39.9292° N, 75.2300° W
PHILADELPHIA
Most Famous People Born in Philadelphia, United States
- Notable people
- 5,575
- Peak decade
- 1940s
- Median birth year
- 1928
- Most distinctive
- Baseball 6.0×
The original American capital, then the capital of nothing in particular, then a sports town. Philadelphia's notables run thick through the 18th century — lawyers, philanthropists, financiers — and then settle into a long, steady output of baseball players, basketball players, jazz bandleaders, and character actors. The city has one of the highest shares of notables in organized labor of the early 20th century and one of the deepest benches of soul singers of the late 20th.
One face per decade — the most globally famous figure born in Philadelphia during each.
Notable Births by Decade
Click a decade to filter the list below. Peak: 1940s with 556 notable births.
What Philadelphia Is Known For
Click any row to filter the list of people below.
Politician is Philadelphia's biggest profession — 9% of all notables (482).
Philadelphia over-indexes on baseball — 6.0× the global rate.
Philadelphia under-produces football — only 0.4× the global rate.
Profession Mix Over Time
Each band shows a profession family's share of Philadelphia's notable births by decade. Hover the chart for the breakdown at any decade.
- Sports
- Politics & Law
- Film & TV
- Music
- Science
- Writing
- Other
- Filtered to 1700s Clear ×
William Allen (loyalist)
1704 - 1780
Isaac Norris (statesman)
1701 - 1766
John Penn ("the American")
1700 - 1746
Philip Syng
1703 - 1789
William Coleman (judge)
1704 - 1769
Robert Grace
1709 - 1766