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
Tom Earley
1917 - 1988
Joseph J. Sullivan
1870 - 1949
Allan Angoff
1910 - 1998
Elma Lewis
1921 - 2004
Edward Whitney
Born 1891
Alexandra Chasin
Born 1961
Roger Perdrix
Born 1943
Frederick S. Neilon
1846 - 1916
Lily Halpern
Born 1991
Khari Wynn
Born 1981
John Durham (lawyer)
Born 1950
Maressa Orzack
1924 - 2010
Jonathan Draper
Born 1952
Betsy Hager
1750 - 1843
Claude Davidson
1896 - 1956
Charles Hayden (banker)
1870 - 1937
Gregory Norman Bossert
Born 1962
Dan Cronin (baseball)
1857 - 1885
Joy Covey
1963 - 2013
Gio Dee
Born 1992
John Warren (1874-1928)
1874 - 1928
Richard David Emery
Born 1946
Arthur E. Reimer
1882 - 1969
William Rand (athlete)
1886 - 1981
Arthur H. White
1924 - 2014
Yazmany Arboleda
Born 1981
Bradford Ropes
1905 - 1966
Bob Enos
1947 - 2008
John James Doran
1864 - 1904
Rick Ahearn
Born 1949
John McFarland (Medal of Honor)
1840 - 1881
Michael Connolly (Medal of Honor)
Born 1855
James William Chichetto
Born 1941
Elizabeth Littlefield
-
Robert A. Brooks
1932 - 2000
Algernon Sidney Badger
1839 - 1905
Lawrence Kasanoff
Born 1959
Tony Sparano Jr.
Born 1986
Mike Mahoney (first baseman)
1873 - 1940
Jerry Relph
Born 1944
Benjamin Gerrish
1717 - 1772
Mary Whitwell Hale
1810 - 1862
Richard Frothingham Jr.
1812 - 1880
Evelyn Parnell
1888 - 1939
Joe Pellegrini
Born 1957
Charles A. Phelps
1820 - 1902
Samuel Cabot III
1815 - 1885
Charles Hiller Innes
1870 - 1939
Austin E. Ford
1857 - 1896
Fran Papasedero
1969 - 2003
Ron Perry (basketball, born 1958)
Born 1958
Tyler Morris
Born 1998
Abdul-Malik Abu
Born 1995
Thomas Forbes Cushing
1838 - 1902
Michael Telch
Born 1953
Ellen Banks
Born 1938
Mark Jackson (athletic director)
Born 1972
Michael E. Haynes
1927 - 2019
John Seward Johnson III
Born 1966
Barry Locke
1930 - 2007
Tom Smith (pitcher)
1871 - 1929
Thomas H. Dunham
1840 - 1925
Louis Kelterborn
1891 - 1933
Walter Lonergan
1885 - 1958
Marie Mercury Roth
Died 2020
Wendell Thompson Perkins
1928 - 1997
Ryan Edell
Born 1983
Thomas Harcourt (Medal of Honor)
Born 1841
Seán McKiernan
-
George P. Bemis
1838 - 1916
Walter Whalen
1898 - 1966
James Halligan (American football)
1879 - 1965
William Sadler (Medal of Honor)
Born 1854
Joe Howard (sledge hockey)
Born 1966
Benjamin F. Haines
1876 - 1942
Lillian Cotton
1892 - 1962
Ed Wineapple
1905 - 1996
Daniel Warner (artist)
Born 1974
Shevaun Mizrahi
-
Belle Armstrong Whitney
1861 - 1922
Paul Carey (baseball)
Born 1968
David J. O'Connor
1924 - 2011
D. Leo Daley
1895 - 1979
W. J. Randall
1874 - 1925
Samuel Welles de Lavalette
1834 - 1892
Paul Wahlberg
Born 1964
Vincent Pepi
1926 - 2020
Paulie Gilmore
-
Joe Casey (baseball)
1887 - 1966
Joseph Russo
1931 - 1998
Mortimer J. Buckley
Born 1969
Melissa Gira Grant
Born 1978
Marty Shay
1896 - 1951
Jason Mittell
-
Frank Swart
Born 1961
Shey Peddy
Born 1988
Champ Lyons
Born 1940
Henry J. Daggett
1826 - 1910
Billy Porter (criminal)
Born 1850
Dupee Shaw
1859 - 1938
Jane K. Cleland
-
Anthony J. Carson
1869 - 1943
Allen McCarthy
Born 1970
Peter Brash
Born 1954
Edmund C. Converse
1849 - 1921
Rich Hart
Born 1952
Dan Cotter
1867 - 1935
Steve Dignan
1859 - 1881
John Ferruggio
1925 - 2010
Laurence Cook
Born 1939
Carl Greenberg
1908 - 1984
Gianna Simone
Born 1989
David I. Meiselman
1924 - 2014
Billy O'Dwyer
Born 1960
Kerry Joyce
-
Bill Mills (baseball)
1919 - 2019
Charles Jackson Paine
1833 - 1916
George Dickson
Born 1923
Frederic Vinton (bibliographer)
1817 - 1890
Alice May Bates Rice
1868 - 1907
Peter Cushman Jones
1837 - 1922
Leslie Winer
-
Lloyd Ulyate
1927 - 2004
Donald Foley
1963 - 2011
Jerry Hurley (1890s catcher)
1863 - 1950
Miles Craigwell
Born 1986
Roberta L. Hazard
1934 - 2017
Edward B. Cole
1879 - 1918
Dick Stello
1934 - 1987
Mary Dominis
1803 - 1889
Edward H. Gibson
1872 - 1942
Joseph Mansfield (journalist)
1828 - 1854
Brooke Frieling
Born 1986
Kirk Reeves
1956 - 2012
Francis Patrick O'Connor
1927 - 2007
Myrtle Watkins
1908 - 1968
Bill Tierney (baseball)
1858 - 1898
William Herbert Rollins
1852 - 1929
William Osborn (Medal of Honor)
1837 - 1887
May Chen
Born 1948
Lori Rothman
Born 1973
Bob Durgin
-
James Green (swimmer)
-
Ashkanov Apollon
Born 1991
Edmund E. Anderson
1906 - 1989
Gardner S. Hardee
1842 - 1926
Janaka Stucky
Born 1978
Paul J. Gannon
Born 1960
James Alan Fox
-
Thomas Addis Emmet (bishop)
1873 - 1950
Andrew Lear
Born 1958
Gene Lavanchy
Born 1964
Isaac Bradford
1834 - 1898
Thomas Francis Hickey (general)
1898 - 1983
Frank H. Newcomb
1846 - 1934
Nicholi Rogatkin
Born 1995
Daniel Hurley (American football)
-
Andrea Campbell
Born 1982
John J. Finnegan
Born 1938
William Codman Sturgis
1886 - 1942
Austin Bryant
Born 1996
Harriet Nevins
1841 - 1929
Michael Redstone
1902 - 1987
John Hildebrand
-
Fred I. Parker
1938 - 2003
Gary War
-
Arthur Messinger Comey
1861 - 1933
Charles Yancey
Born 1948
Jordan Rich
-
Kenny Greer
Born 1967
George Harrington
1815 - 1892
Erik Ekroth
1883 - 1954
William F. Sullivan
-
Jamie Turndorf
Born 1958
Katherine Stewart (journalist)
-
Jim Zyntell
1910 - 1992
Proctor L. Dougherty
1873 - 1966
William E. Carney
Born 1878
Joseph A. Langone Jr.
1896 - 1960
David H. Locke
1927 - 2019
Don Mason (baseball)
1944 - 2018
Clay Dreslough
Born 1970
Jim Wallace (baseball)
1881 - 1953
Jonathan Rotenberg
Born 1963
George Kirstein
1909 - 1986
Hattie Williams
1870 - 1942
Oliver O'Brien
1839 - 1894
Beating of Michael Cox
Born 1965
Lukas Biewald
Born 1981
Bertram Ellis
1860 - 1920
Owen A. Galvin
1852 - 1897
George Eustis Sr.
1796 - 1858
Eddie Mottau
-
Henry Lampe
1872 - 1936
Alfred M. Ziegler
Born 1938
Jogger Elcock
1888 - 1964
James Jackson (Massachusetts politician)
Born 1881
Ellen Crosby
Born 1953
Kid Butler (outfielder)
1861 - 1921
William H. G. FitzGerald
1909 - 2006
Jack Leaman
1932 - 2004
Michael Whalley
1953 - 2008
Henry Bostick
1895 - 1968
Charles W. Eldridge
Born 1877
Bob Crocker
1928 - 2018
Joseph Francis Scott
1864 - 1941
Sarah C. Frothingham
1821 - 1861
Francis Ford (judge)
1882 - 1975
Herbert Tuckerman
1921 - 2007
Oliver Fairfield Wadsworth
1838 - 1911
William Davis Merry Howard
1818 - 1856
Sarah-Ann Shaw
-
Douglas Tybor Durig
Born 1961
Blimp Levy
1903 - 1961
Samuel M. Pook
1804 - 1878
Jim Moroney (baseball)
1883 - 1929
Bill McCarthy (baseball)
1886 - 1928
Michael J. Coppola
1942 - 2005
Tom Connolly (third baseman)
1892 - 1966
Brian Marquis
Born 1981
Rene Anselmo
1926 - 1995
Bob Minihane
1938 - 2020
Allie Strobel
1884 - 1955
Chris Deering
Born 1947
Marc Draisen
Born 1956
Thomas Hickling
1745 - 1834
Andy Morse
Born 1958
Charles L. Burrill
1862 - 1931
Sidney Topol
1924 - 2011
A. J. Godbolt
Born 1984
Gus Salve
1885 - 1971
Tam Dinh
Born 1990
Connie Martinson
Born 1932
Robert S. Silberman
Born 1957
John Curran (businessman)
Born 1964
Zoe Yin
Born 2001
George H. Nee
1876 - 1952
Eric Zinman
Born 1963
Clarence "Jeep" Jones
1933 - 2020
Michael Connaire
Born 1968
William B. Turner
1892 - 1918
Pat Hartnett (baseball)
1863 - 1935
Matt King (American football)
Born 1983
Tomás Andrés Mauro Muldoon
Born 1938
Henry B. Metcalf
1829 - 1904
Antoine Joseph Jobin
1889 - 1972
Cedric Cromwell
Born 1965
John E. Beck
Born 1869
Florence Freeman
1836 - 1876
Herman Page (father)
1866 - 1942
Louise Brigham
1875 - 1956
Frederic Tracy Hubbard
1875 - 1962
Peter Buehning Jr.
Born 1954
William Thaddeus Coleman III
Born 1947
Ben Fagan
Born 1984
Zabdiel Boylston Adams
1829 - 1902
James Brady (Medal of Honor)
1842 - 1904
Edward J. McCormack Jr.
1923 - 1997
John M. Tobin Jr.
Born 1969
Tom Liesegang
Born 1955
Edgar White Burrill
1883 - 1958
Matty Mo
-
Alonzo Cooper Rand
1831 - 1885
Jeff Queen
1946 - 2018
Edmund McNamara
1920 - 2000
Thomas C. O'Brien
1887 - 1951
Bill Campbell (illustrator)
Born 1920
Paul K. Niven Jr.
1924 - 1970
Clementina Poto Langone
1896 - 1964
William Elliott (actor, born 1879)
1879 - 1932
Michael Gould (chief executive)
-
Kenneth Morse
Born 1946
Peter E. Madden
Born 1942
Frances Jalet-Cruz
1910 - 1994
Thomas Fletcher Oakes
1843 - 1919
Chris Rooney
Born 1975
Gertrude Quinlan
1880 - 1968
Tom Hennessey
1942 - 2012
John McCormick (American football)
1937 - 2013
Jane F. Barry
Born 1966
Margaret Foley (suffragist)
1875 - 1957
John Goetchius
Born 1965
David Robb (motorcycling)
Born 1956
Sean O'Brien (ice hockey)
Born 1972
Herbert P. Wasgatt
1865 - 1934
George Fortune
1931 - 2019
David Myers (American chef)
-
David Saint
Born 1963
Aaron Krane
-
Robert C. Buell
1931 - 2018
Sydney Booth
1873 - 1937
Steve Cassano
Born 1947
Cornelius Keefe
1900 - 1972
Stephen Davenport
1924 - 2011
Nick Wise
1866 - 1923
Elton Tyler
Born 1979
Jimmy Zitano
1928 - 1989
Dean Boylan
Born 1951
James Walker Tufts
1835 - 1902
Adriana Langer
Born 1964