42.2575° N, 87.8760° W

SALEM

Most Famous People Born in Salem, United States

Notable people
471
Peak decade
1950s
Median birth year
1899
Most distinctive
Librarian 14.5×
Through the Decades

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

Notable Births by Decade

Click a decade to filter the list below. Peak: 1950s with 36 notable births.

What Salem Is Known For

Click any row to filter the list of people below.

Politician is Salem's biggest profession — 18% of all notables (84).

Salem over-indexes on librarian — 14.5× the global rate.

Salem under-produces football — only 0.6× the global rate.

  1. Politician84
  2. Football33
  3. Lawyer26
  4. Actor21
  5. Baseball20
  6. Writer12
  7. Basket11
  8. Business10
  1. Librarian514.5×
  2. Baseball203.7×
  3. Lawyer263.2×
  4. Judge73.1×
  5. Officer82.6×
  6. Physicist52.5×
  7. Business102.1×
  8. Basket111.9×
  1. Football330.6×
  2. Painter80.7×

Profession Mix Over Time

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

16501700175018001850190019502000
  • Politics & Law
  • Sports
  • Writing
  • Science
  • Film & TV
  • Military
  • Other
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Showing 17 of 471 notable people

0001 WRITER

Nathaniel Hawthorne

1804 - 1864

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0013 MATHEMATICIAN

Benjamin Peirce

1809 - 1880

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0040 PAINTER

Sophia Hawthorne

1809 - 1871

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0101 AUNT

Harriet Low

1809 - 1877

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0121 PAINTER

Charles Osgood (artist)

1809 - 1890

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0125 POLITICIAN

Stephen C. Phillips

1801 - 1857

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0146 POLITICIAN

Stephen Palfrey Webb

1804 - 1879

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0173 BOTANIST

John Lewis Russell

1808 - 1873

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0175 POLITICIAN

Thomas Jones Yorke

1801 - 1882

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0188 PHYSICIAN

Henry Ingersoll Bowditch

1808 - 1892

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0213 AUTHOR

Nehemiah Adams

1806 - 1878

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0218 POLITICIAN

Francis W. Moore Jr.

1808 - 1864

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0357 BUSINESS

Edward Augustus Holyoke Hemenway

1805 - 1876

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0368 MISSING

John Clough Holmes

1809 - 1887

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0453 OFFICER

William Raymond Lee

1807 - 1891

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0458 INDUSTRIALIST

David Nevins Sr.

1809 - 1881

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0462 POLITICIAN

Nathaniel Silsbee Jr.

1804 - 1881

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