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
Officer42
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Showing 42 of 2,329 notable people

0034 OFFICER

Raymond A. Spruance

1886 - 1969

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0110 OFFICER

Franklin Buchanan

1800 - 1874

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0288 OFFICER

William H. French

1815 - 1881

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0415 OFFICER

Nathaniel Fick

Born 1977

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0560 OFFICER

Robert C. Buchanan

1811 - 1878

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0575 OFFICER

John Joseph Abercrombie

1798 - 1877

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0678 OFFICER

Andrew Sterett

1778 - 1807

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0768 OFFICER

Benjamin F. Sands

1811 - 1883

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0776 OFFICER

Joshua Barney

1759 - 1818

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0785 OFFICER

Wesley A. Brown

1927 - 2012

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0786 OFFICER

James Lowry Donaldson

1814 - 1885

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0878 OFFICER

John C. Inglis

Born 1954

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0909 OFFICER

Walter Fillmore

1933 - 2017

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0930 OFFICER

William Maxwell Wood

1809 - 1880

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1038 OFFICER

John Reese Kenly

1818 - 1891

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1082 OFFICER

Herbert D. Riley

1904 - 1973

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1135 OFFICER

Edward Orrick McDonnell

1891 - 1960

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1245 OFFICER

Francis Warrington Gillet

1895 - 1969

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1461 OFFICER

Horatio Gates Gibson

1827 - 1924

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1505 OFFICER

Yates Stirling

1843 - 1929

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1514 OFFICER

Edward Donaldson

1816 - 1889

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1522 OFFICER

William L. Kenly

1865 - 1928

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1526 OFFICER

Charles Hammann

1892 - 1919

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1567 OFFICER

Edward Lea

1837 - 1863

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1599 OFFICER

Milton Ernest Ricketts

1913 - 1942

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1601 OFFICER

Levin Major Lewis

1832 - 1866

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1636 OFFICER

Michael J. Williams

Born 1943

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1662 OFFICER

Richard P. Leary

1842 - 1901

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1703 OFFICER

Sean Stackley

Born 1957

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1782 OFFICER

John S. Walmsley Jr.

1920 - 1951

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1803 OFFICER

Joseph D. Stewart

1942 - 2019

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1949 OFFICER

John C. Harvey Jr.

Born 1951

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1992 OFFICER

Henry G. Chiles Jr.

Born 1938

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2036 OFFICER

William H. Brockman Jr.

1904 - 1979

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2040 OFFICER

William O. Eareckson

1900 - 1966

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2128 OFFICER

Charles P. Nelson

1877 - 1935

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2139 OFFICER

E. K. Jett

1893 - 1965

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2144 OFFICER

Harry Hubbard

1903 - 1942

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2157 OFFICER

Henry De Butts

-

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2178 OFFICER

John A. Baldwin Jr.

Born 1933

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2188 OFFICER

James G. Howes

Born 1945

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2307 OFFICER

Herman G. Tillman Jr.

1922 - 2012

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