35.2064° N, 90.0889° W
MEMPHIS
Most Famous People Born in Memphis, United States
- Notable people
- 950
- Peak decade
- 1940s
- Median birth year
- 1953
- Most distinctive
- Rapper 16.4×
The 7.4× songwriter over-index is Stax and Sun Studio in one number — the city where Aretha Franklin was born and Elvis is buried still disproportionately manufactures the people who write American pop. The 16.4× rapper multiplier is a newer chapter, Three 6 Mafia and a generation of Memphis horror-rap running through the same neighborhoods that taught Morgan Freeman his accent.
One face per decade — the most globally famous figure born in Memphis during each.
Notable Births by Decade
Click a decade to filter the list below. Peak: 1940s with 127 notable births.
What Memphis Is Known For
Click any row to filter the list of people below.
Football is Memphis's biggest profession — 15% of all notables (140).
Memphis over-indexes on rapper — 16.4× the global rate.
Memphis under-produces politician — only 0.6× the global rate.
Profession Mix Over Time
Each band shows a profession family's share of Memphis's notable births by decade. Hover the chart for the breakdown at any decade.
- Sports
- Music
- Film & TV
- Politics & Law
- Writing
- Science
- Other
- Filtered to 1890s Clear ×
Machine Gun Kelly
1895 - 1954
Alberta Hunter
1895 - 1984
Lil Hardin Armstrong
1898 - 1971
Walter Lang
1896 - 1972
John W. Boyle
1891 - 1959
Erskine Tate
1895 - 1978
Will Shade
1898 - 1966
Johnny Dunn
1897 - 1937
Alexandre Hogue
1898 - 1994
John P. Newsome
1893 - 1961
Howard Edward Butt Sr.
1895 - 1991
Sylvan Gotshal
1897 - 1968
Frank P. Gates
1895 - 1975
Virginia Bradford
1899 - 1995
Watkins Overton
1894 - 1958
Eugene Bolden
1899 - 1991
Happy Foreman
1899 - 1953
James L. White (coach)
1893 - 1949
Swayne Latham
1898 - 1988
Sophie Wenzel Ellis
1893 - 1984
Tom Long (pitcher)
1898 - 1973
Doc Prothro
1893 - 1971
William John MacKenzie
Born 1894
Li'l Rastus
Born 1892
Bick Campbell
1898 - 1967