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
Officer84
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Showing 84 of 5,575 notable people

0017 OFFICER

George B. McClellan

1826 - 1885

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0254 OFFICER

John Gibbon

1827 - 1896

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0467 OFFICER

John A. Dahlgren

1809 - 1870

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0504 OFFICER

Andrew A. Humphreys

1810 - 1883

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0685 OFFICER

Uriah P. Levy

1792 - 1862

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0729 OFFICER

Thomas L. Kane

1822 - 1883

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0810 OFFICER

John R. Brooke

1838 - 1926

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0975 OFFICER

Charles Stewart (1778–1869)

1778 - 1869

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1252 OFFICER

Samuel Nicholas

1744 - 1790

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1261 OFFICER

Charles Ferguson Smith

1807 - 1862

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1340 OFFICER

William P. Biddle

1853 - 1923

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1418 OFFICER

George Cadwalader

1806 - 1879

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1436 OFFICER

Anthony Joseph Drexel Biddle Sr.

1874 - 1948

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1581 OFFICER

Wilson Brown (admiral)

1882 - 1957

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1586 OFFICER

Alexander J. Dallas (United States Navy officer)

1791 - 1844

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1595 OFFICER

Peter Conover Hains

1840 - 1921

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1708 OFFICER

Edward Julius Berwind

1848 - 1936

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1723 OFFICER

Franklin Wharton

1767 - 1818

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1883 OFFICER

Henry Morris Naglee

1815 - 1886

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2127 OFFICER

Richard S. Edwards

1885 - 1956

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2147 OFFICER

John Hyland

1912 - 1998

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2170 OFFICER

Charles Grymes McCawley

1827 - 1891

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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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2548 OFFICER

Charles Mitchell Thomas

1846 - 1908

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2626 OFFICER

Clayton Barney Vogel

1882 - 1964

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2668 OFFICER

Daniel Carmick

1772 - 1816

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2670 OFFICER

George Landenberger

1879 - 1936

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2712 OFFICER

Norwood Penrose Hallowell

1839 - 1914

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2713 OFFICER

Frederick Moosbrugger

1900 - 1974

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2808 OFFICER

John Bernadou

1858 - 1908

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2819 OFFICER

Lloyd M. Mustin

1911 - 1999

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2835 OFFICER

Isaac J. Wistar

1827 - 1905

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2849 OFFICER

James St. Clair Morton

1829 - 1864

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2892 OFFICER

Charles Stockton

1845 - 1924

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2918 OFFICER

Edward Cutbush

1772 - 1843

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2976 OFFICER

Aaron Ward (sailor)

1851 - 1918

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2987 OFFICER

Edward Needles Hallowell

1836 - 1871

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3139 OFFICER

Henry Brainerd McClellan

1840 - 1904

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3146 OFFICER

Caspar F. Goodrich

1847 - 1925

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3287 OFFICER

Edwin North McClellan

1881 - 1971

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3387 OFFICER

Henry C. Mustin (1874–1923)

1854 - 1923

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3390 OFFICER

Kidder Breese

1831 - 1881

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3411 OFFICER

William McCandless

1834 - 1884

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3437 OFFICER

Alfred Wilkinson Johnson

1876 - 1963

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3685 OFFICER

T.A.M. Craven

1893 - 1972

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3829 OFFICER

Allan McLane

1746 - 1829

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3832 OFFICER

Walter Atlee Edwards

1886 - 1928

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3859 OFFICER

John Kennedy Barton

1853 - 1921

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3966 OFFICER

Thomas H. Neill

1826 - 1885

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4034 OFFICER

Francis E. Patterson

1821 - 1862

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4063 OFFICER

George R. Christmas

Born 1940

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4094 OFFICER

William R. Rush

1857 - 1940

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4107 OFFICER

John Cummings Howell

1819 - 1892

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4195 OFFICER

William Carleton Watts

1880 - 1956

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4228 OFFICER

James L. Lardner

1802 - 1881

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4268 OFFICER

Charles D. Griffin

1906 - 1996

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4269 OFFICER

Louis Robertshaw

1912 - 2003

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4286 OFFICER

Lance W. Lord

Born 1946

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4330 OFFICER

William Mervine

1791 - 1868

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4348 OFFICER

Charles Stewart McCauley

1793 - 1869

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4414 OFFICER

Martin R. Steele

-

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4488 OFFICER

Nanette M. DeRenzi

-

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4537 OFFICER

Forrester L. Taylor

1833 - 1907

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4578 OFFICER

James A. Zimble

1933 - 2011

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4642 OFFICER

Andrew Boyd Cummings

1830 - 1863

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4643 OFFICER

Conrad C. Lautenbacher

Born 1942

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4664 OFFICER

Edward Gelsthorpe

1921 - 2009

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4672 OFFICER

Raymond D. Tarbuck

1897 - 1986

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4726 OFFICER

Charles J. Leidig

Born 1956

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4848 OFFICER

Carol A. DiBattiste

Born 1951

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4982 OFFICER

William H. Ginn Jr.

1928 - 2010

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4998 OFFICER

Cecil Clay

1842 - 1903

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5024 OFFICER

Edgar R. Bassett

1914 - 1942

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5035 OFFICER

Randolph Zane

1887 - 1918

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5183 OFFICER

J. Hinckley Clark

1835 - 1889

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5265 OFFICER

Sylvanus William Godon

1809 - 1879

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5321 OFFICER

James R. Caldwell

1778 - 1804

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5331 OFFICER

Charles James Barclay (U.S. Navy officer)

Born 1843

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5356 OFFICER

John Russell Young Blakely

1872 - 1942

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5373 OFFICER

William Whelan (surgeon)

1808 - 1865

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5453 OFFICER

Charles E. Colahan

1849 - 1904

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5460 OFFICER

Allan C. Kelton

1846 - 1928

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5555 OFFICER

Martin H. Ray Jr.

1913 - 1942

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