39.9292° N, 75.2300° W

PHILADELPHIA

Most Famous People Born in Philadelphia, USA

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.

Standouts

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.

  1. Politician 482 0.7×
  2. Actor 414 1.4×
  3. Baseball 383 6.0×
  4. Basket 260 3.7×
  5. Football 251 0.4×
  6. Music 206 2.6×
  7. Lawyer 185 1.9×
  8. Singer 161 1.4×
  1. Baseball 383 6.0×
  2. Basket 260 3.7×
  3. Boxer 72 3.3×
  4. Rower 57 2.8×
  5. Music 206 2.6×
  6. Officer 84 2.3×
  7. Lawyer 185 1.9×
  8. Film 113 1.6×
  1. Football 251 0.4×

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.

1700 1750 1800 1850 1900 1950 2000
  • Sports
  • Politics & Law
  • Film & TV
  • Music
  • Writing
  • Art & Design
  • Other
All5,575
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Showing 22 of 5,575 notable people

0097 RÉVOLUTION AMÉRICAINE

Betsy Ross

1752 - 1836

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0393 LAWYER

William Bradford (Attorney General)

1755 - 1795

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0450 POLITICIAN

William Bingham

1752 - 1804

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0472 MILITAR

Josiah Harmar

1753 - 1813

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0545 SCULPTOR

William Rush

1756 - 1833

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0689 POLITICIAN

Joseph Anderson

1757 - 1837

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0798 POLITICIAN

George Logan

1753 - 1821

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0855 POLITICAL

Tench Coxe

1755 - 1824

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1318 POLITICIAN

Franklin Davenport

1755 - 1832

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1468 MILITAR

Nicholas Biddle (naval officer)

1750 - 1778

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1810 LAWYER

William Rawle

1759 - 1836

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1977 ARTIST

Jacob Shallus

1750 - 1796

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2151 LAWYER

David Brooks (politician)

1756 - 1838

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2265 POLITICIAN

Benjamin Say

1755 - 1813

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2746 POLITICIAN

Daniel Udree

1751 - 1828

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2779 PREACHER

William Savery

1750 - 1804

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2895 PASTOR

James Abercrombie (Episcopal priest)

1758 - 1841

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3105 LIEUTENANT

James Duncan (Pennsylvania)

1756 - 1844

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3306 WRITER

Samuel Bryan

1759 - 1821

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4727 REPRESENTATIVE

James Willing

1750 - 1801

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5163 LAWYER

Moses Levy

1757 - 1826

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5288 CONGRESS

Joseph Greer

1754 - 1831

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