List of Scottish Americans

This is a list of notable Scottish Americans, including both original immigrants who obtained U.S. citizenship and their American descendants.

To be included in this list, the person must have a Wikipedia article showing they are Scottish American or must have references showing they are Scottish American and are notable.

Actors and entertainers

 * John C. Reilly, American actor, comedian, singer, screenwriter, and producer. Father was of Irish and Scottish ancestry


 * Jensen Ackles, Emmy-nominated actor, of part Scottish descent
 * Seth Green, actor, small amount of Scottish ancestry
 * Ben Affleck, actor, writer, director, small amount of Scottish ancestry
 * Casey Affleck, actor, small amount of Scottish ancestry
 * Richard Dean Anderson, actor, mother is of Scottish ancestry
 * Muriel Angelus
 * Jennifer Aniston, maternal grandfather of part Scottish ancestry
 * Andrew Arbuckle
 * Macklyn Arbuckle
 * Roscoe Arbuckle
 * Robert Armstrong
 * Samaire Armstrong, actress best known for her roles in The O.C. and Dirty Sexy Money; father is Scottish
 * Mary Astor
 * Lucille Ball, actress and comedian; father was part Scottish-American
 * Tallulah Bankhead
 * Al Barr
 * John Barrowman, born and semi-raised in Scotland
 * Earl W. Bascom, descendant of John Alexander, Scottish settler who founded Alexandria,Virginia, worked with cowboy actor Roy Rogers
 * Catherine Bell, actress and model, father was of Scottish descent
 * Kristen Bell, actress, of part Scottish descent
 * Jolene Blalock, actress and model
 * Alexis Bledel, actress, small amount of Scottish ancestry
 * Jordana Brewster, actress, small amount of Scottish ancestry
 * James Brolin, actor, small amount of Scottish ancestry
 * Samantha Brown, television host on the Travel Channel
 * James D. Brubaker, film producer, production manager and actor
 * Dean Cain, actor (Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman), mother is of partial Scottish heritage
 * Gina Carano, mixed martial artist, small amount of Scottish ancestry
 * Drew Carey, comedic actor and game show host
 * Jim Carrey, small amount of Scottish ancestry
 * Myra Carter
 * Johnny Cash
 * Lacey Chabert, actress, small amount of Scottish ancestry
 * Charles Coburn
 * Lauren Cohan, actress
 * Michael Cole, play-by-play announcer for World Wrestling Entertainment
 * Chris Connelly, born in Edinburgh
 * Keith Hirabayashi Cooke, actor and stuntman
 * Miriam Cooper
 * Stewart Copeland, drummer in the band The Police
 * Laird Cregar
 * Matt Damon, actor, father is of partial Scottish ancestry, small amount of Scottish ancestry
 * Ted Danson, of part Scottish descent
 * Mona Darkfeather
 * Yvonne De Carlo, mother was of Italian and Scottish descent
 * James Dean, actor, of part Scottish descent
 * Laura Dern, actress, small amount of Scottish ancestry
 * Vin Diesel, actor, small amount of Scottish ancestry
 * Matt Dillon, small amount of Scottish ancestry
 * Joanie Dodds, fashion model
 * Shannen Doherty, actress, small amount of Scottish ancestry
 * Helen Douglas
 * Michael Douglas, small amount of Scottish ancestry
 * Gary Dourdan, African-American actor with some Scottish ancestors (CSI: Crime Scene Investigation)
 * Nancy Dow, actress, father was of part Scottish ancestry
 * Robert Downey Jr., actor, small amount of Scottish ancestry on mother's side
 * Minnie Driver
 * David Duchovny, actor (mother Scottish)
 * Daniel Ducovny, brother of David (note, no "h")
 * Robert Duvall, small amount of Scottish ancestry
 * Leslie Easterbrook, actor, of partial Scottish descent
 * Clint Eastwood, actor and instructor, small amount of Scottish ancestry
 * Aaron Eckhart, actor, mother is of partial Scottish ancestry
 * Andrew Eiden
 * George Eldredge
 * Craig Ferguson, actor and comedian
 * George Ferguson
 * Tina Fey, comedic actress and writer; father half German and half Scottish heritage
 * Jimmy Finlayson
 * Scott Foley, actor, small amount of Scottish ancestry
 * China Forbes, lead singer of Pink Martini; father Scottish-American, mother African-American
 * Glenn Ford
 * Edwin Forrest
 * Rani Fujikawa, actress, father of mostly Scottish descent
 * Drew Fuller
 * Judy Garland (Milne from Aberdeenshire), small amount of Scottish ancestry
 * Greer Garson, actress
 * Ashlyn Gere
 * Paul Giamatti, actor, small amount of Scottish ancestry
 * Mel Gibson (Clan Buchanan), actor and director (Braveheart), small amount of Scottish ancestry
 * Isabel Gillies
 * Alexander Gould, actor, father of mostly Scottish descent
 * Emma Gould, actress, father of mostly Scottish descent
 * Kelly Gould, actress, father of mostly Scottish descent
 * Drake Glover, actor, mother of small amount of Scottish ancestry
 * Legend Glover, actor, mother of small amount of Scottish ancestry
 * Brian Austin Green
 * Rebecca Hall, actress, small amount of Scottish ancestry
 * Oliver Hardy, comedic actor, best known for Laurel and Hardy
 * Roy Ellsworth Harris, classical composer of Scottish, Irish, and Welsh ancestry
 * Colton Haynes, actor, small amount of Scottish ancestry
 * Katharine Hepburn, small amount of Scottish ancestry
 * Charlton Heston, small amount of Scottish ancestry
 * Edward Everett Horton
 * Ron Howard, small amount of Scottish ancestry
 * Steve Howey
 * Felicity Huffman, actress, small amount of Scottish ancestry
 * Anjelica Huston, her father, director John Huston, was of part Scottish descent
 * Josh Hutcherson, small amount of Scottish ancestry
 * Jonathan Jackson, actor, small amount of Scottish ancestry
 * Kendall Jenner, small amount of Scottish ancestry
 * Kris Jenner, small amount of Scottish ancestry
 * Kylie Jenner, small amount of Scottish ancestry
 * Spike Jonze, director, producer, screenwriter and actor, small amount of Scottish ancestry
 * Khloé Kardashian, small amount of Scottish ancestry
 * Kim Kardashian, small amount of Scottish ancestry
 * Kourtney Kardashian, small amount of Scottish ancestry
 * Rob Kardashian, small amount of Scottish ancestry
 * Cody Kasch (1987- ), television actor (Desperate Housewives)
 * Max Kasch (1985- ), television and film actor
 * Michael Keaton, small amount of Scottish ancestry
 * David Keith, actor
 * Anna Kendrick, actress, mother is Scottish
 * Deborah Kerr, actress
 * Val Kilmer, actor, small amount of Scottish ancestry
 * Nancy Kwan, mother was of Scottish descent
 * Sunny Lane, porn star
 * Jay Leno (1950- ), comedian, former actor, host of The Tonight Show; mother was from west lowland Scotland
 * Hamish Linklater, best known for his role in the series The New Adventures of Old Christine; son of Scottish vocal coach, dialect professor, actor and theater director Kristin Linklater
 * Heather Locklear, actress, small amount of Scottish ancestry
 * Marion Lorne, actress best known for her recurring role as Aunt Clara in the series Bewitched
 * Julia Louis-Dreyfus, actress, small amount of Scottish ancestry
 * Chad Lowe, actor, small amount of Scottish ancestry
 * Myrna Loy
 * Jeanette MacDonald, actress and singer
 * Andie MacDowell, small amount of Scottish ancestry
 * Seth MacFarlane, writer of Family Guy, small amount of Scottish ancestry
 * Ali MacGraw, father was of Scottish descent, mother was of Hungarian Jewish ancestry
 * Alexander Mackendrick
 * Kyle MacLachlan, actor, Sex and the City, small amount of Scottish ancestry
 * Patrick Macnee, actor
 * Michael Madsen, actor, small amount of Scottish ancestry
 * Virginia Madsen, actress, small amount of Scottish ancestry
 * John Malkovich, small amount of Scottish ancestry
 * Marshall Mathers, American rapper (Eminem), small amount of Scottish ancestry
 * Matthew McConaughey, of part Scottish descent
 * Gates McFadden, actress
 * Danica McKellar, actress
 * Benjamin McKenzie, of part Scottish ancestry
 * Kevin McKidd
 * Zoe McLellan
 * Wendi McLendon-Covey, actress
 * Steven R. McQueen, actor, small amount of Scottish ancestry
 * Caroline McWilliams
 * Marian Mercer, actress
 * Andy Milligan
 * Cameron Mitchell
 * John Cameron Mitchell, mother is native Scottish
 * Demi Moore, actress, mother is Scottish
 * Julianne Moore, actress, mother is from Scotland
 * Agnes Moorehead
 * Marilyn Monroe, small amount of Scottish ancestry
 * Elizabeth Montgomery, actress
 * Robert Montgomery, film and television actor, director and producer; father of actress Elizabeth Montgomery
 * Jim Morrison, Singer/songwriter of The Doors
 * Sean Murray, Australian mother and Australian-American father, both of Scottish ancestry
 * Jack Nicholson, small amount of Scottish ancestry
 * Chuck Norris, actor, small amount of Scottish ancestry
 * Timothy Olyphant, actor; his surname is a variant spelling of the Scottish Clan Oliphant
 * Mary-Louise Parker, actress, small amount of Scottish ancestry
 * Aaron Paul, small amount of Scottish ancestry
 * Sara Paxton, father is of part Scottish ancestry
 * Nia Peeples, actress and singer
 * Lou Diamond Phillips, biological father was of mostly Scottish descent
 * Elvis Presley, small amount of Scottish ancestry
 * Freddie Prinze, Jr., actor, small amount of Scottish ancestry
 * Burt Reynolds, small amount of Scottish ancestry
 * Jason Ritter, actor, small amount of Scottish ancestry
 * AnnaSophia Robb, of part Scottish descent
 * Emma Roberts, small amount of Scottish ancestry
 * Julia Roberts, small amount of Scottish ancestry
 * Sarah Roemer, small amount of Scottish ancestry
 * Ginger Rogers, actress; born Virginia Katherine McMath
 * Mickey Rooney, actor, father was Scottish-born
 * Brandon Routh, small amount of Scottish ancestry
 * Jane Russell
 * George C. Scott, actor
 * Seann William Scott, actor, Steve Stifler of American Pie, of part Scottish ancestry
 * Brooke Shields, small amount of Scottish ancestry
 * Alicia Silverstone, actress, mother is Scottish
 * Barbara Stanwick, small amount of Scottish ancestry
 * Jimmy Stewart, actor, Brigadier General (USAFR)
 * John Stewart, musician
 * David Strathairn, actor, The River Wild, of part Scottish ancestry
 * Donald Sutherland, actor, of part Scottish descent
 * Kiefer Sutherland, actor, of mostly Scottish descent
 * Michael Tait, musician
 * Kate Upton, small amount of Scottish ancestry
 * Casper Van Dien, small amount of Scottish ancestry
 * Milo Ventimiglia, small amount of Scottish ancestry
 * Jurgen Vsych, film director, screenwriter and author
 * Christopher Walken, actor; mother was a Scottish immigrant
 * Kerry Washington, actress, small amount of Scottish ancestry
 * John Wayne, actor (both parents of part Scottish and Scots-Irish ancestry)
 * Sigourney Weaver, actress, father was of part Scottish ancestry
 * Kristen Wiig, small amount of Scottish ancestry
 * Olivia Wilde, actress, small amount of Scottish ancestry
 * Michelle Williams, actress, small amount of Scottish ancestry
 * Patrick Wilson, small amount of Scottish ancestry
 * Reese Witherspoon, actress; Scottish ancestor John D. Witherspoon signed the Declaration of Independence
 * Steven Wright, comedian, actor and writer; Scottish and Italian descent
 * Joe Yule, comedian, burlesque and motion pictures
 * Cyma Zarghami, current president of Nickelodeon and MTV Network's Kids and Family Group (father Iranian, mother Scottish)

Artists

 * Alexander Anderson, illustrator
 * Earl W. Bascom, cowboy artist and sculptor
 * Alexander Calder
 * Herbert A. Collins
 * John M. Donaldson, artist and architect
 * Leslie Erganian
 * John Mackie Falconer
 * Joseph Glasco
 * Tommy Hilfiger, fashion designer
 * Jackson Pollock, artist
 * Arthur Fitzwilliam Tait

Athletes

 * Tommy Armour III, professional golfer
 * Lance Armstrong, 7-time Tour de France winner
 * Max Baer
 * Earl W. Bascom, rodeo pioneer, hall of fame inductee, "Father of Modern Rodeo"
 * Don Budge, tennis player
 * Gordon Burness
 * Roy Carlyle
 * Mickey Cochrane, Hall of Famer
 * Keith Cooke, martial artist (mother Scottish-American, father Japanese-American)
 * Walter Dick, soccer player
 * Brandon Forsyth, ice skater
 * Patrick Galbraith
 * Jimmy Gallagher, soccer player who was inducted into the National Soccer Hall of Fame
 * Malcolm Goldie, soccer player who won one cap for the US national team
 * John Harkes
 * Dan Henderson, wrestler
 * Josh Hamilton, Texas Rangers outfielder
 * Jack Hobens, golfer
 * Euan Holden, American soccer player currently playing for Danish team Vejle BK
 * Stuart Holden, US international soccer player, currently playing for Houston Dynamo
 * April Hunter, professional wrestler
 * Jock Hutchison
 * Dominic Kinnear, USA international soccer player and current head coach of Houston Dynamo, born in Glasgow
 * Bob MacDonald, former Major League Baseball player
 * Danny MacFayden, baseball player
 * Arthur Matsu, football player
 * Seth McClung
 * Charlie McCully, soccer player who won 11 caps for the US national team
 * Brandon McDonald
 * Shaun McDonald, American football player
 * Tommy McFarlane
 * Parker McLachlin
 * Jason McLaughlin, soccer player
 * Fred McLeod
 * Nate McLouth, baseballer currently playing for the Atlanta Braves
 * Doug McMillan
 * Jamie McMurray
 * Tommy Morrison, boxer
 * Joe Ogilvie
 * Arnold Palmer, golfer
 * Michael Phelps
 * Roddy Piper, wrestler
 * Frank Ramsey
 * Jock Sutherland, American football player and coach
 * Tim Tebow
 * Bobby Thomson, baseball player
 * Lawrence Tynes
 * Rube Waddell, Hall of Fame pitcher

Business

 * James Abernethy, entrepreneur and first ever governor of Oregon
 * Philip Danforth Armour, founder of Armour and Company, a meatpacking firm
 * William M. Blair
 * David Dunbar Buick, founder of the Buick Motor Company
 * William Wallace Cargill, son of a Scottish sea captain
 * Andrew Carnegie, philanthropist and steel
 * Jasper Newton "Jack" Daniel, founder of Jack Daniel's Tennessee whiskey distillery; Scottish-Welsh American; his grandmother, Elizabeth Callaway, was born in Scotland
 * David Eccles, Utah's first ever millionaire
 * John Malcolm Forbes
 * John Murray Forbes
 * William Cameron Forbes
 * Bill Gates, mother was of Scottish descent
 * Jay Gould, railroad developer
 * Archibald Gracie, shipping magnate
 * Cyrus McCormick, International Harvester
 * Harold Fowler McCormick
 * I.O. McDaniel
 * Rupert Murdoch, Australian-born chairman and director of NewsCorp
 * Allan Pinkerton, detective and director of a security business
 * Alexander Turney Stewart, born in Ireland to Scottish parents
 * Donald Trump, business magnate, television personality, President of the United States, mother was an immigrant from Scotland

Musicians and singers



 * Billie Joe Armstrong, singer and guitarist for Green Day
 * Tim Armstrong, lead singer and guitarist for Rancid
 * Emilie Autumn
 * Joan Baez, singer, songwriter and activist; her mother was born in Edinburgh
 * Jeff Baxter, guitarist for Steely Dan
 * Shannon Bex, former member of Danity Kane
 * Wes Borland, of the band Limp Bizkit
 * Roy Buchanan, guitarist and blues musician; a pioneer of the Telecaster sound
 * David Byrne, musician, singer-songwriter of the band Talking Heads, born in Dumbarton
 * David Campbell
 * Glen Campbell, singer
 * Aaron Carter, singer
 * Nick Carter, singer
 * Johnny Cash, singer
 * Rosanne Cash, singer-songwriter; daughter of Johnny Cash
 * Kurt Cobain, American musician who was the lead singer, guitarist, and primary songwriter of the rock band Nirvana, of partial Scottish ancestry
 * Alice Cooper, rock singer
 * Brann Dailor, drummer for Mastodon
 * Glen Danzig, singer known for work with Misfits and Danzig
 * Jonathan Davis, lead singer and songwriter for Korn
 * Hilary Duff, actress and singer
 * Stacy "Fergie" Ferguson, singer best known as part of The Black Eyed Peas
 * Brandon Flowers, singer and keyboardist of The Killers
 * Dan Fogelberg, singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist
 * Alison Fraser
 * Kim Gordon, singer/guitarist for Sonic Youth
 * Kina Grannis
 * Oscar Hammerstein II, writer of musicals of "Rodgers and Hammerstein" fame, Scottish grandparent
 * Gil-Scott Heron
 * James Hetfield, singer/rhythm guitarist of Metallica
 * Faith Hill
 * John S. Hilliard, composer
 * Brent Hinds, singer/guitarist for Mastodon
 * David Homyk
 * Alan Hovhaness
 * Alicia Keys, mother of Scottish descent
 * Chris Kirkpatrick, former member of N'Sync
 * Amy Lee, lead singer of Evanescence
 * Joanna Levesque, better known by her stage name JoJo
 * Tony MacAlpine, African American guitarist with Scottish ancestry
 * Adam MacDougall
 * Ian MacKaye, early hardcore and emo personality, noted for Minor Threat and Fugazi
 * Talitha MacKenzie, singer
 * Marshall "Eminem" Mathers, rapper
 * Tim McAllister
 * Jesse McCartney, singer
 * Paul McCoy
 * Country Joe McDonald, lead singer of the 1960s psychedelic rock group Country Joe & the Fish
 * Tim McGraw, country music singer; father is Scots-Irish, mother is Italian-Irish
 * Ray McKinley
 * Jon McLaughlin, singer-songwriter
 * Don McLean
 * Katharine McPhee, pop and R&B musician
 * Ed McTaggart
 * Meat Loaf
 * Johnny Mercer
 * Brian Molko, lead singer of Placebo(mother Scottish)
 * Jim Morrison, singer, poet; father and mother of Scottish descent
 * Michael Nesmith, musician, actor, The Monkees
 * Mike Ness, guitarist and songwriter in the band Social Distortion
 * Wayne Newton, singer
 * Brad Paisley, country music singer
 * Tom Petty, guitarist and vocalist in the band Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
 * Elvis Presley, singer
 * Bonnie Raitt, singer/songwriter
 * John Raitt, Broadway musical star
 * Lana Del Rey, singer/songwriter; father and mother of Scottish descent/ancestry; family roots in Lanarkshire
 * Doug Robb, musician and lead singer of rock band Hoobastank
 * Axl Rose, lead singer from Guns and Roses; of Scottish German descent
 * Ryan Ross, musician, previously with Panic! at the Disco and now with The Young Veins
 * Ashlee Simpson, singer, actress
 * Jessica Simpson, singer
 * Britney Spears, singer
 * Layne Staley, original lead singer of Alice in Chains
 * Gwen Stefani, singer
 * Izzy Stradlin, rock musician
 * Taylor Swift, country/pop singer
 * Carrie Underwood, singer, songwriter, and actress
 * Brendon Urie, lead singer of Panic! at the Disco
 * Gene Vincent, rockabilly singer
 * Kate Voegele, singer
 * Tom Waits, singer/songwriter
 * Gerard Way, lead singer of My Chemical Romance
 * Mikey Way, bass guitarist for My Chemical Romance
 * Jack White aka John Anthony Gillis, of The White Stripes



Government and military

 * John F. Kennedy, the 35th President of the United States from January 1961 until his assassination in November 1963. Distant Scottish ancestry, his patrilineal Kennedy line traces back to Scotland, and President Kennedy had Scottish-born ancestors in the 1600s.
 * Creighton Abrams, US Army general, commanded military operations in Vietnam from 1968–1972
 * John Adair
 * Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin, US Air Force pilot and astronaut, second man to walk on the moon, Apollo 11
 * William Alexander, major-general during the American Revolutionary War
 * John Anderson, colonial governor of New Jersey in 1736
 * Matthew Arbuckle, general, closely identified with the Indian Territory (Oklahoma) for the last thirty years of his life; commanded Fort Smith near Indian Territory; established Forts Gibson and Towson in Indian Territory
 * Neil Armstrong, Naval aviator and astronaut, first man to walk on the moon, Apollo 11
 * Chester A. Arthur, American president
 * James Barbour, officer in the Confederate Navy
 * John S. Barbour, Jr.
 * Maryanne Trump Barry
 * Alan Bean, astronaut and fourth person to walk on the moon, Apollo 12
 * James B. Beck
 * Austin Blair
 * Jim Bowie, frontiersman and a defender of the Alamo
 * Omar N. Bradley, general
 * John Breathitt
 * George A. Bruce
 * Albert Bryant, Jr.
 * Bay Buchanan
 * James Buchanan, American president
 * Pat Buchanan
 * Irvine Bulloch
 * Ambrose Burnside
 * Joseph R. Burton
 * George W. Bush, American president
 * John C. Caldwell
 * Archibald Campbell
 * Bill Campbell
 * George W. Campbell
 * John B. T. Campbell III
 * Thomas Mitchell Campbell
 * William Joseph Campbell
 * Wooda Nicholas Carr
 * Kit Carson
 * Richard Caswell
 * William Claflin, Governor of Massachusetts
 * George Rogers Clark
 * Grover Cleveland, American president
 * Jack Coghill
 * Merian C. Cooper
 * Samuel W. Crawford, US Army surgeon and Union general in the American Civil War
 * Davy Crockett, frontiersman, U.S. Congressman and a defender of the Alamo
 * Marcus Henderson Cruikshank
 * Alexander J. Dallas
 * George M. Dallas, US Senator from Pennsylvania
 * Jefferson Davis, President of the Confederacy
 * Howard Dean, Governor of Vermont
 * John Edwards
 * James E. Ferguson
 * Millard Fillmore, American president
 * William Fleming
 * James Florio, Governor of New Jersey
 * Nathan Bedford Forrest, Confederate general
 * John B. Frazier
 * John Kenneth Galbraith, economist
 * Alexander Garden, American Revolutionary War soldier
 * James Lorraine Geddes
 * James Gilfillan, 13th Treasurer of the United States
 * Henry Bell Gilkeson
 * Newt Gingrich, politician
 * John Glenn, former US Senator from Ohio, Marine Corps aviator and astronaut; first American to orbit the earth, Mercury/Friendship 7
 * John B. Gordon, Confederate general
 * Arthur F. Gorham, World War II paratrooper and hero during the invasion of Sicily
 * Archibald Gracie III
 * Ulysses S. Grant, Union Army General, General of the armies in American Civil War and 18th President of the United States
 * Charles McNeill Gray
 * Robert Gray
 * William Halsey, Jr., Fleet Admiral during World War II in the Pacific theater
 * Alexander Hamilton, first Secretary of the Treasury
 * John Hancock, first signatory of the United States Declaration of Independence
 * Warren G. Harding, American president
 * Rutherford B. Hayes, American president, Civil War officer in the 23rd Ohio, Brevetted to Brigadier General then Major General during the Civil War
 * Patrick Henry, Revolutionary War officer, colonel of the 1st Virginia Infantry, known for the "give me liberty, or give me death!" speech
 * Harold G. Hoffman, Governor of New Jersey
 * William Hooper
 * Sam Houston, president of Texas and afterwards governor
 * John Houstoun
 * Rufus Ingalls
 * James Iredell, Jr., Governor of North Carolina
 * Andrew Jackson, American president
 * Stonewall Jackson, Confederate general
 * Thomas Jefferson, American president
 * Andrew Johnson, American president
 * Lyndon B. Johnson, American president
 * Samuel Johnston
 * John Paul Jones, Scottish-born, American Revolutionary War naval officer, American Admiral and Rear Admiral in the Imperial Russian Navy
 * Tim Kaine
 * John Kerry, former US Senator from Massachusetts, 2004 Democratic presidential nominee, US Secretary of State in Obama Administration
 * Henry Latimer
 * Roberta Lawson
 * Hugh Swinton Legaré, lawyer and politician of Huguenot and Scottish ancestry
 * Edward Livingston
 * Matthew B. Lowrie
 * Dan Lungren
 * Nathaniel Lyon, American general, first Union general killed in the Civil War in 1861 at the Battle of Wilson's Creek
 * Arthur MacArthur, Union officer during the Civil War, American general, father of General Douglas MacArthur
 * Douglas MacArthur, five-star American Army General in the Pacific theater during World War II and commander of American forces in Korean War
 * John Lewis MacDonald
 * Clark MacGregor
 * Archibald T. MacIntyre, politician
 * George MacKinnon
 * Franklin MacVeagh
 * Duncan McArthur
 * Tom McClintock
 * Henry Dickerson McDaniel, Governor of Georgia
 * James McDivitt, Brig Gen, USAF, Ret., former astronaut, test pilot and aeronautical engineer who flew in the Gemini 4 and Apollo 9 missions
 * Irvin McDowell, American general, commanded Union forces at the First Battle of Bull Run (First Manassas)
 * Samuel McDowell
 * John McCain, Senator of Arizona
 * George B. McClellan, Union major general during the American Civil War; Democratic presidential nominee in 1864; later Governor of New Jersey; organized the Army of the Potomac; served briefly (November 1861 to March 1862) as the general-in-chief of the Union Army
 * Scott McClellan, former White House press secretary
 * John J. McCloy
 * Tom Ed McHugh
 * Lachlan McIntosh
 * Mike McIntyre
 * Kenneth McKellar
 * Alexander McKenzie
 * William McKinley, American president
 * John McLane
 * Mack McLarty
 * James C. McLaughlin
 * Robert McNamara, U.S. Defense Secretary and President of the World Bank
 * Dan K. McNeill, American general
 * David Brydie Mitchell, Governor of Georgia
 * Walter Mondale, US Senator from Minnesota, 1984 Democratic presidential nominee
 * James Monroe, American president
 * Thomas Z. Morrow, Colonel of the 32nd Kentucky Infantry during the American Civil War
 * William Moultrie
 * Patty Murray
 * Hugh Nelson
 * Francis G. Newlands
 * Gavin Newsom
 * Samuel D. Nicholson
 * Richard Nixon, American president
 * Barack Obama, American president
 * David Paterson
 * George S. Patton, American general, commanded troops in North Africa and in Europe during World War 2
 * Thomas Baldwin Peddie
 * James K. Polk, American president
 * Colin Powell, former US general and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, US Secretary of State
 * Samuel Ralston, Governor of Indiana and US Senator
 * Ronald Reagan, American president, governor of California, president of the Screen Actors Guild, film actor and radio announcer
 * Jim Risch
 * Mitt Romney, Governor of Massachusetts and 2012 Republican presidential nominee
 * Theodore Roosevelt, American president
 * Winfield Scott, general, veteran of War of 1812, commanded American Army of Occupation during the Mexican–American War
 * Alan Shepard, Naval aviator and astronaut; first American in space and fifth man to walk on the moon, Apollo 14
 * George Spalding
 * John C. Stennis, U.S. Senator
 * Jeb Stuart, Confederate cavalry general; commanded the cavalry corps in Lee's Army of Northern Virginia; killed at Battle of Yellow Tavern
 * William Howard Taft, American president, Chief Justice of the United States, United States Secretary of War, 1st Provisional Governor of Cuba, Governor-General of the Philippines, Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, United States Solicitor General
 * Edward Telfair, Governor of Georgia
 * David P. Thompson
 * George Troup, Governor of Georgia
 * Harry S. Truman, American president
 * Donald Trump, 45th American President
 * James Webb, U. S. Senator, author of Born Fighting: How the Scots-Irish Shaped America (2004)
 * Alexander White
 * Heather Wilson
 * Malcolm Wilson
 * Woodrow Wilson, American president
 * Henry A. Wise, Confederate Brigadier General and Governor of Virginia
 * John Witherspoon, Scots Presbyterian minister and signatory of the United States Declaration of Independence

Inventors, engineers and academics

 * Thomas Addis, physician and scientist
 * Sextus Barbour
 * Earl W. Bascom, inventor of rodeo equipment
 * Alexander Graham Bell, inventor of the telephone
 * Alexander Melville Bell
 * James Blair, founder of the College of William and Mary
 * Walter Houser Brattain, inventor of the transistor
 * George Harold Brown
 * James McGill Buchanan, economist
 * Nicholas Murray Butler
 * Joseph Campbell, professor of comparative mythology
 * William Wallace Campbell, astronomer
 * Allan McLeod Cormack
 * Donald J. Cram, shared the 1987 Nobel Prize in Chemistry with Jean-Marie Lehn and Charles J. Pedersen
 * Alexander Garden, botanist; namesake of gardenia flower; physician and zoologist
 * William Harkness
 * Irving Langmuir
 * David MacAdam, color scientist
 * James Ross MacDonald, physicist
 * Kevin B. MacDonald, psychology professor at California State University
 * Colin Munro MacLeod
 * Katherine McAlpine
 * Richard Sears McCulloh
 * Andrew Cunningham McLaughlin, historian
 * Robert Burns Woodward, Nobel Prize-winning chemist

Writers

 * Helen Adam
 * Louis Auchincloss
 * Paul Dayton Bailey
 * Lesley Bannatyne
 * Hugh Henry Brackenridge, writer
 * Carol Brink
 * Fredric Brown, short story writer
 * Erskine Caldwell
 * Taylor Caldwell
 * John Dickson Carr
 * Michael Crichton, author
 * Laurie York Erskine
 * William Faulkner, author
 * Alex Finlayson
 * B.C. Forbes, journalist and author who founded Forbes magazine
 * Esther Forbes, novelist and children's writer
 * Robert Frost, poet
 * Cork Graham, author; imprisoned in Vietnam for trespassing while looking for treasure buried by Captain Kidd
 * Alex Haley, author of Roots
 * Alice Henderson
 * Robert E. Howard, author of the Conan fantasy series
 * Washington Irving
 * Garrison Keillor, author, storyteller, humorist, and radio personality; host of the Minnesota Public Radio show A Prairie Home Companion
 * Steven Keillor
 * Will Leitch
 * Amy MacDonald
 * Sally MacKenzie
 * Norman Maclean, author of A River Runs Through It
 * Archibald MacLeish, modernist poet, Pulitzer Prize winner and Librarian of Congress
 * Sean McAdam
 * Helen McCloy
 * David McCullough
 * Richard McCulloch
 * Dennis McDougal
 * Al McIntosh, distinguished newspaper editor
 * Larry McMurty
 * James Alan McPherson
 * Herman Melville
 * Edgar Allan Poe, short story writer, poet and critic
 * J. D. Salinger, writer of Catcher in the Rye
 * Phyllis Schlafly, politically conservative, pro-life activist and writer
 * Upton Sinclair, Pulitzer Prize–winning author
 * Mark Twain, author
 * Thomas Clayton Wolfe, author whose mother was Scots-Irish

Native American leaders

 * Alexander McGillivray, Creek (Muscogee) chief
 * William McIntosh, Creek (Muscogee) military leader
 * Peter McQueen, Creek (Muscogee) military leader
 * Menawa, Creek (Muscogee) military leader
 * John Norton, Mohawk chief
 * John Ross, Cherokee chief
 * William Weatherford, Creek (Muscogee) military leader

Religion

 * George Grant
 * John Menzies Macfarlane, hymn writer
 * Mike MacIntosh
 * David O. McKay, ninth president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), Scottish father
 * Scotty McLennan
 * Pat Robertson, founder and host of the 700 Club
 * Joseph Smith, founder of the Latter Day Saint movement, through his mother Lucy Mack Smith

Other

 * Tom Bendelow
 * Alfred Blalock, surgeon
 * Catherine Wolfe Bruce
 * Pat Buchanan, paleoconservative political commentator, nativist, author, syndicated columnist, politician, and broadcaster; former conservative host of CNN Crossfire
 * Erin Burnett, news anchor; maternal great-grandfather was a Scottish immigrant
 * Mary Katherine Campbell (1905–1990), Miss America titleholder 1922 and 1923, first runner-up in 1924
 * Butch Cassidy
 * William Sloane Coffin
 * Virgil Earp
 * Wyatt Earp
 * Mary Baker Eddy, founder of the Christian Science movement
 * William Henry Farquhar
 * Ilan Hall, chef
 * Arlo Hemphill
 * Laura Ingraham, conservative radio host and Fox News contributor
 * Indiana Jones, fictional archeologist, associate dean, college professor, adventurer and soldier
 * Barbour Lathrop
 * Malcolm X, militant and religious leader
 * Flora MacDonald (emigrated to America after failure of Jacobite rising of 1745)
 * Ranald MacDonald, first person to teach the English language in Japan
 * Catharine MacKinnon
 * Jane McCrea
 * George Henry Mckenzie
 * Lisa McPherson, Scientologist whose death was a source of much controversy for the Church of Scientology
 * Lee Miller
 * John Muir, naturalist