List of Vietnamese Americans

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 have independent reliable source references showing they are Vietnamese American and are notable.

This is a dynamic list and may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. You can help by adding missing items with reliable sources.

Arts and entertainment

Actors and actresses

 

Lana Condor

 

Maggie Q

• James Duval – actor, mother is of Vietnamese-French descent
• Eileen Fogarty – actor, writer, and producer
• Lance Krall – actor and star of FREE RADIO on VH1
• Hiep Thi Le (1971–2017) – actress known for role in Heaven & Earth, third film in director Oliver Stone's Vietnam trilogy
• Jeannie Mai – makeup artist, fashion expert, actress, TV personality and model
• Dustin Nguyen – actor^[1]
• Olivia Munn – former model, Daily Show correspondent and actress known for X-Men: Apocalypse and Mortdecai
• Maggie Q – former model and actress 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
• Ke Huy Quan – actor and stunt choreographer^[2]
• Rosie Tran – writer, actress, and comedian
• Thuy Trang (1973–2001) – actress known for role as the Yellow Power Ranger in the series Power Rangers^[3]
• Kathy Uyen – actress, producer, and writer
• Kieu Chinh – actress, producer, and writer
• Xanthe Huynh – anime English voice actress
• Ali Wong – actress, comedian, and writer, known for Always Be My Maybe
• Lana Condor – actress, known Lara Jean in To All the Boys
• Levy Tran – actress and model, known for her role in MacGyver, including playing Eddie in season 8 of Shameless.
• La Thoại Tân (1937–2008) – actor
• Kelly Marie Tran – actress, known for Rose Tico in Star Wars: The Last Jedi and Raya in Raya and the Last Dragon
• Hong Chau – actress, known for roles in Downsizing and Watchmen.
• Loan Chabanol – actress
• Tram-Anh Tran – actress, known for her role in Ghostwriter
• Patti Harrison – actress, writer and comedian, known for her role in Shrill and Together Together
• Johnny Trí Nguyễn - action choreographer, film actor, martial artist
• Vyvan Pham – voice actress
• Kimlinh Tran – voice actress
• Thalia Tran – actress
• Tien Tran – actress, She is best known for her role as Ellen in the comedy series How I Met Your Father
• Tiana Alexandra – actress and filmmaker

Anchors and reporters

• Betty Nguyen – CBS Early Morning News anchor, former CNN anchor^[4]
• Mary Nguyen – Award-winning reporter; first Asian-American Miss Teenage America^[5][6]
• Leyna Nguyen – Emmy Award-winning anchor^[7]
• Vicky Nguyen – NBC Investigate and Consumer Correspondent
• Thuy Vu – Emmy award-winning anchor and reporter for CBS-5 Television in San Francisco

Directors

• Tim Dang – theatre director and actor. Former artistic director at the Asian American theatre company, East West Players.
• Doan Hoang – director and producer of the PBS documentary film about a family in the Vietnam War, Oh, Saigon
• Steve Nguyen – director and film producer
• Linh Nga – director and film producer^[8]
• Michael Dougherty – director/writer
• Ham Tran – director
• Derek Nguyen – writer/director
• Timothy Linh Bui - filmmaker, film producer, and screenwriter
• Tony Bui - film director
• Tom Cross – Film editor
• Charlie Nguyễn – film director, screenwriter and producer.
• Victor Vu – film director, writer and producer
• Chi Muoi Lo – actor, writer, and entrepreneur

Musicians

• Trúc Hồ – songwriter, producer, activist, and founder and CEO of Saigon Broadcasting Television Network a 24 hour Vietnamese television channel
• Như Quỳnh – singer
• Tyga – Vietnamese and Jamaican rapper signed to Young Money and Cash Money Recordsl, particularly famous in US pop culture
• Keshi – singer, songwriter, producer, and multi-instrumentalist
• Sierra Phương Thảo Deaton – singer, songwriter, dancer, lead vocal in duo Alex & Sierra. Achieved acclaim for studio album It's About Us including the famous single ‘Little Do You Know’
• Nguyễn Cao Kỳ Duyên – MC co-host of popular Vietnamese Paris by Night show, singer-songwriter
• 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
• Thuy – independent singer-songwriter
• Thao Nguyen – singer-songwriter, lead vocal and head of alternative/folk rock band Thao & the Get Down Stay Down
• Trish Thuy Trang – singer-songwriter
• Lâm Nhật Tiến – pop singer
• V-Nasty – rapper
• Maliibu Miitch – rapper, singer
• Cuong Vu – Grammy award-winning jazz trumpeter and vocalist^[9]
• Sangeeta Kaur (born Loan Xuan Mai) vocalist, composer, producer, won a Grammy award for Best Classical Solo Vocal for the Mythologies (Danaë Xanthe Vlasse album)

Artists, models, and others

• Daniel K. Winn - Painter/Sculptor
• Binh Danh – photographer
• Thuc Doan Nguyen – writer
• Chloe Dao – fashion designer/winner of television show Project Runway^[10]
• Dat Phan – comedian, winner of first Last Comic Standing^[11]
• Jonas Bevacqua (1977–2011) – adopted Vietnamese American fashion designer, creator of urbanwear LRG
• Michelle Phan – YouTube beauty guru
• Linda Le – cosplayer and model
• Hung Huynh – chef, Top Chef season 3 winner
• 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
• Truong Tran – poet, visual artist, teacher
• Tai Trang – Survivor contestant
• Ocean Vuong – Award-winning American novelist, poet, and essayist
• Tom Cross – Academy Award-winning film editor
• Bao Phi - artist, writer and community activist
• Quan Barry - poet and novelist
• Nikita Dragun – YouTuber, make-up artist, and model
• RiceGum - popular YouTuber, online streamer, diss tracker
• Dan Lam – sculptor
• Cherie Roberts – photographer and model
• 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]
• Michelle Phan – Beauty YouTuber she is the founder and owner of the cosmetics line EM Cosmetics
• Sykkuno – YouTuber and live streamer
• JT Tran – dating advice columnist for LA Weekly
• 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
• Truong Tran – poet, visual artist, and teacher

Business

• Johnny Dang – notable Vietnamese American jeweler^[15]
• 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 ^[16]
• Bill Nguyen – founder of onebox.com and lala.com, sold for $850 million and $80 million respectively^[17]
• David Tran – founder of Huy Fong Foods, maker of Sriracha Chili Sauce
• Kieu Hoang – pharmaceutical billionaire, CEO of RAAS, Inc (USA) and Vice Chairman of Shanghai RAAS Blood Products, China^[18]
• Thuan Pham – engineer, former CTO of Uber and Coupang

Literature and journalism

• Aimee Phan – author of We Should Never Meet^[19]
• 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 and social media influencer and journalists
• 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^[20]
• Monique Truong – author of The Book of Salt^[21]
• 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]
• 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
• Vu Tran – author of Dragonfish
• 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.
• 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, artist
• Amy Quan Barry – poet, recipient of the Agnes Lynch Starrett Poetry Prize
• Thanhha Lai – writer, She 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, writer

Military

 

Viet Xuan Luong

• Viet Xuan Luong – Major General, US Army Japan ^{[25][26][27][28]}
• Lapthe Flora – Major General, Combined Joint Task Force – Horn of Africa ^[29]
• 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
• Tam Minh Pham – first Vietnamese graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point
• Jean Nguyen – first Vietnamese women to graduate from the United States Military Academy at West point

Politics and law

 

Jacqueline Nguyen

 

Viet D. Dinh

Federal

• Joseph Cao – first Vietnamese-American Congressman, represented Louisiana's 2nd congressional district from 2009 until 2011 (Republican)
• Viet D. Dinh – former United States Assistant Attorney General; drafted the USA Patriot Act^[30]
• 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)
• Stephanie Murphy – Vietnamese-American Congresswoman representing Florida's 7th congressional district from 2017 until present ^[32](Democratic)
• 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]
• Dat Tran — Acting United States Secretary of Veterans Affairs
• 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
• Miranda Mai Du – Chief Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Nevada

State Legislators

• Bee Nguyen – Georgia State Representative^[37] (Democratic)
• Joe Nguyen – Washington State Senator (Democratic)
• Quang Nguyen – Arizona State Representative (Republican) and businessman
• Rochelle Nguyen – Nevada State Senator (Democratic)
• Tram Nguyen – Massachusetts State Representative (Democratic)^[38]
• Janet Nguyen – California State Senator (Republican)
• Stephanie Nguyen - California State Assemblywoman (Democratic)
• Duy Nguyen – Nevada State Representative (Democratic)
• Daniel Nguyen (politician) – Oregon State Representative (Democratic)
• Hoa Nguyen (politician) – Oregon State Representative (Democratic)
• Hai Pham – Oregon State Representative (Democratic)
• Khanh Pham – Oregon State Representative (Democratic)
• Thuy Tran Oregon State Representative (Democratic)
• Dean Tran – first Vietnamese-American elected to the Massachusetts Legislature (Republican)
• Long Tran Georgia State Representative (Democratic)
• Kathy Tran – Virginia State Delegate^[39]
• Van Tran – First Vietnamese American elected to any state legislature; California State Assemblyman (Republican)^[40]
• Tri Ta – California State Assemblyman (Republican)
• My-Linh Thai – Washington State Representative (Democratic)
• Hubert Vo – Texas State Representative^[41] (Democratic)
• Hoan Huynh – Illinois State Representative (Democratic), first ever Vietnamese-American elected in Illinois state history
• Tyler Diep – California State Assemblyman (Republican)
• Jerome Cochran – Tennessee State Representative (Republican), first Vietnamese-American elected to the Tennessee legislature

Local Government

• Bao Nguyen – Mayor of Garden Grove, California (Democratic)
• John Tran – Mayor of Rosemead, California (Democratic)
• Helen Tran – Mayor of San Bernardino, California (Democratic)
• Andrew Do – Orange County, California Board of Supervisors (Republican)
• Tony Lam – first Vietnamese-American in any elected office; Westminster, California city council (Republican)
• Madison Nguyen – San Jose City Council member and Vice Mayor of City of San Jose, California (Democratic)

Other, miscellaneous

• 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 singed by President Barack Obama in 2016.^[42][43] She was listed in 2022 Time Women of the Year.^[44]
• 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^[45]
• Wendy Duong – first Vietnamese-American to hold judicial office in the United States
• Huu Chanh Nguyen – founder and former Prime Minister of the Government of Free Vietnam
• 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
• Pham Duc Trung Kien – private equity investor and philanthropist
• Đỗ Ngọc Yến – The 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

Science and education

 

Eugene H. Trinh

 

Han Dinh

• Kathy Pham – computer scientist and product leader; founding product and engineering member at the United States Digital Service at the White House,^[46][47] Nguoi Viet 40 under 40.^[48]
• Han T. Dinh – Director of Vehicle Engineering, United States Postal Service; winner of 2006 White House "Closing of Circle Award"^[49][50][51]
• Bui Tuong Phong (1942–1975) – computer graphics pioneer; inventor of Phong reflection model and Phong shading interpolation method
• Duy-Loan Le – Prominent Texas Instruments engineer
• Eugene H. Trinh – NASA astronaut, first Vietnamese-American to travel into outer space^[52]
• Hồ Thành Việt (1955–2003) – founder of VNI Software Co., California
• Jane Luu – Astronomer, Co-discoverer of Kuiper Belt and many Asteroids^[53]
• Nguyễn Xuân Vinh (1930–2022) – professor of aerospace engineering, University of Michigan; first Vietnamese to receive the [[Dirk Brouwer Award (A^[54]
• Duong Anh Nguyet – Responsible for the creation of many Thermobaric weapons, she is noted as the "Scientist who developed the bomb that ended the war with Afghanistan"^[55] Director for the Borders and Maritime Security Division within the DHS Science and Technology Directorate. Given National Security Medal in 2007
• Trịnh Xuân Thuận – author of The Birth of the Universe; astrophysicist; professor of astronomy at the University of Virginia
• Tuan Vo-Dinh – inventor, professor and Director of the Fitzpatrick Institute for Photonics of Duke University; ranked No. 43 on a list of the world's top 100 living geniuses^[56]
• Xuong Nguyen-Huu – biology professor, University of California; pioneer in AIDS research; invented the x-ray multiwire area detector
• Đàm Thanh Sơn – theoretical physicist, University Professor at University of Chicago, member of National Academy of Sciences
• Van H. Vu – Professor of Mathematics at Yale University
• Ngô Bảo Châu – Professor of Mathematics at University of Chicago; Fields Medal winner
• Trần Duy Trác - Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Johns Hopkins University
• SonBinh Nguyen – Professor of Chemistry at Northwestern University; Highly Cited Researcher^[57]
• Thuc-Quyen Nguyen – Professor of Chemistry at University of California, Santa Barbara; Highly Cited Researcher^[58]
• Chi Van Dang – Professor; Scientific Director at Ludwig Cancer Research; Former Director of the Abramson Cancer Center at the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine; member of the National Academy of Medicine (Institute of Medicine), American Academy of Arts & Sciences.^[59]
• 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”
• Lan Cao – Professor of Law at Chapman University School of Law, former professor of many prominent US Law Schools, and author notable for books Monkey Bridge and The Lotus and the Storm
• 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
• Tran T. Kim-Trang – Artist, Professor of Art and Media at Scripps College a private liberal arts women's college
• Ngo Vinh Long – A Professor of History at the University of Maine from 1985 until his death in 2022, author
• Xuong Nguyen-Huu – Pioneer of protein crystallography technology. Professor emeritus of physics, biology, chemistry and biochemistry at UC San Diego since 1964. inventor of "Xuong’s X-Ray Machine"
• Phạm Hữu Tiệp – mathematician, Professor of Mathematics at Rutgers University
• Dương Hồng Phong – mathematician, Professor of Mathematics at Columbia University
• Huỳnh Sanh Thông – scholar and translator
• Quynh-Thu Le – radiation oncologist specializing in head and neck cancer, chair of the department of radiation oncology at the Stanford University School of Medicine

Sports, athletes, games

 

Cung Le

 

Dat Nguyen

 

Leta Lindley

Baseball

• Danny Graves – MLB baseball player^[60]
• Jim Parque – only left-handed pitcher on the Olympics baseball team that won a bronze medal in Atlanta in 1996
• Tommy Pham – MLB baseball player

Basketball

• Jaylin Williams – first player of Vietnamese descent to be drafted in the NBA.^[61]
• Johnny Juzang – NBA player.
• David Arnold – professional basketball player
• Tam Dinh – professional basketball player
• Duong Vinh Luan – professional basketball player
• Khoa Tran – professional basketball player
• Larry Tieu – professional basketball player
• 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

Soccer

• Lee Nguyen – Major League Soccer player and coach
• Viet Nguyen – soccer player, spent his entire career with the Seattle Sounders
• Minh Vu – soccer player

Fighting sports

• Cung Le – kickboxer and MMA fighter; undefeated San Shou champion; former Strikeforce champion, actor and coach^[62]
• Thanh Le - former ONE Featherweight World Champion
• Dat Nguyen (boxer) – World Ranked Professional boxer^[63]
• Nam Phan – MMA fighter in the UFC^[64]
• Ben Nguyen – MMA fighter, fighting also in the UFC
• Bi Nguyen – Survivor contestant and MMA fighter, formerly fought in ONE Championship

Poker

• Men Nguyen – professional poker player; as of 2010, his total live tournament winnings exceeded $9,700,000^[65]
• Qui Nguyen (poker player) – 2016 World Series of Poker Main Event Champion
• Scotty Nguyen – professional poker player^[66]
• David Pham – professional poker, won two World Series of Poker bracelets and has made seven final tables at the World Poker Tour^[67]
• 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^[68]
• Nam Le – professional poker player as of August 2014, his total live tournament winnings exceed $6,800,000.^[69] His 24 cashes at the WSOP account for $854,337 of those winnings.^[70]
• John Phan – two-time World Series of Poker bracelet winner and is a winner and four-time final tablist of World Poker Tour Championships.
• Kenny Tran – professional poker player
• Quinn Do – professional poker player
• Chau Giang – three-time World Series of Poker bracelet winner and a three-time final tablist of the World Poker Tour

Golf

• Lilia Vu - professional golfer and LPGA Tour player. In 2023, she rose to number one in the Women's World Golf Rankings and became LPGA Tour Player of the Year after winning four titles, including two majors at the 2023 Chevron Championship and 2023 Women's British Open.^[71][72]
• Leta Lindley – LPGA Tour golfer

Tennis

• Brandon Nakashima – ATP Tour tennis player of Japanese and Vietnamese descent^[73]
• Thai-Son Kwiatkowski – men's professional tennis player^{[74][circular reference]}
• Daniel Nguyen – first Vietnamese American to play in the US Open Tennis tournament
• Learner Tien – professional tennis player

Esports

• 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.
• NuckleDu – professional fighting game player particularly Street Fighter

Other sports

• Howard Bach – badminton player, former world champion (2005)
• Catherine Mai Lan Fox – Olympic swimmer with two gold medals
• 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.,^[75]Dallas Cowboys assistant linebackers and defensive quality control coach
• Don Nguyen – pro skateboarder
• Minh Thai – First ever World Rubik's Cube Champion (1982) completing at 22.95 seconds; author of the book The Winning Solution
• Amy Tran – field hockey player
• Joe Walters – professional lacrosse player^[76]
• Alain Nu – mentalist, illusionist, television personality, author, and speaker. He is known for demonstrations of ESP, mind reading, telekinesis, metal bending, and illusions
• Kim Ly Maher – collegiate All-American, won gold at the 1996 Summer Olympics with US national softball team, Head Coach of Southwestern Oklahoma State University Women softball team
• Yen Hoang – wheelchair racer

Religion

• 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
• Dominic Mai Thanh Lương (1940–2017) – auxiliary bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Orange
• Thomas Nguyễn Thái Thành – auxiliary bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Orange
• Peter C. Phan – Distinguished Catholic theologian and the inaugural holder of the Ellacuria Chair of Catholic Social Thought at Georgetown University, taught at Catholic University of America, and Union Theological Seminary
• John-Nhan Tran – auxiliary bishop in the Archdiocese of Atlanta in Georgia

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