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.
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 baseball — 7.0× the global rate.
Baltimore under-produces painter — only 0.6× the global rate.
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.
- Sports
- Politics & Law
- Film & TV
- Writing
- Science
- Music
- Other
- Field: Writer Clear ×
Tom Clancy
1947 - 2013
Upton Sinclair
1878 - 1968
Dashiell Hammett
1894 - 1961
Ta-Nehisi Coates
Born 1975
Leon Uris
1924 - 2003
Tom Peters
Born 1942
Joni Eareckson Tada
Born 1949
Munro Leaf
1905 - 1976
Virginia Eliza Clemm Poe
1822 - 1847
Carole Boston Weatherford
Born 1956
Ruth Krauss
1901 - 1993
David Lasser
1902 - 1996
Donald L. Coburn
Born 1938
Milbourne Christopher
1914 - 1984
Marc Olden
1933 - 2003
Avigdor Miller
1908 - 2001
Anne Royall
1769 - 1854
Adelle Waldman
Born 1977
Robert Tralins
1926 - 2010
Mike McQuay
1949 - 1995
Amy Ella Blanchard
1856 - 1926
George Henry Calvert
1803 - 1889
Mark Monmonier
Born 1943
Francis Hopkinson Smith
1838 - 1915
Charles Belfoure
Born 1954
Mary Claire Helldorfer
Born 1954
Aaron Becker
Born 1974
William Levy (author)
1939 - 2019
Steve Miller (science fiction writer)
Born 1950
Calvert Casey
1924 - 1969
George Henry Miles
1824 - 1871
Karen Hesse
Born 1952
Maxwell Struthers Burt
1882 - 1954
Phillip Sandifer
Born 1959
Tony Evans (radio)
Born 1949
Ellen MacGregor
1906 - 1954
Joseph Monninger
Born 1953
Sidney Offit
Born 1928
Elizabeth Foreman Lewis
1892 - 1958
Nan Agle
1905 - 2006
E. Merrill Root
1895 - 1973
Laurel Snyder
Born 1974
pattrice jones
Born 1961
Hilda Lawrence
1906 - 1976
William Bowen (author)
1877 - 1937
Angelica Gibbs
1908 - 1955
Jeff Strand
Born 1970
Bettina Judd
-
Kevin C. Fitzpatrick
Born 1966
Leonard Rosen
Born 1954
Minnie S. Davis
1835 - 1927
Maynard Shipley
1872 - 1934
Peter Baida
1950 - 1999
Felicia Pride
Born 1979
Mary Spear Nicholas Tiernan
1835 - 1891
Harriette Cole
Born 1961
David M. Hoffman
Born 1945
Jack Iams
1910 - 1990
Louie Verrecchio
Born 1961
Joe Brooks (fly fisherman)
1901 - 1972
Katherine Butler Hathaway
1890 - 1942
John Shields (chef)
Born 1951
Matthew E. May
-
Louis S. Diggs
Born 1932
Kathryn Troutman
Born 1947
Chris Eliasen
Born 1971