This is a list of notable past and present residents of the U.S. city of Honolulu, Hawaii, and its surrounding metropolitan area.
Arts
Satoru Abe (1926–2025), sculptor and painter Bernice Akamine (1949–2024), Native Hawaiian traditional artist, glass artist, visual artist, and Hawaiian rights activist Marguerite Blasingame (1906–1947), sculptor and painter; born in Honolulu Jean Charlot (1898–1979), French-American painter, muralist, and illustrator Isami Doi (1903–1965), printmaker and painter; lived in Honolulu in the 1920s and 1930s Johanna Drew Cluney (1895–1978), Hawaiian feather lei maker, featherworker, collector, conservator Mary Louise Kekuewa (1926–2008), Hawaiian feather lei maker, featherworker Arman Manookian (1904–1931), Ottoman Empire-born Armenian and American painter Coyote Park (born 1999), Spanish-born American photographer raised in Honolulu, known for their queer and trans portrait photography Shirley Russell (1886–1985), painter, known for paintings of Hawaii and flowers Tadashi Sato (1923–2005), painter, known for Aquarius, a 36-foot circular mosaic on the floor of the atrium of the Hawaii State Capitol Madge Tennent (1889–1972), British-American painter considered the most important contributor to 20th-century Hawaiian art Dallas Nagata White (born 1987), landscape photographer known for "lava kiss" Jeff Widener (born 1956), photojournalist John Chin Young (1909–1997), painter known for his Zen-like depictions of horses
Athletics
Robyn Ah Mow-Santos, Olympic silver medalist volleyball player and coach Dennis Alexio, kickboxer David Amerson, football player, North Carolina State and Washington Redskins cornerback Francys Arsentiev, first U.S. woman to reach the summit of Mount Everest without the aid of bottled oxygen David Aupiu, football player Dino Babers, head football coach for the Syracuse Orange Noahkai Banks, soccer player Tim Bartro, indoor/outdoor soccer player Heather Bown, Olympic silver medalist volleyball player Alexander Cartwright, "father of baseball" Byron Chamberlain, NFL player Bryan Clay, 2008 Olympic gold medalist for the decathlon Jeff Cobb, Olympian and ROH wrestler Buster Crabbe, 1932 Olympic gold medalist and actor (Tarzan, Flash Gordon, and Buck Rogers) Ron Darling, MLB pitcher, broadcaster Kaimi Fairbairn, American football player Sid Fernandez, MLB pitcher Chris Fuamatu-Maafala, NFL player Kurt Gouveia, NFL player Max Holloway, former UFC Featherweight Champion Charlie Hough, MLB pitcher Mike Huff, MLB pitcher Nia Jax, WWE wrestler Duke Kahanamoku, Olympic gold medalist, surfer, actor Olin Kreutz, NFL player Ashley Lelie, NFL player Karl Lorch, NFL player Mike Lum, MLB player Salvador "Dado" Marino (1915–1989), flyweight boxer who became World flyweight champion in 1950 Marcus Mariota, NFL player Carissa Moore, professional surfer"Fast waves, faster girl". ESPN. November 7, 2011. Retrieved July 22, 2021. Leon Morimoto, soccer player who represented the Guam national team Ken Niumatalolo, football coach Kenso Nushida (1899–1983), baseball playerHawaii, Births and Christenings Ed Parker, martial artist, author B.J. Penn, UFC lightweight and welterweight champion Dominic Raiola, NFL player Nick Rolovich, college football coach Kyla Ross, Olympic gold medalist gymnast and member of the Fierce Five Lenn Sakata, MLB player Teee Sanders, Olympic bronze medalist volleyball player Dave Shoji, since 2013, all-time winningest NCAA Division I head volleyball coach John Simerson, football player Andi Sullivan, soccer player for the United States Thomas Tamas, sport shooter Manti Teo, football player for Notre Dame and San Diego Chargers Tua Tagovailoa, NFL player, Miami Dolphins Shane Victorino, MLB World Series champion (2008 Philadelphia Phillies, 2013 Boston Red Sox) Michelle Wie, professional golfer Milt Wilcox, MLB pitcher Jerome Williams, MLB pitcher Kim Willoughby, Olympic silver medalist volleyball player Bobby Wood, MLS soccer player
Business
Thomas O. Bales Jr., medical technology and aerospace inventor and entrepreneur Charles Reed Bishop, businessman, philanthropist, founder of the Bishop Museum James Dole, developer of the pineapple industry in Hawaii, namesake of the Dole Food Company Maria J. Forbes, manager, Lunalilo Home Genshiro Kawamoto, billionaire real estate investor Stanley Kennedy Sr. founder of Hawaiian Airlines Darren Kimura, businessman, founder of Sopogy Pierre Omidyar, eBay creator and founder William S. Patout, III, sugar grower from Iberia Parish, Louisiana; lived in Honolulu 1959–1960
Literature
Joseph Campbell, writer, lecturer Charles Lindbergh, author Jack London, author, journalist, and social activist Jack Lord, actor Lois Lowry, author Herman Melville, author James A. Michener, Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Janet Mock, author and MSNBC talk show host Tom Selleck, actor Robert Louis Stevenson, novelist, poet, essayist and travel writer Hunter S. Thompson, journalist and author Mark Twain, author Kirby Wright, poet and writer Norman Wong, writer
Entertainers, actors, models
Keiko Agena, actress Judi Andersen, Miss Hawaii USA 1978, Miss USA 1978 Kermet Apio, comedian Jacob Batalon, actor Darin Brooks, actor Angelique Cabral, actress Sarah Wayne Callies, actress Tia Carrere, singer, actress Kam Fong Chun, actor, Hawaii Five-O Mark Dacascos, actor, martial artist Denise Dowse, actress and director, Beverly Hills, 90210 Maile Flanagan, actress, comedian David Gallaher, graphic novelist and comic book author Nick Gomez, actor Lauren Graham, actress and producer, Gilmore Girls Erin Gray, actress, Silver Spoons John Halliday, actor Ann Harada, actress Kelly Hu, actress, Miss Hawaii Teen USA 1985, Miss Teen USA 1985 Carrie Ann Inaba, television judge, Dancing with the Stars Dwayne Johnson, actor, wrestler, alumnus of President William McKinley High School Keahu Kahuanui, actor, plays Danny Mahealani in series Teen Wolf on MTV Nicole Kidman, Academy Award-winning actress Daniel Dae Kim, actor Randall Duk Kim, actor, Kung Fu Panda Clyde Kusatsu, actor Brook Lee, Miss Hawaii USA 1997, Miss USA 1997, Miss Universe 1997 Titus Makin Jr., actor, singer, dancer Markiplier, real name Mark Fischbach, YouTuber Bruno Mars, actor, singer-songwriter Lori Matsukawa, television news anchor Julie McCullough, comedian Al Michaels, television sportscaster Jason Momoa, actor, director, model Jack Mower, actor Tahj Mowry, actor Jim Nabors, actor, singer, The Andy Griffith Show, Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C. Timothy Olyphant, actor, Deadwood, Justified Maggi Parker, actress, Hawaii Five-O Janel Parrish, actress, model, plays Mona in Pretty Little Liars Katija Pevec, actress Kelly Preston, actress, model Maggie Q, actress, model, Nikita Tanoai Reed, stuntman, actor Anthony Ruivivar, actor Hironobu Sakaguchi, video game director, writer and producer Amanda Schull, actress James Shigeta, actor Shannyn Sossamon, actress Karen Steele, actress Don Stroud, actor Mageina Tovah, actress Macel Wilson, Miss Hawaii USA 1962, Miss USA 1962 Tanya Wilson, Miss Hawaii USA 1972, Miss USA 1972 Taylor Wily, actor, Hawaii Five-O Keone Young, voice and actor
Music
Anjani, singer-songwriter and pianist Chris Barron, lead singer of Spin Doctors Yvonne Elliman, popular singer Don Ho, popular singer HueningKai, Korean-American singer in boy band TXT Melody, singer Jack Johnson, musician Israel Kamakawiwoʻole, Hawaiian musician Titus Makin Jr., actor, singer, dancer Bruno Mars, actor and singer-songwriter Glenn Medeiros, singer-songwriter James Mercer, frontman of rock band The Shins Bette Midler, singer and actress Kid Ory, jazz musician and bandleader Michael Paulo, saxophonist Nicole Scherzinger, singer, dancer, model Jake Shimabukuro, ukulele virtuoso Hana Shimozumi, light opera singer Shing02, rapper Mike Starr (1966–2011), musician, best known as the bassist for Alice in Chains 1987–1993; born in Honolulu Megan Skiendiel, singer of the girl band Katseye Donald Sur, composer and musicologist
Politics
Neil Abercrombie, governor of Hawaii, 2010–2014 Daniel Akaka, U.S. senator, first Native Hawaiian senator in the United States George Ariyoshi, 3rd governor of Hawaii, the first Asian American governor in the United States John A. Burns, 2nd governor of Hawaii Ben Cayetano, governor of Hawaii 1994–2002 Nora Stewart Coleman, former First Lady of American Samoa Sanford B. Dole, lawyer, jurist, president of the Republic of Hawaii, and 1st territorial governor of Hawaii Tammy Duckworth, United States senator from Illinois and former U.S. congresswoman representing the 8th Congressional district in Illinois Hiram Fong, United States senator, namesake of the Senator Fong's Plantation & Gardens in Kaneohe Mazie Hirono, U.S. senator from Hawai'i Daniel Inouye, Medal of Honor recipient, U.S. senator, president pro tempore Princess Kaiulani, crown princess, heir to the throne of the Kingdom of Hawaii King Kalakaua, last reigning king of the Kingdom of Hawaii Queen Liliuokalani, last reigning queen of the Hawaiian Islands Oren E. Long, former territorial governor of Hawai'i, one of Hawai'i's first US senators King Lunalilo, king of the Kingdom of Hawaii Bongbong Marcos, 17th president of the Philippines Ferdinand Marcos, 10th president of the Philippines Imee Marcos, senator of the Philippines Patsy Mink, former U.S. congresswoman who co-authored the Title IX Amendment of the Higher Education Act, first Japanese-American woman licensed to practice law in Hawaii Barack Obama, 44th president of the United States Sarah Palin, politician, 2008 Republican vice-presidential candidate Syngman Rhee, 1st president of South Korea Brian Schatz, U.S. senator from Hawai'i Mark Takai, former U.S. representative Lorrin A. Thurston, lawyer, politician in Honolulu early 1900s Sun Yat-sen, "father of the nation" of the Republic of China, and the "forerunner of democratic revolution" in the People's Republic of China
Missionaries
Angeles Mangaser Avecilla (1902–1975), Filipino social worker, missionary, and educator in the Territory of Hawaii Abigail Willis Tenney Smith, missionary; teacher; president of the Woman's Board of Missions for the Pacific Islands
Miscellaneous
Dorothea Bennett (1929–1990), geneticist Bernice Pauahi Bishop, Hawaiian princess, philanthropist, alii, and Kamehameha descendant Elizabeth Carter Bogardus (1895–1928), socialite, community leader, and the founder of the Junior League of Honolulu"Mrs. Bogardus Passes After Brief Illness". Honolulu Star-Bulletin. December 22, 1928. p. 1, 4. Retrieved 2025-06-28 – via Newspapers.com. Redmond Burke, heart surgeon Mary Catton, social worker Louise Olga Gaylord Dillingham (1885–1964), socialite, civic leader Doris Duke, heiress, socialite, horticulturalist, art collector, and philanthropist Ann Dunham, mother of Barack Obama Amelia Earhart, aviation pioneer and author Charles Irving Elliott, aviation pioneer Mary Jane Kekulani Fayerweather (1842–1930), high chiefess, teacher, music composer, and dairy farmer Katrina Forest, microbiologist and structural biology pioneer Willowdean Chatterson Handy, anthropologist of Hawaiian studies, writer Willi Hennig, biologist Marcus "Dyrus" Hill, League of Legends professional player Stella Maude Jones, archivist, historian, and librarian George E. Martin, US Army major general, lived in Honolulu during retirement Megan McClung, first female United States Marine Corps officer killed in combat during the Iraq War Elizabeth Peet McIntosh, OSS agent in WWII May A. Moir (1907–2001), floral designer, writer, gardener William Whitmore Goodale Moir (1896–1985), botanist and agricultural technologist