List of Finnish Americans

The following is a list of Finnish Americans, including both original immigrants who obtained American citizenship and their American descendants.

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

Academics

 * Lars Ahlfors (1907–1996), mathematician, one of the first two people to be awarded the Fields Medal; Wolf Prize winner; William Caspar Graustein Professor of Mathematics at Harvard University
 * Max Dimont (1912–1992), historian; author of Jews, God and History, which received critical acclaim and has sold over a million and a half copies; has lectured on Jewish history throughout the United States, Canada, South Africa, Brazil, and Finland; author of The Indestructible Jews, The Jews in America, and Appointment in Jerusalem
 * Jaakko Hintikka (1929–2015), professor of philosophy at Boston University; regarded as the founder of formal epistemic logic and of game semantics for logic
 * Benjamin B. Rubinstein (1905–1989), physician and psychoanalyst; had a practice in New York; wrote extensively on philosophy of psychoanalysis
 * Linus Torvalds (born 1969), software engineer best known for having initiated the development of the Linux kernel; became a U.S. citizen in September 2010
 * Vaino Jack Vehko (1918–1999), automotive engineer; NASA rocket scientist; in 1960 became Director of Engineering on the Saturn S1 and S1B booster rocket program at Chrysler Space Division's Michoud operation in New Orleans, Louisiana; the Saturn boosters successfully launched all the NASA Apollo and moon missions
 * Carl A. Wirtanen (1910–1990), astronomer

Arts and literature

 * Jean M. Auel (b. 1936), author, wrote the Earth's Children books; her books have sold 34 million copies worldwide in many translations
 * Rudy Autio (1926–2007), sculptor
 * Eino Friberg (1901–1995), Protestant Minister and English translator of The Kalevala, the Finnish national epic
 * Rick Hautala (1949–2013), writer
 * JT Lindroos, designer, publisher, editor and writer
 * Tiina Nunnally, author and translator
 * Emil Petaja, author
 * Eero Saarinen (1910–1961), architect and product designer of the 20th century, famous for his simple, sweeping, arching structural curves
 * Eliel Saarinen (1873–1950), architect who became famous for his art nouveau buildings in the early 20th century
 * Alex Steffen, writer
 * Haddon Sundblom, artist
 * Wallace Wood, comics artist (EC Comics, Mad Magazine, Marvel Comics)

Business

 * Mary Barra, CEO of General Motors
 * Lars Kovala (1818–1894), Finnish-born American businessman, merchant, fur trader, and investor
 * Mike Markkula (b. 1942), entrepreneur; angel investor and second CEO of Apple Computer, Inc.; provided early critical funding and managerial support; known as Apple employee #3
 * Marissa Mayer, CEO of Yahoo and former Google executive
 * Gustave Niebaum (1842–1908), established Inglenook Winery in Napa Valley, California, the first Bordeaux style winery in the US
 * Oscar Wirkkala (1880–1959), logger and inventor, developed the high lead method of logging, which revolutionized the industry; also invented important pieces of that industry's machinery used during the first half of the 20th century

Film and television

 * Pamela Anderson, actress, father is of part Finnish ancestry
 * Lucas Bryant
 * David Chokachi (b. 1968), actor, mother is of Finnish descent
 * Matt Damon (b. 1970), award-winning screenwriter and actor, mother is of partial Finnish descent
 * Richard Davalos (b. 1935), actor; starred in East of Eden (1955) as James Dean's brother; portrayed the convict Blind Dick in Cool Hand Luke (1967); won the Theatre World Award for his performance in the Arthur Miller play A Memory of Two Mondays in 1955; fa is of Finnish descent
 * Anna Easteden (b. 1976), actress; The House of Branching Love (2009) and Sideways (2009); co-starred in soap operas Passions and Days Of Our Lives, and the series Bones
 * Taina Elg (b. 1931), Golden Globe-winning film and stage actress
 * Nathan Fillion (b. 1970), actor
 * George Gaynes (1917–2016), film actor, known for his role as Commandant Eric Lassard in the Police Academy film series
 * Renny Harlin (b. 1959), producer and director; immigrant from Finland
 * Brian Heidik (b. 1968), won $1,000,000 on the Thailand edition of Survivor
 * Nancy Juvonen (b. 1967), American-Finnish film producer; with Drew Barrymore, co-owner of production company Flower Films; produced Never been Kissed (1999), Charlie's Angels (2000), Donnie Darko (2002), Charlie's Angels – Full Throttle (2003); wife of comedian and talk show host Jimmy Fallon
 * Paul Kangas, host of Nightly Business Report television program
 * Marta Kristen (b. 1945), perhaps best known for her role as the character "Judy Robinson" in the cult television series Lost in Space
 * Christine Lahti (b. 1950), film actress, paternal grandparents were immigrants from Finland
 * Jessica Lange (b. 1949), two-time Academy Award-winning film actress, maternal grandparents were of Finnish descent
 * Dick Latvala (1943–1999), tape archivist for the Grateful Dead
 * Scott Lautanen, television director and producer
 * David Lynch (b. 1946), director, mother is of part Finnish ancestry
 * Lisa Niemi (b. 1956), actress, director and choreographer
 * Marian Nixon (1904–1983), actress
 * Maila Nurmi (1921–2008), creator of the well-remembered 1950s character of Vampira
 * Bonnie Pietila, casting director and producer for The Simpsons
 * Joyce Randolph (born Joyce Sirola, 1924), actress, best known for playing Trixie Norton on The Honeymooners
 * Allison Rosati (b. 1963), journalist, paternal Finnish ancestry
 * Albert Salmi (1928–1990), film and television actor
 * Steve Schubert (b. 1951), football player, paternal grandmother was a Finnish immigrant
 * Vanessa Williams (b. 1963), singer, actress, producer, former fashion model; first African American to be crowned Miss America; a DNA test revealed she is 12% Finnish

Military personnel

 * Johannes Anderson (1887–1950), Finnish-born U.S. Army soldier during World War I; Medal of Honor recipient
 * Reino Hayhanen (b. 1920), U.S. spy; Soviet Lt. Colonel who defected to the U.S. during the Cold War; helped break open the Hollow Nickel Case which led to the capture of top Soviet spies in the U.S. looking for atomic secrets
 * Timothy L. Kopra (b. 1963), astronaut; flew missions on the International Space Station and Space Shuttle Discovery; U.S. Army Colonel; Desert Storm veteran; Bronze Star recipient; West Point graduate
 * Lauri Törni (1919–1965), Finnish Army Captain who led an infantry company in Finnish Winter and Continuation Wars; moved to the United States after World War II and adopted the name Larry Thorne; served with the U.S. Army Special Forces in Vietnam War; killed in Laos while on a clandestine mission
 * Dale Eugene Wayrynen (1947–1967), U.S. Army enlisted soldier; recipient of the Medal of Honor, America's highest military decoration, for his actions in the Vietnam War

Musicians

 * Sylvester Ahola, jazz musician
 * Muriel Anderson (b. 1960), guitarist and harp-guitarist
 * Mark Hoppus (b. 1972), bass player in Blink-182
 * Jorma Kaukonen (b. 1940), blues, folk and rock guitarist
 * Peter Kaukonen (b. 1945), blues, folk and rock guitarist; younger brother of Jorma Kaukonen
 * Jaco Pastorius (1951–1987), influential jazz bassist
 * Wilho Saari, Kantele musician
 * Hiski Salomaa (1891–1957), folk singer and songwriter
 * Esa-Pekka Salonen (b. 1958), orchestral conductor and composer; Principal Conductor and Artistic Director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic
 * T-Bone Slim (1890?–1942?), humourist, poet, songwriter, hobo, and a labour activist in the Industrial Workers of the World
 * Einar Aaron Swan, jazz musician
 * David Uosikkinen (b. 1956), rock drummer
 * Osmo Vänskä (b. 1953), orchestral conductor, clarinetist and composer; music director of the Minnesota Orchestra
 * Bobby Vee (b. 1943), rock singer, 1960s teen idol, Finnish on his mother's side (Tapanila)
 * Charles Wuorinen (b. 1938), Pulitzer Prize-winning composer

Dance

 * Carolyn Carlson (b. 1943), choreographer and performer

Politics

 * Gregory Nevala Calvert (1937–2005), National Secretary of Students for a Democratic Society, 1966–67
 * Gus Hall (1910–2000), labor organizer, a founder of the United Steelworkers of America trade union; a leader of the Communist Party USA; five-time U.S. presidential candidate
 * Cheri Honkala (1963–), the Green Party's nominee for vice-president in the 2012 U.S. presidential election
 * Emil Hurja (1892–1953), pioneer of political opinion polling; a top advisor to President Franklin D. Roosevelt; appeared on the cover of Time magazine in March 1936
 * Oscar Larson (1871–1957), U.S. Representative from Minnesota, Republican, lawyer
 * Robert W. Mattson, Jr. (1948–2012), Minnesota State Auditor, 1975–1979; Minnesota State Treasurer, 1983–1987
 * Robert W. Mattson, Sr. (1924–1982), Minnesota State Attorney General, 1964–1967
 * John Morton (1724–1777), signer of the Declaration of Independence; delegate who cast the deciding vote in favor of Pennsylvania's support for United States Declaration of Independence
 * William A. Niskanen, chairman of the Cato Institute
 * William Alex Stolt (1900–2001), mayor of Anchorage, Alaska, 1941–1944
 * Oskari Tokoi (1873–1963), Finnish politician
 * John Raymond Ylitalo (1916–1987), U.S. Ambassador to Paraguay; career U.S. Foreign Service Officer

Sports

 * Randy Carlyle, ice hockey player, coach
 * Dick Enberg (1935–2017), sportscaster currently employed by the San Diego Padres, CBS, and ESPN
 * Link Gaetz, ice hockey player
 * Drew Gooden, NBA player; Finnish mother
 * Dwight Helminen, ice hockey player
 * Lars Helminen, ice hockey player
 * Shawn Huff, basketball player for the Finnish national team; Finnish mother
 * William Kolehmainen (1887–1967), long-distance runner
 * Gerald Lee, basketball player for the Finnish national team; Finnish mother
 * Chico Maki, ice hockey player
 * Wayne Maki, ice hockey player
 * John Michaelson, only Major League Baseball player born in Finland
 * Alex Murphy, NCAA basketball player and brother of Erik Murphy; Finnish mother
 * Erik Murphy, basketball player for the Finnish national team; Finnish mother
 * Matt Niskanen, ice hockey player
 * Dan O'Brien (b. 1966), former American decathlete, deemed one of the best decathlon athletes of the 1990s, winning an Olympic gold medal in Atlanta in 1996 after winning three consecutive world titles
 * Pete Rasmus (1906–1975), discus thrower
 * Ben Sippola, soccer player
 * Kevin Tapani, Major League Baseball pitcher who played for the New York Mets, Minnesota Twins, Los Angeles Dodgers, Chicago White Sox, and Chicago Cubs, 1989–2001
 * Nick Theslof, soccer player and coach; first American player to play in Europe

Other

 * Armi Kuusela, winner of the first Miss Universe beauty contest
 * Miriam Patchen, peace activist