Hugh Nguyen
Biography
Hugh Nguyen is the Orange County Clerk-Recorder and the author of My Unforgettable Journey: A Long Way From Home. Born in Vietnam in 1967, he witnessed the fall of Saigon as a child and was evacuated during Operation Frequent Wind, resettling in California with his grandmother and extended family. Growing up as an Amerasian kid, he learned early what it feels like to be between worlds, carrying questions about identity, belonging, and purpose.
Nguyen began his public-service career in 1993 with the Orange County Clerk-Recorder’s Office. Over three decades, he advanced through leadership roles focused on access, efficiency, and customer service. Appointed Clerk-Recorder in 2013, he became the first Vietnamese American in the nation elected to the position in 2014. Under his leadership, the office has expanded Saturday service, launched mobile outreach and digital tools, and strengthened transparency so residents can obtain vital records, passports, and business filings with fewer barriers.
His memoir highlights the people and moments that shaped him: family sacrifice, faith, community support, and the determination to keep going when the odds are not in your favor. In 2018, after nearly 50 years, he reunited with his American father through a DNA match, adding an unexpected and deeply personal chapter to his story.
Nguyen lives in Santa Ana with his wife and children. He believes public service should be welcoming, efficient, and respectful, and he shares his story to encourage young leaders and new Americans. He frequently speaks at community events about resilience, civic participation, and gratitude.
Books
Born in Vietnam and raised amid war and uncertainty, Hugh Nguyen shares a deeply personal journey of survival, identity, and hope. As an Amerasian child with a Vietnamese mother and an American father he had never met, he grew up carrying both visible difference and invisible questions about belonging. When Saigon fell in April 1975, his family escaped, beginning a refugee path that reshaped everything he thought he knew about home, family, and the future.
In this memoir, Nguyen writes candidly about the struggles of starting over in America, the pressure to prove yourself, and the quiet strength it takes to keep moving forward when life feels stacked against you. His story ultimately becomes one of resilience and service, culminating in his role as Orange County Clerk-Recorder and as the first Vietnamese American elected Clerk-Recorder in the United States.
Dream Big & Work Hard & Never Give Up is a heartfelt reminder that even after loss, displacement, and rejection, a meaningful life can be rebuilt through persistence, gratitude, and faith in what’s possible.