The first Dutch settlers arrived in America in 1624 and founded a number of villages, a town called New Amsterdam and the Colony of New Netherland on the East Coast. New Amsterdam became New York when the Treaty of Breda was signed in 1667. According to the 2006 United States Census, more than 5 million Americans claim total or partial Dutch heritage. Today the majority of the Dutch Americans live in the U.S. states of California, New York, Michigan, Iowa, Washington, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Montana, Ohio and Pennsylvania.
This is a list of notable Dutch Americans, including both original immigrants who obtained American citizenship and Americans of full or partial Dutch ancestry.
List
Arts and literature Earl W. Bascom (1906–1995), artist, sculptor, inventor, author, known as the "dean of rodeo cowboy sculpture" Edward W. Bok (1863–1930), author, publisher, editor of Ladies Home Journal Pearl S. Buck (1892–1973), writer and novelist, first American woman to win the Nobel Prize in Literature Willem de Kooning (1904–1997), abstract expressionist painter Peter DeVries (1910–1993), author and editor; wrote Tunnel of Love; editor and staffer for Poetry magazine and The New Yorker Barthold Fles (1902–1989), literary agent, author, editor, translator and publisher Charles Fort (1874–1932), author, wrote Book of the Damned, father of ufology, cryptozoology and critic/satirist of mainstream, dogmatic science Frederick Franck (1909–2006), painter, sculptor, and author of 30 books who was known for his interest in human spirituality Dutch born Marius Jansen (1922–2000), American academic, historian, and Emeritus Professor of Japanese History at Princeton University. Herman Melville (1819–1891), author and poet, wrote Moby Dick Melville "came from Dutch and English stock" Milton J. Nieuwsma (born 1941), author, film writer and producer Erwin Timmers (born 1964), Dutch-American environmental "green artist", glass sculptor and teacher Raeburn van Buren, magazine and comic strip illustrator best known for his work on the syndicated Abbie an' Slats Wallace Stevens (1879–1955), modernist poet Edward Stratemeyer, (1862–1930), author Janwillem van de Wetering (1931–2008), Dutch-American author of police procedurals, Zen autobiographies and children's books Philip Van Doren Stern (1900–1984), author Hendrik Willem Van Loon (1882–1944), author, historian and journalist Gloria Vanderbilt (1924–2019), artist and socialite Vanderbilt "is of Dutch, Chilean, Spanish, and Irish descent." Walt Whitman (1819–1892), poet Whitman "came from Dutch and English stock" Jeff VanderMeer (born 1968), author
Entertainment
Christina Aguilera (born 1980), singer, actress and model, partly of Dutch descent through her mother Alison Brie (born 1982), actress, partly of Dutch descent through her father Dan Aykroyd (born 1952), actor Reiko Aylesworth (born 1972), actress, best known for playing Michelle Dessler in the television series 24 Earl Bascom (1906–1995), cowboy actor in "Lawless Rider" and a descendant of the Coerten and Cos families of New Jersey Aaron Paul (born 1979), actor Carmit Bachar (born 1974), member of the Pussycat Dolls, born to an Israeli father and Dutch-Indonesian mother Shannon Bex (born 1980), member of Danity Kane; of Scottish and Dutch descent Moon Bloodgood (born 1975), actress (father has a small amount of Dutch ancestry) Humphrey Bogart (1899–1957), actor (father was of part Dutch descent; "Bogart" comes from the Dutch surname Bogaert, derived from "bogaard", short for "boomgaard", which means "orchard") Hobart Bosworth (1867–1943), actor, director, writer and producer Michelle Branch (born 1983), singer (Dutch through her maternal grandfather) Marlon Brando (1924–2004), Hollywood film actor; father was of partial Dutch ancestry Clancy Brown (born 1959), actor Steve Buscemi (born 1957), actor, writer and director, mother had some Dutch ancestry Captain Beefheart (1941–2010), stage name of musician and artist Don Van Vliet David Carradine (1936–2009), actor, distant Dutch ancestry Ever Carradine (born 1974), actress and daughter of Robert Carradine, distant Dutch ancestry John Carradine (1906–1988), actor, distant Dutch ancestry; descended from Dutch diamond merchant Kiliaen van Rensselaer, who settled the province of Albany, New York, in the seventeenth century Keith Carradine (born 1949), actor and son of John Carradine, distant Dutch ancestry Robert Carradine (born 1954), actor, distant Dutch ancestry Montgomery Clift (1920–1966), actor, of partial maternal Dutch ancestry Wilhelmina Cooper (née Behmenburg) (1939–1980), model who began with Ford Models; at the peak of her success she founded her own agency, Wilhelmina Models Jan de Bont (born 1943), film director, producer and cinematographer Robert De Niro (born 1943), two-time Academy Award-winning actor, mother of part Dutch descent Dane DeHaan (born 1986), film actor, paternal great-grandfather was of Dutch descent Thomas Dekker (born 1987), actor, his paternal great-grandfather was of Dutch descent Cecil B. DeMille (1881–1959), film director and producer Emily Deschanel (born 1976), actress best known for her role as Dr. Temperance "Bones" Brennan in the comedy-crime drama series Bones, distant Dutch ancestry Zooey Deschanel (born 1980), actress, distant Dutch ancestry Joyce DeWitt (born 1949), actress Michael Douglas (born 1944), actor and producer who won four Golden Globes and two Academy Awards, distant Dutch ancestry on mother's side Clint Eastwood (born 1930), Academy Award-winning film actor, director and producer, distant Dutch ancestry Kurt Cobain (1967-1994), singer, guitarist, Dutch ancestry from his mother Frances Farmer (1913–1970), film actress, her mother was of Dutch ancestry Melissa Ferlaak (born 1979), soprano singer and vocal coach, distant Dutch ancestry (original spelling of her surname was Verlaak) Nina Foch (1924–2008), film actress, father was from the Netherlands Bridget Fonda (born 1964), actress, daughter of Peter Fonda, best known for her roles in The Godfather Part III and Jackie Brown, father of part Dutch descent Henry Fonda (1905–1982), Academy Award-winning film actor, father of Peter and Jane Fonda, was of part Dutch descent Jane Fonda (born 1937), Academy Award-winning actress, daughter of Henry Fonda, father was of part Dutch descent Peter Fonda (1940–2019), actor, best known for his role as "Wyatt" in the 1960s counterculture classic Easy Rider, father was of part Dutch descent Ace Frehley (born 1951), musician, Dutch on paternal side G-Eazy, (born 1989), rapper Troy Garity (born 1973), actor; son of Jane Fonda; best known for his roles in the television movie Soldier's Girl and the Barbershop films Janina Gavankar (born 1980), actress of Indian and Dutch ancestry George Gaynes (1917–2016), actor and singer, father was Dutch Paul Giamatti (born 1967), actor, distant Dutch ancestry Mark-Paul Gosselaar (born 1974), actor, perhaps best known for his role as Zack Morris on NBC's Saved by the Bell; his father is of Dutch Jewish and German descent, and his mother is of Dutch-Indonesian descentReferred to as "Indonesian-Dutch" at , father is Dutch and mother is Indonesian Lucas Grabeel (born 1984), American actor, distant Dutch ancestry, best known for his role as Ryan Evans in High School Musical Betty Grable (1916–1973), actress, singer, dancer and pin-up girl whose sensational bathing-suit photo became the number one pinup of the World War II era Grable has described herself as "Dutch, German, Irish and English" Bella Hadid (born 1996), model Gigi Hadid (born 1995), model Rebecca Hall (born 1982), maternal grandmother was Dutch Philip Seymour Hoffman (1967–2014), actor, distant Dutch ancestry Whitney Houston (1963–2012), actor, singer, distant Dutch ancestry Bryce Dallas Howard (born 1981), actress; daughter of director Ron Howard; distant Dutch ancestry Clint Howard (born 1959), actor and brother of director Ron Howard, distant Dutch ancestry Ron Howard (born 1954), Academy Award-winning director, producer and actor, best known for directing Apollo 13, How the Grinch Stole Christmas and A Beautiful Mind, distant Dutch ancestry Michiel Huisman (born 1981), actor, musician, singer-songwriter, best known for his roles in Game of Thrones and The Age of Adaline Noname Jane, pornographic actress Laura Jansen (born 1977), singer-songwriter (born in Breda, the Netherlands, based in Los Angeles, California) Famke Janssen (born 1964), fashion model and actress, best known for her roles as Bond girl Xenia Onatopp in GoldenEye, Jean Grey in the X-Men film series, and Lenore Mills in Taken and Taken 2 Angelina Jolie (born 1975), actress; her mother had French Canadian, German, and Dutch ancestry Kylie Jenner (born 1997), reality star, social media personality and socialite best known for her best seller makeup line Kylie Cosmetics Charles Judels (1882–1969), actor Kim Kardashian (born 1980), actress and model; appeared in Disaster Movie; distant Dutch ancestry Kris Kristofferson (born 1936), actor and singer Eva LaRue (born 1966), actress of Scottish, French, and Dutch ancestry; played Dr. Maria Santos on All My Children, and CSI: Miami detective Natalia Boa Vista Taylor Lautner (born 1992), actor, best known from his role as Jacob Black in the Twilight Saga film series, has some Dutch ancestry Kellan Lutz (born 1985), actor, small amount of Dutch ancestry Tim McGraw, country singer, small amount of Dutch ancestry Meghan Markle (born 1981), actress, model and humanitarian, of part Dutch descent on her father's side Leighton Meester (born 1986), actress, best known for her role as Blair Waldorf in Gossip Girl, of part Dutch descent on father's side Wentworth Miller (born 1972), actor and model best known his role as Michael Scofield on the television series Prison Break, small amount of Dutch ancestry Steve Oedekerk (born 1961), actor and comedian, paternal grandfather was Afrikaner of Dutch descent Colonel Tom Parker (1909–1997), manager of Elvis Presley Michelle Pfeiffer (born 1958), actress, best known for her roles in Scarface, Dangerous Liaisons, The Fabulous Baker Boys, Batman Returns and Grease 2; paternal grandmother was of part Dutch descent, Ryan Potter (born 1995), actor; mother of part Dutch descent Bill Pullman (born 1953), actor, best known for his roles in Ruthless People, Spaceballs, Independence Day, While You Were Sleeping and Lost Highway; maternal grandparents were Dutch Jason Ritter (born 1980), actor, distant Dutch ancestry John Ritter (1948–2003), actor, distant Dutch ancestry Rebecca Romijn (born 1972), actress and fashion model, best known for her role as Mystique in the X-Men film series, of 3/4 Dutch descent described as "Dutch" by ethnicity notes that her mother, Elizabeth Kuizenga, was a second-generation Dutch American who met her father, Jaap Romijn, who was Dutch, on a trip to the Netherlands Thelma Schoonmaker (born 1940), three-time Academy Award-winning film editor, best known for editing all of Martin Scorsese's movies since Raging Bull, of part Dutch ancestry Jane Seymour (born 1951), actress; best known as Bond girl in Live and Let Die and as Dr. Quinn Medicine Woman; has a Dutch mother Michael Sinterniklaas, voice actor and founder of NYAV Post, a New York recording studio Jimmy Smits (born 1955), Golden Globe and Emmy-winning actor; half Dutch, half Puerto Rican Cobie Smulders (born 1982), actress and model of Dutch and English descent Martin Spanjers (born 1987), actor best known for playing Rory Hennessy on the sitcom 8 Simple Rules Bruce Springsteen (born 1949), singer-songwriter, distant Dutch ancestry Carel Struycken (born 1948), film actor Taylor Swift (born 1989), country and pop singer, distant Dutch ancestry Lou Tellegen (1881–1934), film actor Dutch-born Shirley Temple (1928–2013), actress