List of people from Orange County, California

This is a list of notable past and present residents of Orange County.

Athletics

 * Amanda Beard, Olympic swimmer
 * Kobe Bryant, NBA player (born in Pennsylvania)
 * Gary Carter, MLB player, member of Hall of Fame
 * Michael Chang, professional tennis player (born in New Jersey)
 * Sasha Cohen, figure skater
 * Allen Craig, baseball player
 * Isaac Curtis, professional football player
 * Lindsay Davenport, professional tennis player
 * Phil Dent, professional tennis player
 * Taylor Dent, professional tennis player
 * Super Dragon, professional wrestler
 * Janet Evans, swimmer
 * Jim Fassel, professional football coach
 * Julie Foudy, soccer player
 * Phil Hughes, baseball player
 * Nyjah Huston, professional skateboarder
 * Kevin Jepsen, baseball player
 * Samoa Joe, multi-time world heavyweight professional wrestling champion
 * Magic Johnson, former NBA player
 * Stanley Johnson, NBA Player
 * Jürgen Klinsmann, player and coach for Germany's national football (soccer) team
 * Mark Kotsay, baseball player
 * Iris Kyle, 10-time overall Ms. Olympia professional bodybuilder
 * Tommy Lasorda, Hall of Fame manager of Los Angeles Dodgers (born in Pennsylvania)
 * Adam LaRoche, Washington Nationals first baseman
 * Jason Lee, professional skateboarder and actor
 * Mark McGwire, baseball player and coach
 * Tito Ortiz, mixed martial arts fighter
 * Carson Palmer, professional football player
 * Aaron Peirsol, swimmer
 * Dennis Rodman, basketball player (born in New Jersey)
 * Elizabeth Ryan, tennis player
 * Mark Sanchez, USC and NFL quarterback
 * Monte Scheinblum, 1992 U.S. National Long Driving Champion
 * Larry Sherry, baseball pitcher, 1959 World Series MVP
 * Ed Templeton, professional skateboarder and manufacturer
 * Garry Templeton, professional baseball player
 * Matt Treanor, baseball player
 * Peter Vidmar, gymnast
 * C. J. Wilson, baseball player
 * Tiger Woods, professional golfer

Business

 * George Argyros, diplomat, real estate investor
 * Donald Bren, chairman of the Irvine Company
 * Dan Caldwell, co-founder of Tapout
 * Christopher Cox, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission chairman
 * Walter Wemple Cruttenden III and Jeffrey James Cruttenden, founder of Acorns
 * Mark Cuban, businessman, investor, owner of the Dallas Mavericks
 * Walt Disney, creator of Disneyland theme park (born in Illinois)
 * Lucy Dunn, CEO of Orange County Business Council
 * Ray Grainger, founder of Mavenlink
 * Nick Gross, entrepreneur
 * Justin Hartfield, co-founder of Weedmaps
 * Keith Hoerling, co-founder of Weedmaps
 * James Jannard, businessman, designer and founder of Oakley Inc.
 * Paul Merage, co-founder of Chef America Inc.
 * Arturo Moreno, businessman
 * Michael Morhaime, businessman, co-founder of Blizzard Entertainment
 * Henry Nicholas, CEO of Broadcom Corporation
 * Igor Olenicoff, real estate developer
 * Dan Rodrigues, founder of Kareo
 * Rodney Sacks, businessman, chairman, and CEO of Monster Beverage
 * Henry Samueli, owner of the Anaheim Ducks
 * Hilton Schlosberg, businessman
 * Vinny Smith, founder of Toba Capital
 * Lynsi Snyder, owner of In-N-Out Burger
 * David Sun, founder of Kingston Technology
 * Dean Stoecker, CEO of Alteryx
 * William Wang, founder and CEO of Vizio

Literature

 * Gregory Benford, science fiction author and astrophysicist
 * Cornelia ten Boom, Holocaust survivor, author, lecturer
 * James P. Blaylock, fantasy author
 * Philip K. Dick, author and futurist (born in Illinois)
 * Jeremy Gable, playwright
 * Dean Koontz, horror author (born in Pennsylvania)
 * Toni Turner, author

Movies, television and media

 * Scott Aukerman, comedian, writer
 * Gene Autry, singer-actor, longtime owner of Angels baseball team (born in Texas)
 * Jimmy Bennett, actor
 * Nate Berkus, designer and TV personality
 * Joey Bishop, comedian and actor (born in Pennsylvania)
 * Marlon Brando, film and stage actor (born in Nebraska)
 * James Cameron, film director (born in Canada)
 * Marc Cherry, creator and executive producer of Desperate Housewives
 * Lauren Conrad, TV personality (The Hills)
 * Kevin Costner, actor, director
 * Valorie Curry, actress
 * Dani Daniels, pornographic actress and director
 * Susan Egan, actress, singer
 * Will Ferrell, comedian and actor
 * Jere Fields, actress
 * Cuba Gooding Jr, actor
 * Diane Keaton, actress and author (born in Los Angeles)
 * Devinn Lane, porn star
 * Penny Marshall, actress and director (born in New York)
 * Steve Martin, comedian, actor, author, musician (born in Texas)
 * Jennette McCurdy, actress and singer
 * Scott McGehee, filmmaker
 * Tarek El Moussa, TV personality (Flip or Flop)
 * Donny Osmond, singer and actor (born in Utah)
 * Michelle Pfeiffer, actress
 * Jessica Rey, actress
 * Mark Rober, mechanical-engineer, YouTube personality
 * Jim Rome, sports radio personality
 * Mirela Rupic, costume designer
 * Keri Russell, actress
 * Emily Skinner, actress
 * Jeffree Star, internet celebrity
 * Kristy Swanson, actress
 * Milo Ventimiglia, actor
 * John Wayne, iconic film actor; Orange County airport named for him (born in Iowa)

Music

 * Avenged Sevenfold, rock band
 * Aloe Blacc, singer
 * Jackson Browne, musician
 * Jeff Buckley, singer, songwriter, musician
 * Pamela Courson, wife of Doors frontman Jim Morrison
 * Dick Dale, musician
 * Leo Fender, inventor of the solid-body electric guitar
 * Bobby Hatfield, singer, The Righteous Brothers (born in Wisconsin)
 * Dexter Holland, musician and singer (The Offspring)
 * Kiev (band), indie rock band
 * Crystal Lewis, Christian singer
 * Mike Ness, a pioneer in O.C. punk music (Social Distortion)
 * Terri Nunn, singer, actress
 * Dan O'Mahony, singer, author, activist, journalist


 * Gabe Rosales, guitarist, bassist, and rapper
 * Lee Soon-kyu, singer and member of Girls' Generation
 * Gwen Stefani, lead singer of No Doubt
 * Jeff Timmons, founder, singer and producer of 98 Degrees
 * Lisa Tucker, singer
 * Scott Weiland, lead singer of Stone Temple Pilots and Velvet Revolver

Politics

 * Sean Faircloth, executive director of Secular Coalition for America, former Majority Whip of Maine House
 * Jim Gilchrist, politician
 * Richard Nixon, Vice President and 37th President of the United States
 * Marian Elaine Walters, politician

Miscellaneous

 * Farzad Bonyadi, professional poker player
 * Dominic Brooklier, former boss of the Los Angeles crime family
 * Michael Carona, sheriff
 * Dongfan Chung, stole space technology for the People's Republic of China,
 * Paul Frank, clothes designer
 * Adam Yahiye Gadahn, spokesman for Al Qaeda, first American charged with treason since 1952
 * Maharaja Sir Yeshwant Rao Holkar II, ruler of Indore from 1926 to 1961 (lived in Santa Ana from 1938–9).
 * Usha Devi Maharani Sahiba Holkar XV Bahadur, current ruler of Indore since 1961 (grew up in Santa Ana)
 * Sean McMahon, aerospace engineer
 * Glenn L. Martin, aviation pioneer
 * Alex Odeh, murdered Arab-American activist
 * Lee Harvey Oswald, assassin of John F. Kennedy (stationed at Marine Corps Air Station El Toro in 1957 and 1958-9)
 * Robert Schuller, clergyman, ministry based in Garden Grove (born in Iowa)