37.9074° N, 121.0764° W

OAKLAND

Most Famous People Born in Oakland, United States

Notable people
1,016
Peak decade
1940s
Median birth year
1949
Most distinctive
Rapper 23.4×

The Rapper bench here runs at better than twenty-three times the global baseline — Too $hort, MC Hammer, and the entire Bay Area hyphy lineage compressed into one line of the panel, a regional rap dialect invented the way New Orleans invented jazz. The deep Baseball count is the other Oakland story, the A's dynasty years and the West Oakland sandlots that produced Rickey Henderson, while the outsized Artist bench still runs on Black Panther-era visual culture.

Through the Decades

One face per decade — the most globally famous figure born in Oakland during each.

Notable Births by Decade

Click a decade to filter the list below. Peak: 1940s with 138 notable births.

What Oakland Is Known For

Click any row to filter the list of people below.

Football is Oakland's biggest profession — 12% of all notables (118).

Oakland over-indexes on rapper23.4× the global rate.

Oakland under-produces politician — only 0.4× the global rate.

  1. Football118
  2. Baseball102
  3. Actor85
  4. Basket52
  5. Politician50
  6. Music47
  7. Singer35
  8. Artist35
  1. Rapper2623.4×
  2. Baseball1028.8×
  3. Basket524.1×
  4. Artist353.4×
  5. Music473.2×
  6. Novelist112.7×
  7. Film241.9×
  8. Lawyer321.8×
  1. Politician500.4×
  2. Writer230.7×

Profession Mix Over Time

Each band shows a profession family's share of Oakland's notable births by decade. Hover the chart for the breakdown at any decade.

18001825185018751900192519501975
  • Sports
  • Music
  • Film & TV
  • Politics & Law
  • Writing
  • Art & Design
  • Other
All1,016
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1,016 notable people

0901 REAL ESTATE

Don Graham (developer)

1914 - 2010

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0902 BASEBALL

Jackie Tobin

1921 - 1982

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0903 BASKET

Damon Powell

Born 1990

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0904 HISTORIAN

Henry Z. Jones Jr.

-

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0905 SKIPPER

Austin Sperry

Born 1978

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0906 FOOTBALL

Jesse Murdock

1938 - 1965

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0907 CAMPAIGN

Andrew McGuire

Born 1945

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0908 LAWYER

Alfred Delucchi

Died 2008

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0909 BODYBUILDER

Jack Delinger

1926 - 1992

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0910 RADIO

Kevin Radich

Born 1960

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0911 FOOTBALL

Marc Dunn

Born 1978

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0912 FOOTBALL

Jill Gilbeau

Born 1987

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0913 FOOTBALL

Al Endress

Born 1929

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0914 ROWER

Lisa Hansen (rower)

Born 1954

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0915 ACTIVIST

Ise Lyfe

Born 1982

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0916 POLITICIAN

Stewart Iverson

Born 1950

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0917 DIARIST

Emily Coleman

1899 - 1979

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0918 DESIGNER

Byron Lars

Born 1965

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0919 ARTIST

Richard Newton (Künstler)

Born 1948

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0920 SCREENWRITER

Lanier Bartlett

1879 - 1961

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0921 RAPPER

Kirby Dominant

Born 1975

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0922 POLITICIAN

Michael Sweeney (politician)

-

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0923 BASEBALL

Ernie Fazio

1942 - 2017

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0924 WORLD WAR

Inez Crittenden

1887 - 1918

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0925 PLAYER

Volney Rouse

Born 1983

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0926 BASEBALL

Will Smalley

1871 - 1891

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0927 NURSE

Terry Acebo Davis

Born 1953

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0928 ARTIST

Packard Jennings

Born 1970

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0929 BASEBALL

Red Baldwin

1894 - 1956

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0930 BASEBALL

Steve Lawson (baseball)

Born 1950

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0931 FOOTBALL

Venus James

Born 1979

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0932 BASEBALL

LaVel Freeman

Born 1963

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0933 ACADEMIC

Judy K. Sakaki

-

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0934 ACTOR

Darryl McCane

Born 1963

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0935 ARTIST

Kate Weare

Born 1971

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0936 ARCHITECT

Craig E. Steidle

-

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0937 FOOTBALL

John Sutro (American football)

Born 1940

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0938 WRITER

Soji Kashiwagi

Born 1962

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0939 BASKET

Herb Schmalenberger

1925 - 2006

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0940 FOOTBALL

JoJo Polk

Born 1978

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0941 BUSINESS

Chris Richmond (entrepreneur)

Born 1986

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0942 FOOTBALL

Bob Sykes (American football)

1927 - 2020

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0943 LIBRARIAN

Emanuel Raymond Lewis

1928 - 2014

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0944 ARTIST

Kim Yasuda

Born 1960

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0945 MUSIC

Steve Sue

-

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0946 FOOTBALL

Steve Svitak

Born 1945

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0947 ARTIST

Tyler Jacobson

Born 1982

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0948 PAINTER

Pauline Powell Burns

1872 - 1912

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0949 HELLENIST

John Vaio

Born 1939

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0950 AUTHOR

Elaine Flinn

1939 - 2008

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0951 POLITICAL

Dan Rush

Born 1960

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0952 LAWYER

Richard Jencks

1921 - 2014

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0953 SINGER

Essex Scott

1921 - 1960

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0954 FOOTBALL

Maury Duncan

Born 1931

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0955 LAWYER

Lloyd Hudson Burke

1916 - 1988

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0956 WRITER

James Tracy (activist)

Born 1970

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0957 SONGWRITER

Quinn Walker

Born 1979

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0958 FOOTBALL

Gene Taylor (American football)

Born 1962

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0959 LAWYER

Walter Early Craig

1909 - 1986

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0960 FILM

Anthony Lucero (director)

-

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0961 BASEBALL

Jerre Denoble

1923 - 2011

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0962 FOOTBALL

Forey Duckett

Born 1970

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0963 PAINTER

Christopher Mangum

Born 1975

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0964 FOOTBALL

Rashad Floyd

Born 1979

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0965 POLITICIAN

W. W. Conner

1882 - 1938

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0966 ACTOR

Shola Adisa-Farrar

Born 1985

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0967 SPORT

Craig Schommer

Born 1966

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0968 EMPLOYEE

Edwin T. Baker

1873 - 1936

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0969 MUSIC

Mike Kaufmann

Born 1966

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0970 BASKET

Garry Hill-Thomas

Born 1982

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0971 MUSIC

Rudy Salvini

1925 - 2011

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0972 POLITICIAN

Ervin Dennis

Born 1936

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0973 POLITICIAN

Catherine Emmanuelle

Born 1980

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0974 MUSIC

Henry Heyman

1838 - 1924

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0975 SECRETARY

Gregory P. Schmidt

1947 - 2016

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0976 BASEBALL

Joe Rossi (baseball)

1921 - 1999

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0977 MUSIC

Eve Marie Shahoian

-

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0978 BASKET

Bill Durkee

1921 - 2006

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0979 LAWYER

Lucas A. Powe Jr.

Born 1943

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0980 JOURNALIST

Meghan Kalkstein

-

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0981 FOOTBALL

Peter Arnautoff

Born 1951

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0982 PLAYER

Kaylin Squyres

Born 1994

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0983 ARTIST

Dennis King (author)

Born 1952

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0984 OFFICER

Lester L. Westling Jr.

1930 - 2019

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0985 FOOTBALL

David Bakal

Born 1989

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0986 RAPPER

Fresh Caesar

Born 1977

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0987 POLITICIAN

Richard M. Romero

Born 1944

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0988 ARTIST

Erik d'Azevedo

Born 1948

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0989 PHYSICIST

David H. Munro

Born 1955

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0990 POLITICIAN

Andrew Nisbet Jr.

1921 - 2013

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0991 AUTHOR

Gabriel Al-Salem

1967 - 2010

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0992 LAWYER

Oliver Deveta Hamlin Jr.

1892 - 1973

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0993 PHARMACIST

Jere E. Goyan

1930 - 2007

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0994 PHOTOGRAPHER

Marion Gray

1934 - 2016

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0995 PROFESSOR

Sharon J. Hall

-

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0996 WRITER

Ron Hudson

1939 - 2011

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0997 BASEBALL

John Gillespie (baseball)

1900 - 1954

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0998 BASEBALL

Chris Ward (baseball)

Born 1949

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0999 FOOTBALL

Wopamo Osaisai

Born 1986

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1000 FOOTBALL

Rufus Skillern

Born 1982

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1001 BASEBALL

Eddie Leishman

1910 - 1972

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1002 POLITICIAN

Carol Boyd Hallett

Born 1937

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1003 FOOTBALL

Andre Torrey

Born 1982

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1004 ACTIVIST

Lydia Flood Jackson

1862 - 1963

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1005 FOOTBALL

Andre Hines

Born 1958

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1006 COMPOSER

Fred Meggs

Born 1952

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1007 ACTOR

Kathie Fischer

1907 - 1988

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1008 POLITICIAN

Louis Francis

-

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1009 SUPERCENTENÁRI

Clarence Matthews

1906 - 2017

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1010 POLITICIAN

John A. O'Connell

-

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1011 BASKET

Darrell Tucker

Born 1980

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1012 FOOTBALL

D'Wayne Taylor

Born 1979

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1013 INVESTOR

Ernst D. van Löben Sels

1879 - 1965

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1014 POLITICIAN

Charles W. Fisher (American politician)

-

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1015 POLITICIAN

Richard M. Lyman

-

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1016 POLITICIAN

John R. Jones (Washington politician)

1876 - 1972

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