40.3596° N, 82.2875° W

SPRINGFIELD

Most Famous People Born in Springfield, United States

Notable people
936
Peak decade
1950s
Median birth year
1933
Most distinctive
Baseball 9.5×

There are several Springfields in this dataset and they blur together statistically, which is the point - the 9.5× Baseball over-index is small-town America's pre-television obsession crystallized, the era when every Midwestern Springfield fielded a semi-pro team and a few of those kids made the Cardinals or Reds. The 2.6× Lawyer ratio is the Lincoln-era Springfield, IL signal still echoing through the data.

Through the Decades

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

Notable Births by Decade

Click a decade to filter the list below. Peak: 1950s with 90 notable births.

What Springfield Is Known For

Click any row to filter the list of people below.

Politician is Springfield's biggest profession — 13% of all notables (124).

Springfield over-indexes on baseball — 9.5× the global rate.

Springfield under-produces football — only 0.7× the global rate.

  1. Politician124
  2. Baseball101
  3. Football72
  4. Actor59
  5. Lawyer43
  6. Basket38
  7. Music26
  8. Writer23
  1. Baseball1019.5×
  2. Basket383.2×
  3. Lawyer432.6×
  4. Novelist92.4×
  5. Screenwriter92.2×
  6. Music261.9×
  7. Officer101.6×
  1. Football720.7×

Profession Mix Over Time

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

16501700175018001850190019502000
  • Sports
  • Politics & Law
  • Film & TV
  • Music
  • Writing
  • Science
  • Other
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Showing 25 of 936 notable people

0057 ZOOLOGIST

Joel Asaph Allen

1838 - 1921

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0102 POLITICIAN

J. Warren Keifer

1836 - 1932

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0203 MAYOR

Edward Robeson Taylor

1838 - 1923

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0256 LAWYER

Walbridge A. Field

1833 - 1899

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0315 POLITICIAN

Peter D. Wigginton

1839 - 1890

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0351 POLITICIAN

William H. Wade

1835 - 1911

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0353 POLITICIAN

William H. Neece

1831 - 1909

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0413 POLITICIAN

Turner M. Marquette

1831 - 1894

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0455 DIPLOMAT

Charles H. Graves

1839 - 1928

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0460 OFFICER

William Dwight

1831 - 1888

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0501 ENGINEER

Charles E. Billings

1834 - 1920

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0562 OFFICER

Oliver Edwards

1835 - 1904

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0583 LAWYER

Edgar J. Sherman

1834 - 1914

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0606 POLITICIAN

Arthur Barret

1836 - 1875

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0635 ARMY

Claudius C. Wilson

1831 - 1863

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0668 HISTORIAN

Charlotte Baker (historian)

1833 - 1909

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0747 ARMY

George Mason Lovering

1832 - 1919

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0774 COLONEL

Everett Peabody

1830 - 1862

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0822 POLITICIAN

Lewis J. Powers

1837 - 1915

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0836 SUFFRAGETTE

Eliza Pickrell Routt

1839 - 1907

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0879 WRITER

Mary Lynde Craig

1834 - 1921

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0903 INVENTOR

William N. Whiteley

1834 - 1911

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0916 POLITICIAN

Boyd M. Cheatham

1838 - 1876

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0932 WRITER

M. Sears Brooks

1830 - 1893

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0935 INVENTOR

William Erskine Bartlett

1830 - 1900

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