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
John H. James (sailor)
1835 - 1914
Marty Linsky
-
Cherry Martinez
Born 1974
West Funk
1841 - 1897
Neil Burgess
1846 - 1910
Xenos Young Clark
1855 - 1889
Brendan McCarthy (American football)
1945 - 1997
Freeman Gill
1851 - 1905
Lynne Berry
Born 1972
Bill Gillis
1936 - 2009
Brittany Flickinger
Born 1984
Calvin Plimpton
1918 - 2007
Neilesh Patel
Born 1981
Bremer Whidden Pond
1884 - 1959
Sid Lovett
Born 1928
Amy Ricard
1882 - 1937
Madelyn Renee
Born 1950
Betty Jo Nelsen
Born 1935
Alonzo B. Cook
Born 1866
Herbert Ayling
Born 1853
Charles E. Harwood
1851 - 1924
Frank Palmer Speare
1869 - 1954
John Butler (baseball)
1879 - 1950
Edwin May (architect)
1823 - 1880
Joe Sullivan (shortstop)
1870 - 1897
Giovanni Prezioso
Born 1957
Andrea Brown
Born 1974
Yasmin Belo-Osagie
Born 1990
Marilyn R. Goldwater
Born 1927
Nathaniel Appleton
1731 - 1798
James F. Curtis
1825 - 1914
David Paresky
Born 1938
Courtney Yates
Born 1981
Helen Sahagian
-
Homer Pierce Clark
1868 - 1970
Dave Williams (rugby à XV)
Born 1978
Jack Reilly (American football)
Born 1946
Joey DeGrandis
Born 1969
Robert A. Vinal
1821 - 1887
Allan Jaffe (Gitarrist)
Born 1950
Michael Soboff
Born 1989
Helen Nordquist
Born 1932
Tom Woods (American football)
1896 - 1978
Tom Sullivan (1920s pitcher)
1895 - 1962
Grace Sturtevant
1865 - 1947
Lisa Kove
Born 1958
Sam Parkins
1926 - 2009
Ken Kaplan
Born 1960
Frank Dayton
1865 - 1924
Alfred Codman
Born 1900
Arnold Kemp
-
Lawrence Keyte
Born 1963
Herman Nickerson Jr.
1913 - 2000
Thomas Rattigan
Born 1937
John Rolly Ross
1899 - 1963
Brian Roper (Gaelic footballer)
-
Harry E. T. Thayer
1927 - 2017
Ginny Coppola
Born 1949
William H. Dolben
1878 - 1948
Gerard D. Reilly
1906 - 1995
Samuel Krafsur
1913 - 1983
Carroll Sheehan
1925 - 2016
James Morris Whiton Hall
1842 - 1926
David Crouse
Born 1971
Paul Shapiro (artist)
Born 1930
Lap Chi Chu
-
Ed Brawley
1888 - 1945
William B. Broydrick
Born 1948
Aaron L. Brody
Born 1930
Stephen Selkowitz
Born 1948
Joe Vila
1866 - 1934
Ed Callahan (baseball)
1857 - 1947
David Nevins Jr.
1839 - 1898
Richard März
Born 1947
Elizabeth Metayer
1911 - 1998
Mike Stenson
-
Charles Toole
1922 - 2008
Dimitri Zaitz
1917 - 1996
Greely S. Curtis
1830 - 1897
Arthur Chamberlin Wise
1876 - 1952
Joe Walsh (NL infielder)
1917 - 1996
Jim Ward (baseball)
1855 - 1886
Scott Flemming
Born 1958
John W. Schoen
Born 1952
Catharine F. Easterly
Born 1970
Lovely Hoffman
-
Jeff A. Weiss
Born 1964
Michael L. Iaccarino
-
John A. Collins
1931 - 2003
Art Richardson
-
Rich Wilson
Born 1950
Donna Lee (field hockey)
Born 1960
Winfield F. Prime
Born 1860
Percival C. Pope
1841 - 1922
Frederick Cunningham
1898 - 1978
Steve Trapilo
1964 - 2004
Tom D'Angora
-
Kay Bullitt
Born 1925
London Bridgez
Born 1982
George A. Scigliano
1874 - 1906
Hiller Crowell Wellman
1871 - 1956
Charles Sawyer Russell
1831 - 1866
Raymond Francis Robbins
1912 - 1980
Clarence Dow
1854 - 1893
E. Alexander Bergstrom
1919 - 1973
George Whitaker (Oregon educator)
1836 - 1917
Ellen Swepson Jackson
1935 - 2005
Robert Hagopian
1911 - 1995
Art Smith (baseball)
1906 - 1995
Stewart MacDonald (rowing)
Born 1949
Pat Rainey
1925 - 1998
Fredrik Berglund (läkare)
Born 1924
Richard De Angelis
1932 - 2005
David Hurwitz (physician)
1905 - 1992
Kathi Martuza
Born 1979
Henry O. Fairbanks
Born 1852
Jerry Sweeney
1857 - 1891
John P. Coburn
1811 - 1873
Henry F. Williams
1813 - 1903
Ed Fouhy
1934 - 2015
Ednorah Nahar
Born 1873
Nelson W. Aldrich Jr.
Born 1935
Leo Abbott
Born 1950
Kevin Garant
Born 1963
Benjamin Welles
1857 - 1935
Larry Roland
Born 1950
Kenneth Alden Bartlett
Born 1907
Ted Washburn (rowing)
Born 1942
Harriet Abbott Lincoln Coolidge
1849 - 1902
Rose Pitonof
1895 - 1984
Charles Mason (rower)
1908 - 1999
Gary Piantedosi
Born 1954
Charles Hewitt (rower)
Born 1949
Steve Brooks (rower)
Born 1948
Erik Berglund (läkare)
Born 1924
William O. Taylor II
1932 - 2011
A. Austin Tate
1894 - 1943
Nathaniel S. Keith
1838 - 1925
Stephen B. Baxter
Died 2020
Daniel H. Coakley Jr.
1906 - 1964
James Lawrence (rower)
1907 - 1995
Clifton Daggett Gray
1874 - 1948
Charles Stack (lawyer)
Born 1935
Oliver Noonan
1939 - 1969
John Mugglebee
Born 1955
Liz Hills
Born 1954
Greg Johnston
Born 1958
Amy Height
1866 - 1913
Hughie Pollock
Born 1942
Sarah Swenson
-
Will Rogers (Maine politician)
Born 1938
William Davis Ticknor Sr.
1881 - 1938
Stan Salett
Born 1936
Richard W. Day (educator)
1916 - 1978
Walter F. Clayton
1865 - 1942
Joseph M. Connolly
1924 - 2007
Lawrence Briggs
1902 - 1970
Drew Donaldson
-
Paul H. Carr (physicist)
Born 1935
Jake Sprague
Born 1984
Tony Barton (politician)
Born 1961
John H. Brown (Medal of Honor)
1842 - 1898
Joan Reede
Born 1953
William Davis Taylor
Died 2002
Mike Nugent (soccer)
Born 1980
Mat Rappaport
Born 1971
Mark Gardner (inventor)
Born 1955
Dennis Gildea
1898 - 1976
Jim Sampson
Born 1948
Chet Kalm
1925 - 2017
Liam Madden
-
John Olin
1886 - 1920
Joseph Cushing Edmands
1842 - 1878
Emily Appleton
-
William F. O'Hare
1870 - 1926
Don DiNicola
-
Eric Fertman
Born 1974
Chico Scimone
1911 - 2005
Jere Shea
Born 1965
John Rayner Edmands
1850 - 1910
Don Hamilton (sport shooter)
1929 - 1999
Nancy Flagg Gibney
1922 - 1980
Edward F. McLaughlin
1883 - 1953
Benjamin Clark Cutler
1756 - 1810
Herbert N. Maletz
1913 - 2002
Malcolm Hickox
Born 1946
John P. McDonough (chaplain)
Born 1928
George Fair
1856 - 1939
Chuck Longfield
Born 1956
Arthur R. Curtis
1842 - 1925
Paul G. Kirk Sr.
1904 - 1981
Robert Perkins (artist)
Born 1949
Sam Koch (soccer)
1955 - 2014
George Willis (Medal of Honor)
1839 - 1884
Kenneth Weyler
Born 1941
A. Arthur Giddon
1909 - 2010
Todd Bowie
-
Michael F. Flaherty Sr.
Born 1936
James Augustus Fox
1827 - 1901
Henry E. Turner (Massachusetts politician)
1842 - 1911
Celia Calle
-
George H. Lyman
1850 - 1945
Mike Palm (baseball)
1925 - 2011
Aisha Cousins
Born 1978
Russ Bixler
1927 - 2000
Lucille Stone
1925 - 2016
Mike Sullivan (pitcher)
1866 - 1906
Aaron Nichols Skinner
1845 - 1918
Warren E. Barry
1933 - 2016
James E. Hayes
1865 - 1898
Joseph N. Dinand
1869 - 1943
Clark Tobin
1887 - 1952
Giles Tod
1914 - 1995
Grace Lincoln Temple
1865 - 1953
Frederick Winsor (surgeon)
1829 - 1889
Nathaniel Thayer III
1851 - 1911
Emma Aline Osgood
1849 - 1911
John Elliot Cowdin
1858 - 1941
Gerard T. Indelicato
Born 1946
Marilyn P. Johnson
Born 1922
Henry Parkman Jr.
1894 - 1958
Mirjam Ballmer
Born 1982
John Kiely (baseball)
Born 1964
Angela Bowen
1936 - 2018
J. Edwin Ganong
1866 - 1944
Richard S. Potember
-
Joseph Lee (American politician)
1901 - 1991
Anthony T. Shtogren
1917 - 2003
Samuel Bradford Jones
1826 - 1908
Susan McLane
1929 - 2005
H. James Shea Jr.
1939 - 1970
John Bergh
1857 - 1883
Horace H. Coolidge
1832 - 1912
Kelly Timilty
1962 - 2012
Thomas H. Maguire
1877 - 1915
Grace Paine Terzian
Born 1952
Margareta Waterman
Born 1932
Gertrude Hunter
1926 - 2006
Harold Sossen
1924 - 2013
Abraham Edwards
1796 - 1870
David John Scannell
1875 - 1923
John Joseph Doherty
1919 - 1942
Frank W. Applebee
1902 - 1988
Truman Taylor
-
Mary Jirmanus Saba
Born 1983
Claire Wiseman
Born 1965
Timothy T. Sawyer
1817 - 1905
Emily Gray Rice
Born 1955
Henry A. Miley Jr.
1915 - 2010
John Souther
1816 - 1911
Ray Daniel (author)
Born 1962
William Moore (Medal of Honor)
1837 - 1918
John Emery Harriman
-
Gustaf Lindskog
1903 - 2002
George Heyliger
1919 - 1942
Robert Livermore (alpine skier)
1909 - 1991
Edna Foster
Born 1900
Patrick Grant (American football)
1886 - 1927
Alvin F. Sortwell
1854 - 1910
Maurice H. Palrang
1906 - 1978
Skipp Whitman
-
Margaret Kohn (Pianistin)
Born 1928
Allen Farnham
Born 1961
Jennifer Russell (lacrosse)
Born 1987
Nathaniel Taylor (artist)
Born 1969
Alma Yoray
1941 - 2010
Frederick C. Turner
1923 - 2014
Chad Frazier
Born 1992
Levi B. Gaylord
1840 - 1900
Seth Malvin
Born 1994
Blane De St. Croix
-
George K. Hooper
1868 - 1939
John I. Fitzgerald
1882 - 1966
Dana Bullen
1931 - 2007
Bud Van Deren
1924 - 2010
Robert S. Capers
Born 1949
Nellie Hermann
-
Michael J. Galvin
1907 - 1963
Peter B. Morin
Born 1955
Margaret Hunnewell
-
Dan Lagana
-
Walter Irving Badger
1859 - 1926
Victor J. Nickerson
1928 - 2004
Alexander Doig Stewart
1926 - 1999
Diamond Donner
-
Denny Sullivan (third baseman)
1858 - 1925
Tuesday Smillie
-
Frank Fuller
1827 - 1915
William C. Mackie
1870 - 1931
Bob Reed (baseball)
Born 1945
Daniel Malcolm
1725 - 1769
William B. Colleary
1890 - 1973
William Parker (Medal of Honor)
Born 1832
Edward F. Lyons Jr.
1899 - 1990
Harry Rogers Pratt
1884 - 1956
Joseph Lewis Stackpole
1838 - 1904
Robert E. Macdonald
Born 1947
Bobby Wheelock
1864 - 1928
Frederic Timothy Murphy
1884 - 1924
Beverly Camhe
-