42.3449° N, 71.0753° W

BOSTON

Most Famous People Born in Boston, United States

Notable people
3,663
Peak decade
1950s
Median birth year
1926
Most distinctive
Novelist 3.5×

America's oldest civic intelligentsia. Boston's notables are unusually concentrated in the 1700s and 1800s by American standards, and the distinctive shelves still read like a Yankee almanac — novelists, lawyers, military officers, mathematicians, and diplomats, the trades of a city where Harvard, the State House, and the Old North Church share a few square miles. The modern half tilts more conventionally toward Red Sox baseball, actors, and a deep college-bred music scene.

Through the Decades

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

Notable Births by Decade

Click a decade to filter the list below. Peak: 1950s with 348 notable births.

What Boston Is Known For

Click any row to filter the list of people below.

Actor is Boston's biggest profession — 9% of all notables (314).

Boston over-indexes on novelist3.5× the global rate.

Boston under-produces football — only 0.2× the global rate.

  1. Actor314
  2. Politician312
  3. Writer149
  4. Lawyer135
  5. Baseball110
  6. Painter106
  7. Music102
  8. Football87
  1. Novelist503.5×
  2. Baseball1102.6×
  3. Officer632.6×
  4. Mathematician452.5×
  5. Lawyer1352.1×
  6. Music1021.9×
  7. Diplomat371.7×
  8. Actor3141.6×
  1. Football870.2×

Profession Mix Over Time

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

16501700175018001850190019502000
  • Politics & Law
  • Sports
  • Writing
  • Film & TV
  • Science
  • Music
  • Other
All3,663
Sort By

Showing 125 of 3,663 notable people

0025 ARCHITECT

Louis Sullivan

1856 - 1924

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0038 ASTRONOMER

Percival Lowell

1855 - 1916

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0053 POLITICIAN

Henry Cabot Lodge

1850 - 1924

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0225 PAINTER

Albert Henry Munsell

1858 - 1918

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0226 ASTRONOMER

William Henry Pickering

1858 - 1938

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0284 PAINTER

Thomas Dewing

1851 - 1938

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0299 POLITICIAN

P. J. Kennedy

1858 - 1929

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0335 ACADEMIC

A. Lawrence Lowell

1856 - 1943

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0382 CHEF

Fannie Farmer

1857 - 1915

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0397 PAINTER

Charles Sprague Pearce

1851 - 1914

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0402 PALAEONTOLOGIST

Samuel Wendell Williston

1851 - 1918

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0429 SERIAL KILLER

Jane Toppan

1854 - 1938

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0443 POLITICIAN

George von Lengerke Meyer

1858 - 1918

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0456 ORNITHOLOGIST

Charles B. Cory

1857 - 1921

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0467 PAINTER

Walter Gay

1856 - 1937

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0498 BUSINESS

Thomas W. Lawson (businessman)

1857 - 1925

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0506 PSYCHIATRIST

Morton Prince

1854 - 1929

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0553 SERIAL KILLER

Jesse Pomeroy

1859 - 1932

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0559 WRITER

Laura E. Richards

1850 - 1943

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0649 MATHEMATICIAN

William Edward Story

1850 - 1930

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0669 HISTORIAN

J. Franklin Jameson

1859 - 1937

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0705 ACTOR

Nathaniel Carl Goodwin

1857 - 1919

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0734 LAWYER

Samuel D. Warren

1852 - 1910

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0836 PAINTER

Ralph Wormeley Curtis

1854 - 1922

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0913 JOURNALIST

Clarence W. Barron

1855 - 1928

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0931 PLAYWRIGHT

Mary Shaw (actress)

1854 - 1929

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0947 TRANSLATOR

Isabel Florence Hapgood

1851 - 1928

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0999 COLLECTOR

William Sturgis Bigelow

1850 - 1926

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1073 PHYSICIAN

George Adams Leland

1850 - 1924

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1092 PHOTOGRAPHER

Sarah J. Eddy

1851 - 1945

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1142 POLITICIAN

Thomas J. Geary

1854 - 1929

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1159 ANTHROPOLOGIST

Arthur Frothingham

1859 - 1923

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1179 AUTHOR

William Roscoe Thayer

1859 - 1923

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1203 LAWYER

James G. Maguire

1853 - 1920

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1224 SCULPTOR

Karl Gerhardt

1853 - 1940

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1238 ACADEMIC

Barrett Wendell

1855 - 1921

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1250 ACTOR

Marie Jansen

1857 - 1914

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1258 LAWYER

Henry Sherman Boutell

1856 - 1926

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1259 SINGER

Ada Adini

1855 - 1924

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1288 ACTOR

Henry E. Dixey

1859 - 1943

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1315 ANTHROPOLOGIST

Edward Robinson (curator)

1858 - 1931

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1327 LIBRARIAN

Charles Evans (librarian)

1850 - 1935

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1356 METEOROLOGIST

Edward Everett Hayden

1858 - 1932

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1403 LAWYER

Robert O. Harris

1854 - 1926

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1408 POLITICIAN

Charles F. Sprague

1857 - 1902

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1450 ARCHITECT

John Calvin Stevens

1855 - 1940

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1477 POLITICIAN

Martin Lomasney

1859 - 1933

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1497 LAWYER

Francis Cabot Lowell (judge)

1855 - 1911

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1555 SURGEON

George Howard Monks

1853 - 1933

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1560 DERMATOLOGIST

John T. Bowen

1857 - 1940

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1568 WRITER

Maud Howe Elliott

1854 - 1948

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1569 LAWYER

Robert Grant (novelist)

1852 - 1940

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1625 PRIEST

William Lawrence (bishop)

1850 - 1941

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1631 HISTORIAN

Adeline Pond Adams

1859 - 1948

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1640 LAWYER

Miles Crowley

1859 - 1921

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1701 SONGWRITER

Anna Adams Gordon

1853 - 1931

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1751 SHOOTER

Arthur Corbin Gould

1850 - 1903

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1804 ACTOR

Edward Warren

1856 - 1930

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1859 BASEBALL

Alex McKinnon (baseball)

1856 - 1887

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1922 BUSINESS

Frederick Gilbert Bourne

1851 - 1919

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1960 EDUCATOR

Charles Daniel Tenney

1857 - 1930

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1962 POLITICIAN

Peter E. Costello

1854 - 1935

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1965 JOURNALIST

C. Allen Thorndike Rice

1851 - 1889

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2194 LAWYER

Lelia J. Robinson

1850 - 1891

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2208 BASEBALL

John Morrill

1855 - 1932

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2226 BOXING

Tom O'Rourke (boxing manager)

1856 - 1936

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2272 POLITICIAN

Nathan Matthews Jr.

1854 - 1927

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2296 COMPOSER

Woolson Morse

1858 - 1897

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2320 LIBRARIAN

Clement Walker Andrews

1858 - 1930

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2321 TRADE UNION

Mary Morton Kehew

1859 - 1918

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2326 BASEBALL

Jimmy Macullar

1855 - 1924

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2362 NOVELIST

Mary Catherine Crowley

1856 - 1920

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2390 ARCHITECT

George F. Hammond

1855 - 1938

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2419 TRANSLATOR

Mary Ella Waller

1855 - 1938

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2460 BASEBALL

Gid Gardner

1859 - 1914

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2463 BASEBALL

Bill McGunnigle

1855 - 1899

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2502 NAVY

Alexander Bradley

1851 - 1925

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2594 GOLF

Herbert Leeds

1855 - 1930

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2607 MATHEMATICIAN

Webster Wells

1851 - 1916

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2655 INVENTOR

Charles A. Cheever

1852 - 1900

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2667 BASEBALL

Chub Sullivan

1856 - 1881

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2702 NAVAL

Philip Rounsevile Alger

1859 - 1912

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2705 COLLECTOR

Martha Codman Karolik

1858 - 1948

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2839 LAWYER

Herbert Parker (Massachusetts politician)

1856 - 1939

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2892 NAVY

James Horton (Medal of Honor)

Born 1850

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2897 PHILOLOGIST

Charles Pomeroy Parker

1852 - 1916

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2900 ANATOMIST

William Fiske Whitney

1850 - 1921

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2907 BASEBALL

Daisy Davis

1858 - 1902

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2946 LAWYER

John R. Murphy

1856 - 1932

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2962 BISHOP

Robert Codman

1859 - 1915

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2965 NAVY

William Sweeney (Medal of Honor)

Born 1856

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2978 WORKER

Charles Franklin Sparrell

1852 - 1934

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3018 BASEBALL

Dan Cronin (baseball)

1857 - 1885

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3032 NAVY

Michael Connolly (Medal of Honor)

Born 1855

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3049 PUBLISHER

Austin E. Ford

1857 - 1896

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3073 NAVY

William Sadler (Medal of Honor)

Born 1854

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3099 BURGLAR

Billy Porter (criminal)

Born 1850

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3100 BASEBALL

Dupee Shaw

1859 - 1938

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3108 BASEBALL

Steve Dignan

1859 - 1881

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3137 BASEBALL

Bill Tierney (baseball)

1858 - 1898

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3138 DENTIST

William Herbert Rollins

1852 - 1929

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3191 LAWYER

Owen A. Galvin

1852 - 1897

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3306 LECTURER

Xenos Young Clark

1855 - 1889

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3308 MILITAR

Freeman Gill

1851 - 1905

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3320 ACTOR

Herbert Ayling

Born 1853

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3321 POLITICIAN

Charles E. Harwood

1851 - 1924

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3372 BASEBALL

Ed Callahan (baseball)

1857 - 1947

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3382 BASEBALL

Jim Ward (baseball)

1855 - 1886

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3404 BASEBALL

Clarence Dow

1854 - 1893

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3416 POLITICIAN

Henry O. Fairbanks

Born 1852

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3417 BASEBALL

Jerry Sweeney

1857 - 1891

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3425 PHILANTHROPIST

Benjamin Welles

1857 - 1935

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3480 ASTRONOMER

John Rayner Edmands

1850 - 1910

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3488 BASEBALL

George Fair

1856 - 1939

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3502 POLITICAL

George H. Lyman

1850 - 1945

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3516 BUSINESS

Nathaniel Thayer III

1851 - 1911

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3518 POLO

John Elliot Cowdin

1858 - 1941

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3532 BASEBALL

John Bergh

1857 - 1883

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3559 POLITICIAN

Alvin F. Sortwell

1854 - 1910

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3582 FOOTBALL

Walter Irving Badger

1859 - 1926

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3586 BASEBALL

Denny Sullivan (third baseman)

1858 - 1925

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3634 GUERRILLA

Lewis J. Ingalls

1857 - 1913

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3637 PAINTER

Sarah Gooll Putnam

1851 - 1912

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3644 BASEBALL

James Sumner (baseball)

1851 - 1881

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3650 PAINTER

Susan Hinckley Bradley

1851 - 1929

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