# List of converts to Buddhism from Christianity

This is a list of notable converts to Buddhism from Christianity.
* Roberto Baggio
* Pema Chödrön
* Steve Jobs
| Name | Former denomination | Nationality | Notes |
| Nyanatiloka Mahathera (Anton Walther Florus Gueth) | Catholic Church | German | one of the earliest western Buddhist monks and founder of Island Hermitage |
| Anthony Lee | Baptist | American | actor and activist |
| Ananda Metteya (Charles Henry Allan Bennett) | Catholic Church | British | one of the earliest western Buddhist monk and established the first Buddhist Mission in the United Kingdom |
| Chris Evans | Catholic Church | American | actor and producer |
| Thomas William Rhys Davids | Congregationalism | British | scholar of the Pāli language and founder of Pali Text Society |
| Colonel Henry Steel Olcott | Presbyterianism | American | military officer, lawyer and first well-known American to make a formal conversion to Buddhism |
| Lokanatha (Salvatore Cioffi) | Catholic Church | Italian | Theravadin Buddhist missionary monk |
| Roberto Baggio | Catholic Church | Italian | footballer |
| Kotahene Soma Maha Thera | Catholic Church | Sri Lankan | Theravadin Buddhist monk, translator and missionary |
| Aliana Lohan | Catholic Church | American | actress, singer and fashion model |
| Alanis Morissette | Catholic Church | American | singer-songwriter and musician |
| Solomon Bandaranaike | Anglicanism | Sri Lankan | former Prime Minister of Sri Lanka and founder of Sri Lanka Freedom Party |
| Dewi Lestari | Catholic Church | Indonesian | writer, singer-songwriter |
| Prince Esper Esperovich Ukhtomsky | Russian Orthodox Church | Russian | poet, publisher and Oriental enthusiast |
| Helena Blavatsky | Russian Orthodox Church | Russian | philosopher, occultist, founder of the Theosophical Society |
| Richard Tiffany Gere | Methodism | American | Famous actor and producer, co-founder of Tibet House US |
| Jimmy Barnes | Protestantism | Australian | Singer and rapper |
| Orlando Bloom | Church of England | English | Famous actor and leading man in Hollywood films |
| Ajahn Sumedho (Robert Karr Jackman) | Episcopal Church (United States) | American | the one who introduced Thai Forest Tradition to the West and most senior western disciple of Ajahn Chah |
| Ajahn Viradhammo (Vitauts Akers) | Lutheranism | Canadian | senior western disciple of Ajahn Chah, founder & abbot of Tisarana Buddhist Monastery |
| Ajahn Brahm | Not specific | English | senior western disciple of Ajahn Chah and abbot of Bodhinyana Monastery |
| Ajahn Candasiri | Not specific | Scottish | Theravada Buddhist nun of Thai Forest Tradition and one of the senior monastics in western Buddhist circle |
| Ayya Nirodha (Elizabeth Gorski) | Catholic Church | Austrian, later Australian | Theravada Buddhist nun of Thai Forest Tradition, former Abbess of Santi Forest Monastery |
| Tara Brach | Unitarianism | American | psychologist and founder of the Insight Meditation Community of Washington, D.C. (IMCW) |
| Belinda Carlisle | Southern Baptist Convention | American | singer (the Go-Go's), songwriter |
| Houn Jiyu-Kennett | Church of England | English | Soto Zen rōshi and founder of Shasta Abbey |
| John Daido Loori | Catholic Church | American | Zen Buddhist rōshi, abbot of Zen Mountain Monastery |
| Ananda Claude Dalenberg | Dutch Reformed Church | American | Zen priest ordained by Shunryū Suzuki |
| Michael D. ("Mugaku") Zimmerman | Episcopal Church (United States) | American | prominent attorney and former justice of the Utah Supreme Court |
| William Oliver Stone | Episcopal Church (United States) | American | film director, producer, and screenwriter |
| Pema Chödrön | Catholic Church | American | Tibetan Buddhist nun |
| Fabian Fucan | Catholic Church (Society of Jesus) | Japanese | writer of tracts, at first supporting Christianity and then criticizing it |
| Ko Ye Lwin | Not specific | Burmese | prominent musician, guitarist and peace activist |
| Alfred Bloom | Evangelicalism | American | professor and dean of the Institute of Buddhist Studies |
| Seungsahn Haengwon | Presbyterianism | Korean | Seon master and the founder of Kwan Um School of Zen |
| Junius Richard Jayewardene | Not specific | Sri Lankan | first President of Sri Lanka and former Prime minister |
| Steve Jobs | Lutheranism | American | co-founder of Apple Computer, Inc. |
| Charles R. Johnson | African Methodist Episcopal Church | American | political cartoonist, novelist and Buddhist writer |
| Dewi Lestari | Pentecostalism | Indonesian | singer and writer |
| Tsai Chih Chung | Catholic Church | Taiwanese | famous cartoonist, well-known in both Taiwan and mainland China |
| Leung Man-tao | Catholic Church | Chinese | writer, critic and host |
| Christine Rankin | Catholic Church | New Zealander | politician and former civil servant who served as head of the Ministry of Social Development |
| Seta Manoukian | Armenian Apostolic Church | Armenian | Armenian painter |
| Tina Turner | Baptist | Swiss | singer and actress |
| Herman Vetterling | Swedenborgianism | American | mystic but he retained elements of Swedenborg thought after his conversion |
| Michael Imperioli | Catholicism | American | actor, writer, director, and musician. |
| Sam Lao | Church of the East | Chinese | Rishi, Dalit Buddhist and New Age Scientist. |