39.2868° N, 76.6201° W

BALTIMORE

Most Famous People Born in Baltimore, United States

Notable people
2,329
Peak decade
1950s
Median birth year
1939
Most distinctive
Baseball 7.0×

A port city whose distinctive professions are baseball at seven times the global rate, basketball, and an unusually thick column of officers, novelists, and lawyers — the shape of a Mid-Atlantic city that has always sat at the meeting point of the Navy yard, the courts, and the literary establishment. Frank Zappa, Babe Ruth, Michael Phelps, and Edgar Allan Poe (who died here, not born) all belong to this bench, and the 19th-century tail is heavier than in most American cities its size.

Through the Decades

One face per decade — the most globally famous figure born in Baltimore during each.

Notable Births by Decade

Click a decade to filter the list below. Peak: 1950s with 245 notable births.

What Baltimore Is Known For

Click any row to filter the list of people below.

Politician is Baltimore's biggest profession — 11% of all notables (255).

Baltimore over-indexes on baseball7.0× the global rate.

Baltimore under-produces painter — only 0.6× the global rate.

  1. Politician255
  2. Actor189
  3. Baseball186
  4. Football149
  5. Basket102
  6. Lawyer88
  7. Writer66
  8. Music54
  1. Baseball1867.0×
  2. Basket1023.5×
  3. Officer422.7×
  4. Novelist232.5×
  5. Lawyer882.2×
  6. Music541.6×
  7. Actor1891.5×
  1. Painter350.6×
  2. Football1490.6×

Profession Mix Over Time

Each band shows a profession family's share of Baltimore's notable births by decade. Hover the chart for the breakdown at any decade.

1700175018001850190019502000
  • Sports
  • Politics & Law
  • Film & TV
  • Writing
  • Science
  • Music
  • Other
All2,329
Sort By

Showing 20 of 2,329 notable people

0110 OFFICER

Franklin Buchanan

1800 - 1874

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0201 PHYSICIAN

Philippe Ricord

1800 - 1889

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0578 WRITER

George Henry Calvert

1803 - 1889

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0605 POLITICIAN

Jacob Broom (congressman)

1808 - 1864

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0618 POLITICIAN

David T. Disney

1803 - 1857

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0664 LAWYER

Brantz Mayer

1809 - 1879

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0738 POLITICIAN

Thomas Yates Walsh

1809 - 1865

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0779 POLITICIAN

David Stewart (Maryland politician)

1800 - 1858

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0870 LAWYER

James Barroll Ricaud

1808 - 1866

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0930 OFFICER

William Maxwell Wood

1809 - 1880

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0970 JUDGE

Neilson Poe

1809 - 1884

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1056 PRIEST

Richard Vincent Whelan

1809 - 1874

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1275 CLERGY

William Henry Campbell (college president)

1808 - 1890

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1464 ACTOR

Cornelius Ambrosius Logan

1806 - 1853

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1572 POLITICIAN

Bryan Mullanphy

1809 - 1851

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1928 BUSINESS

William C. Goodridge

1806 - 1873

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2003 MILITAR

Henry Shutes

1804 - 1889

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2096 ABOLITIONIST

William Douglass (abolitionist)

1804 - 1862

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2293 MILITAR

Amon B. King

1807 - 1836

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2310 LAWYER

George M. Gill

1803 - 1887

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