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 54 of 5,575 notable people

0164 PHOTOGRAPHER

Robert Cornelius

1809 - 1893

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0305 PHYSICIST

William Barton Rogers

1804 - 1882

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0405 PHYSICIST

Alexander Dallas Bache

1806 - 1867

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0467 OFFICER

John A. Dahlgren

1809 - 1870

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0487 ACTOR

Edwin Forrest

1806 - 1872

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0660 ARCHITECT

Thomas Ustick Walter

1804 - 1887

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0699 NATURALIST

John Kirk Townsend

1809 - 1851

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0700 POLITICIAN

Sarah Yorke Jackson

1803 - 1887

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0780 PAINTER

Sarah Miriam Peale

1800 - 1885

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0920 POLITICIAN

Adolph E. Borie

1809 - 1880

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1033 POLITICIAN

Thomas Green Clemson

1807 - 1888

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1173 JOURNALIST

George Pope Morris

1802 - 1864

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1180 JOURNALIST

Gamaliel Bailey

1807 - 1859

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1233 ARCHITECT

Henry Roberts (architect)

1803 - 1876

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1261 OFFICER

Charles Ferguson Smith

1807 - 1862

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1266 POLITICIAN

John Renshaw Thomson

1800 - 1862

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1397 LAWYER

John Cadwalader (jurist)

1805 - 1879

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1418 OFFICER

George Cadwalader

1806 - 1879

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1447 BIBLICAL

Joseph Addison Alexander

1809 - 1860

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1510 NURSE

Abigail Hopper Gibbons

1801 - 1893

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1705 POLITICIAN

Francis Baring, 3rd Baron Ashburton

1800 - 1868

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1750 ENGINEER

Benjamin Henry Latrobe II

1806 - 1878

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2037 JESUS

Cornelia Connelly

1809 - 1879

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2086 PRIEST

John McGill (bishop)

1809 - 1872

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2097 POLITICIAN

Charles Naylor

1806 - 1872

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2188 OFFICER

George A. McCall

1802 - 1868

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2287 OFFICER

Jacob Zeilin

1806 - 1880

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2373 POLITICIAN

Kintzing Prichette

1800 - 1869

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2450 POLITICIAN

Job Roberts Tyson

1803 - 1858

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2568 PAINTER

Sarah Mapps Douglass

1806 - 1882

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2582 LAWYER

William Bradford Reed

1806 - 1876

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2631 GEOLOGIST

Henry Darwin Rogers

1808 - 1866

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2715 PAINTER

John F. Francis

1808 - 1886

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2716 POLITICIAN

William Wall (U.S. politician)

1800 - 1872

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2754 DIARIST

Sidney George Fisher

1809 - 1871

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2844 POLITICIAN

George Middleton (American politician)

1809 - 1888

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3149 JOURNALIST

William Davis Gallagher

1808 - 1894

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3227 NATURALIST

Thomas Bellerby Wilson

1807 - 1865

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3358 DIPLOMAT

John Randolph Clay

1808 - 1885

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3520 BIBLIOPHILE

Thomas Pennant Barton

1803 - 1869

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3568 CHEMIST

James Blythe Rogers

1802 - 1852

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3644 INVENTOR

John H. B. Latrobe

1803 - 1891

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4004 PRELATE

George Aloysius Carrell

1803 - 1868

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4026 POLITICIAN

Frederick Fraley

1804 - 1901

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4101 HERO

Joseph Bonnell

1802 - 1840

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4145 MISSING

Jacob R. Eckfeldt

1803 - 1872

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4174 ARTIST

Robert Douglass Jr.

1809 - 1887

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4228 OFFICER

James L. Lardner

1802 - 1881

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4965 LAWYER

Henry A. Lyons

1809 - 1872

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5265 OFFICER

Sylvanus William Godon

1809 - 1879

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5370 MISSING

Aristide Rodrigue

1809 - 1857

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5373 OFFICER

William Whelan (surgeon)

1808 - 1865

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5411 WRITER

Francesca Anna Canfield

1803 - 1833

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5432 PRESBYTER

Charles William Nassau

1804 - 1878

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