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
- Field: Lawyer Clear ×
Jack Goldsmith
Born 1962
Adrian S. Fisher
1914 - 1983
Jack Hightower
1926 - 2013
D'Army Bailey
1941 - 2015
Sylvan Gotshal
1897 - 1968
Jon Phipps McCalla
Born 1947
Teresa Wynn Roseborough
Born 1958
Catherine Eagles
Born 1958
Kevin H. Sharp
Born 1963
Charles Burson
Born 1944
Sheryl H. Lipman
Born 1963
D. Price Marshall Jr.
Born 1963
Jerome Turner
1942 - 2000
Robert L. Echols
Born 1941
Otis M. Smith
1922 - 1994
Tommy Parker (judge)
Born 1963
Harry F. Barnes
1932 - 2019
Samuel H. Mays Jr.
Born 1948
William Joseph Haynes Jr.
Born 1949
Jeremy D. Kernodle
Born 1976
Edward L. Stanton III
Born 1972
William Wehrum
-
Odell McBrayer
1930 - 2008
Ralph H. Doxey
Born 1950
John Donelson Martin Sr.
1883 - 1962