 2006. Retrieved May 16, 2006. "Vietnamese-American actress, and was born in Saigon, South Vietnam."
^[2] "Like most Vietnamese-Americans, I was going to pursue a career that’s often regarded as bringing honor to the family..."
^"Viet Dinh". Archived from the original on May 21, 2006. Retrieved May 16, 2006. "Like many Vietnamese immigrants, Dinh's emotional experience in his homeland steered him toward the Republican Party..."
^"The History of Vietnamese Immigration". Archived from the original on May 4, 2006. Retrieved May 16, 2006. "Another notable Vietnamese American dedicated to public service is John Quoc Duong, who serves under President George W. Bush, as executive director of the White House Initiative on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders."
^[11] "Orange County voters made Van Tran the highest-ranking Vietnamese American public official in the country this week when they elected him to the state Assembly."
^[12]Archived August 3, 2006, at the Wayback Machine "Hubert Vo: First Vietnamese American State Legislator in Texas"
^Vo-Dinh has been ranked No. 43 on a list of the world's top 100 living geniuses in a survey conducted by Creators Synectics, a global consultants firm "Top 100 living geniuses". Telegraph.co.uk. London. October 31, 2007. Retrieved June 19, 2008.
^[18]Archived December 13, 2017, at the Wayback Machine "Men Nguyen was born in Vietnam. At age 13 he quit school and began working as a bus driver. In 1978, when he was 24, he and other 87 Vietnamese people escaped from their native country by boat."
^Yang, Jeff (October 27, 2005). "ASIAN POP All In". The San Francisco Chronicle.
^"San Diego's Brandon Nakashima on the move in ATP rankings". January 15, 2020. "Anh Pham moved on to tennis in his 30s when his legs could no longer keep up on the field and passed that game on to his children. None of them, however, took to it like his grandson, Brandon Nakashima..."
^"Archived copy". Archived from the original on March 7, 2006. Retrieved May 16, 2006.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) "Nguyen and 10 other Vietnamese boys were segregated to one team..."
