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.
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 novelist — 3.5× the global rate.
Boston under-produces football — only 0.2× the global rate.
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.
- Politics & Law
- Sports
- Writing
- Film & TV
- Science
- Music
- Other
Frederick G. Katzmann
1875 - 1953
Philip Rounsevile Alger
1859 - 1912
Marianne Monson
Born 1975
Chris Flores (basketball)
Born 1990
Martha Codman Karolik
1858 - 1948
Virginia Walker
1916 - 1946
Thomas G. Kelley
Born 1939
Robert Treat Paine Storer
1893 - 1962
Robert Emmons
1872 - 1928
Sidney Sugarman
1904 - 1974
Daniel Harkins
1836 - 1902
Thomas Coffin (pre-confederation Canadian politician)
1762 - 1841
George Fingold
1908 - 1958
Westcott Moulton
1906 - 1983
Will Grant
Born 1954
Louis Kafka
Born 1945
Chris McGurk
Born 1957
John E. Rexine
1929 - 1993
Harry Pattee
1882 - 1971
Elizabeth F. Fisher
1873 - 1941
Anita Florence Hemmings
1872 - 1943
Robert Shaw Oliver
1847 - 1935
Rocky Boyd
Born 1936
Frank Elmer Smith
1864 - 1943
Jacquelyn Piro Donovan
Born 1965
Chris Julian (musician)
Born 1957
Samuel Gay
1755 - 1847
James Duncan Hague
1836 - 1908
Dory Lobel
Born 1980
Michael Kanan
-
Jim McCormick (American football)
1884 - 1959
Charles Flaherty (politician)
Born 1938
Bob DeSimone
Born 1945
Matthew Weigman
Born 1990
John Harrington (baseball)
Born 1930
Edward C. Johnson II
1898 - 1984
Ken Scalabroni
Born 1956
Charles Harding Loring
1828 - 1907
Joachim Pfeufer
Born 1935
David B. Cohen (mayor)
Born 1947
Hector Dion
1880 - 1942
Robert M. Webster
1892 - 1972
Bob Markell
1924 - 2020
Arie L. Kopelman
Born 1938
Maryanne Lewis
Born 1963
Steve Bradley
1975 - 2008
Michael Sands (media)
1945 - 2012
John Trowbridge
1845 - 1923
Beatrice M. Sweeney
1914 - 1989
Jennifer Skiff
Born 1961
Sol Kumin
Born 1975
Charles W. Adams (Confederate general)
1817 - 1878
James Donnelly (baseball)
1867 - 1933
George Twombly
1892 - 1975
Charles W. Turner (Medal of Honor)
1921 - 1950
Draper Hill
1935 - 2009
George W. Richardson
1808 - 1886
Paul Rico
1925 - 2004
George Francis McGinnis
1826 - 1910
Alfred Fisher
1942 - 2016
Bob Gullotti
1949 - 2020
Joshua Hall Bates
1817 - 1908
Turner Cody
Born 1980
Chris Keating
Born 1957
John J. McGinty III
1940 - 2014
Henry A. Homes
1812 - 1887
Mimi Chan
-
Stephen Silas
Born 1973
Edith Grace White
1890 - 1975
George Ferguson (actor)
1890 - 1961
Francis Kelly (Medal of Honor)
1860 - 1938
Murray Mencher
1898 - 1991
J. B. S. Jackson
1806 - 1879
John LoVetere
1936 - 2012
Sam Reich
Born 1984
George A. Hibbard
1864 - 1910
Herbert K. Job
1864 - 1933
Deborah Martin
Born 1961
Louise Gunning
1879 - 1960
Fred Newman (baseball)
1942 - 1987
Kevin Mackey
Born 1946
Laurence Boschetto
Born 1954
James Colt
1932 - 2008
Bob Margarita
1920 - 2008
Bill Byrne (athletic director)
-
Leonora Bilger
1893 - 1975
Daniel A. Whelton
1872 - 1953
Frederick C. Anderson
1842 - 1882
Ethan Vogt
Born 1974
Bryan McPherson
Born 1978
Franklin Story Conant
1870 - 1897
Abraham Wickelgren
Born 1969
Richard Wayne Bogosian
Born 1937
Lew Perkins
Born 1945
Anna Von Mertens
Born 1973
Roxana Vivian
1871 - 1961
David Weinberg
Born 1952
Gertrude Nason
1890 - 1969
Linton Brooks
Born 1938
Lorraine Hanlon
Born 1946
Frederick Field Bullard
1864 - 1904
Wadsworth Harris
1864 - 1942
Marjorie Clapprood
Born 1949
Gregory K. Orme
Born 1953
Roger Ellis
1938 - 1977
Elizabeth Brater
Born 1951
Margaret Mills
Born 1946
Denyse Woods
Born 1958
Charlemaine
Born 1967
Dick King (American football)
1895 - 1930
Darius Bazley
Born 2000
James Sturgis Pray
1871 - 1929
John Larkin (Deacon of Charlestown)
1735 - 1807
Wally Peterson
1917 - 2011
Eleanor Ruggles
1916 - 2008
Al Morganti
-
Dukes Dalton
-
Samuel Cooper Thacher
1785 - 1818
Matt the Knife
Born 1981
Deni Gordon
-
John Terelak
Born 1942
Joyce Wein
1928 - 2005
Barbara Burlingame
Born 1950
Paul Martin Zonn
1938 - 2000
Henry W. Prescott
1874 - 1943
Kempster Blanchard Miller
1870 - 1933
Michael J. Perkins
1899 - 1918
Aldridge Bousfield
1941 - 2020
Casey Walters
1916 - 1991
Peter Bynoe
Born 1951
John Copp
1673 - 1751
Francis H. Woodward
Born 1939
Mary Myers
1849 - 1932
Harvey Rosenfield
Born 1952
John D. Harvey
Born 1968
Peter Brown (ice hockey)
Born 1954
Keith Dunn (musician)
-
William P. Driscoll
Born 1947
Herbert Parker (Massachusetts politician)
1856 - 1939
Tamara W. Ashford
Born 1968
David J. Smith (author)
-
Breyan Isaac
Born 1980
James Seanor
Born 1833
Edith Sigourney
1895 - 1982
Sam Gentile
1916 - 1998
Edward Billings Ham
1902 - 1965
Michael Cohen (doctor)
1937 - 2018
Henry Paul Talbot
1864 - 1927
Sanford Bates
1884 - 1982
Javier Ortiz (outfielder)
Born 1963
Bill Anderson (1920s pitcher)
1895 - 1983
Alexander Watson (diplomat)
Born 1939
Matthew Sherman
1827 - 1898
Tom Lampert
Born 1962
Arthur Veinott
1934 - 2012
Arthur L. Andrews
1934 - 1996
Jim Miceli
1935 - 2018
Fudge Mabeta
Born 1987
Walter Deane
1848 - 1930
John Corbett (coach)
1869 - 1947
Frank A. Brown
1876 - 1962
John Tye (whistleblower)
Born 1976
James Francis Lynch
1942 - 1998
Dan Simonds
Born 1965
Theodore W. Palmer
Born 1935
Francis Roache
Died 2018
Jim Coburn
Born 1944
Paul F. Evans
-
Dan Callahan
Born 1970
Jay Ruderman
Born 1966
Theodore L. Eliot Jr.
1928 - 2019
Andrea Robbins
Born 1963
Harriet Elam-Thomas
Born 1941
Samuel Cabot Jr.
1784 - 1863
Charlotte von Graffenried
1930 - 2013
Julie Belaga
Born 1930
Pasquale Caggiano
1909 - 1972
Vedah Bertram
1891 - 1912
Herman Young
1886 - 1966
Jimmy Newquist
Born 1970
Mike Slattery (baseball)
1866 - 1904
Steve DiSalvo
Born 1949
Thomas C. Wales
1952 - 2001
Marco Giovino
-
Topper Carew
Born 1943
John Keefe (actor)
Born 1979
Bert Waters
1871 - 1930
Hugh Cabot III
1930 - 2005
Jon Lowenstein
Born 1970
Richard Dennis (Medal of Honor)
1826 - 1889
Miss Lasko-Gross
Born 1977
James Horton (Medal of Honor)
Born 1850
Eric Doob
-
Ruth Bancroft
1908 - 2017
The Pink Assassin
-
Edwin M. Eigner
Born 1931
Charles Pomeroy Parker
1852 - 1916
Robert J. Shillman
Born 1946
Mae Gaston
1885 - 1965
William Fiske Whitney
1850 - 1921
Frank Cousins (American politician)
Born 1958
John Coffin Jones Jr.
1796 - 1861
Karen Shire
Born 1959
Alonzo Edwin Branch
1874 - 1925
Alice Wellington Rollins
1847 - 1897
Jack Palladino
Born 1950
Daisy Davis
1858 - 1902
Rob Schneiderman
Born 1957
Louise Lorimer
1898 - 1995
Bettina Freeman
Born 1889
Denis P. Galvin
Born 1938
Richard McNamara
1915 - 1998
Greg Selkoe
Born 1975
Susan Tracy
Born 1960
Edward Gardiner
1825 - 1859
Joe Cocuzzo
1937 - 2008
Harold McDevitt
Born 1885
Peter Luukko
Born 1959
Al Lee
Born 1893
Charles R. Apted
1873 - 1941
Menzies Dickson
1840 - 1891
Adolphus W. Green
1844 - 1917
Millard H. Alexander
Born 1943
Bob DeBesse
Born 1959
Frederick T. Moore Jr.
1914 - 1969
William Lobkowicz
Born 1961
William Troy
1848 - 1907
David Linsky
Born 1957
Rob Bargad
Born 1962
Michael G. Bellotti
Born 1963
Jim Sullivan (1890s pitcher)
1867 - 1901
Sashi Brown
Born 1976
Charles C. McLaughlin
1929 - 2005
Christopher Lydon
Born 1940
Tony Rumble
1956 - 1999
Daniel Koh
Born 1985
Peter Larkin (Filmarchitekt)
1926 - 2019
Nancy O'Meara
-
Joe Grand
Born 1975
Eliza Townsend
1788 - 1854
Jessie Small
Born 1966
Maurice Tarplin
1911 - 1975
Franklin Seaver Pratt
1829 - 1894
Rick Sapienza
Born 1936
Kevin Cullen
Born 1959
John R. Murphy
1856 - 1932
Paul Howard (baseball)
1884 - 1968
Albert J. Simone
Born 1935
Miah Murray
1865 - 1922
Caroline Sturgis Tappan
1818 - 1888
William Joy (American football)
1888 - 1969
Bill Flynn (Eishockeyspieler)
Born 1950
Matthew Kepnes
Born 1981
David Barstow
Born 1963
Derick K. Grant
Born 1973
David Merkow
Born 1985
Prince Charles Alexander
Born 1958
Jessie Chris
Born 1998
Brian P. Burns
Born 1936
Esteban Carpio
Born 1978
Leroy Vail
1940 - 1999
Robert Codman
1859 - 1915
Erik Betts
Born 1967
Jay Blotcher
Born 1960
William Sweeney (Medal of Honor)
Born 1856
Nancy Worden
Born 1954
Jesse Freidin
Born 1981
Mary Fraser Wesselhoeft
1873 - 1971
Jim Hunter (baseball)
Born 1964
Edward Brodney
1910 - 2002
David E. Harrison
Born 1933
A. Brooks Harris
Born 1935
Joseph Kahn (journalist)
Born 1964
John E. Powers
1910 - 1998
Frances Sweeney
1908 - 1944
Bob Tzudiker
Born 1953
Edgar Allen Poe Newcomb
1846 - 1923
Charles Franklin Sparrell
1852 - 1934
Sarah Birch
Born 1963
Omega Red (rapper)
Born 1978
William J. A. Bailey
1884 - 1949
Bill Cooney
1883 - 1928
Judith Goslin Hall
Born 1939
Patrick Sweeney (entrepreneur)
Born 1970
Richard Dunleavy
Born 1933
Melvin Swig
1917 - 1993
Dick Cunningham (American football)
Born 1944
James Dana (mayor)
1811 - 1890
Carla DeSantis Black
Born 1958
Roger W. Cutler Jr.
1916 - 1986
Matt Leisy
-
Mary Z. Connaughton
Born 1960
Hank Garrity (baseball)
1908 - 1962
Moody Sarno
1914 - 1997
Shelly Rusten
Born 1938
Aaron Kelton
Born 1974
Henry Barber (rock climber)
Born 1953
Tom Raftery (baseball)
1881 - 1954
William B. N. Berry
Born 1931
James Adams (Massachusetts politician)
1810 - 1880