Minnesota city reference

Famous People From Rochester, Minnesota

Nine people with documented Rochester relationships, including origin, hometown, formative years, sport and creator-work evidence.

9 verified people6 public fieldsAlphabetical, not ranked

Who are some notable people from Rochester?

Eric Butorac, Grant Collins, Yung Gravy, Bethanie Mattek-Sands, Charles H. Mayo, William J. Mayo, Johnny Pemberton, Marcus Sherels, Lea Thompson each have a specifically documented Rochester relationship in this directory. The labels below distinguish birthplace, upbringing, hometown, school years and formative or early work instead of treating them as interchangeable.

How to read the directory

City relationship and public relevance are verified separately

A person qualifies through a reliable source for a precise Rochester relationship and a documented public career. Later residence alone is not enough. Every source is visible on the record it supports.

View the machine-readable dataset.

Fields represented

Comedy, film and television
Creators and digital media
Film and television
Medicine and public health
Music
Sports

Complete directory

9 source-backed records

Records are ordered alphabetically by surname. The sequence is not a fame ranking.

Sports · Evidence: established

Eric Butorac

Rochester native

Professional tennis player, ATP doubles champion and U.S. Open tournament director.

City relationship: USTA identifies Butorac as a Rochester native and documents his professional tennis career.
Boundary: The public source establishes a Rochester native relationship; the page does not infer a birthplace or graduation record.

Sources
USTA: Eric Butorac named US Open Tournament Director (OFFICIAL SPORTS ORGANIZATION)

Read Eric Butorac’s detailed profile

Creators and digital media · Evidence: established

Grant Collins

Rochester hometown and creator-work location

Orthodontist and digital creator known publicly as The Braces Guy.

City relationship: The University of Minnesota identifies Rochester as Collins's hometown and documents that his Braces Guy work developed through his Rochester practice.
Boundary: This is a documented hometown and early creator-work relationship; it is not presented as a Rochester birthplace claim.

Sources
University of Minnesota School of Dentistry: Collins brings personality to orthodontia with viral Braces Guy TikTok account (OFFICIAL INSTITUTION)

Read Grant Collins’s detailed profile

Music · Evidence: established

Yung Gravy

Born and raised in Rochester

Rapper and songwriter whose recordings gained a large online audience.

City relationship: Independent Minnesota reporting identifies Rochester as Yung Gravy's birthplace and upbringing community.
Boundary: This is an origin record, separate from any later residence or professional base.

Sources
AllMusic: Yung Gravy biography (INDEPENDENT PROFESSIONAL)
Minnesota Star Tribune: Review: Poppy Minnesota rapper Yung Gravy is all fluff at fair grandstand (INDEPENDENT)

Read Yung Gravy’s detailed profile

Sports · Evidence: established

Bethanie Mattek-Sands

Born in Rochester; began playing tennis there

Olympic gold medalist and multiple Grand Slam doubles champion.

City relationship: WTA lists Rochester as Mattek-Sands's birthplace; USTA Northern records that she began playing tennis there.
Boundary: The record separates Rochester birth and early tennis from her later hometown/base.

Sources
WTA: Bethanie Mattek-Sands (OFFICIAL SPORTS ORGANIZATION)
USTA Northern: USTA Northern 2017 Yearbook (OFFICIAL SPORTS ORGANIZATION)

Medicine and public health · Evidence: established

Charles H. Mayo

Born and raised in Rochester

Surgeon and co-founder of the medical group that became Mayo Clinic.

City relationship: Mayo Clinic History & Heritage records Charles Mayo's Rochester birth and documents that he grew up in southeastern Minnesota in the family medical practice.
Boundary: The relationship is early life and formative medical work, not merely later employment.

Sources
Mayo Clinic History & Heritage: This Month in Our History (OFFICIAL INSTITUTION)
Mayo Clinic History & Heritage: Mayo Clinic Values book (OFFICIAL INSTITUTION)

Medicine and public health · Evidence: established

William J. Mayo

Raised in Rochester from early childhood

Surgeon and co-founder of the medical group that became Mayo Clinic.

City relationship: Mayo Clinic History & Heritage records that William Mayo moved with his family to Rochester as a young child and later joined the family practice there.
Boundary: William Mayo was born in Le Sueur, Minnesota; Rochester is his childhood, formative and early professional community.

Sources
Mayo Clinic History & Heritage: This Month in Our History (OFFICIAL INSTITUTION)
Mayo Clinic History & Heritage: My Brother and I discussion guide (OFFICIAL INSTITUTION)

Comedy, film and television · Evidence: established

Johnny Pemberton

Born and raised in Rochester

Comedian and actor with stage, television and film work.

City relationship: First Avenue's artist biography records that Pemberton was born and raised in Rochester; Minnesota Monthly independently identifies him as a Rochester native.
Boundary: The relationship is origin/upbringing, not a claim about current residence.

Sources
First Avenue: Johnny Pemberton (INSTITUTIONAL ARTIST BIOGRAPHY)

Sports · Evidence: established

Marcus Sherels

Rochester native; John Marshall graduate

NFL defensive back and return specialist for the Minnesota Vikings.

City relationship: The Vikings identify Sherels as a Rochester native and John Marshall High School graduate.
Boundary: This is a hometown and school record, separate from later professional location.

Sources
Minnesota Vikings: Marcus Sherels happy to stay home in Minnesota (OFFICIAL PROFESSIONAL TEAM)

Film and television · Evidence: established

Lea Thompson

Born in Rochester

Actor and director known for Back to the Future and Caroline in the City.

City relationship: Independent biographical sources document Thompson's Rochester birthplace and later Minneapolis high-school years.
Boundary: Rochester is the birthplace; her later Minneapolis school relationship is not relabeled as Rochester upbringing.

Sources
TV Insider: Lea Thompson (INDEPENDENT)

Read Lea Thompson’s detailed profile

Method and limitations

This is a bounded public-source directory, not a census of everyone connected to Rochester. A person may appear in both this city resource and a broader Greater Minnesota directory while retaining one canonical identity. Conflicting or weakly supported candidates remain outside the public roster.

Last reviewed September 21, 2026.