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.
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.
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.
- Sports
- Politics & Law
- Film & TV
- Music
- Writing
- Science
- Other
- Field: Writer Clear ×
Dr. Seuss
1904 - 1991
Robert B. Parker
1932 - 2010
Vachel Lindsay
1879 - 1931
Michael Palmer (novelist)
1942 - 2013
Lois Lenski
1893 - 1974
Cinda Williams Chima
Born 1952
Chirlane McCray
Born 1954
Frank Mentzer
Born 1950
Lynn Vincent
Born 1962
Elizabeth Williams Champney
1850 - 1922
Coleman Dowell
1925 - 1985
Adora Svitak
Born 1997
Doug Cushman
Born 1953
William J. Rothwell
Born 1951
Gene D. Phillips
Born 1935
Roberta Latow
1931 - 2003
Tony Tulathimutte
Born 1983
Rami M. Shapiro
Born 1951
Lián Amaris
Born 1980
John Sack (Schriftsteller, 1938)
Born 1938
Richard Williams Bell
1811 - 1857
Mary Lynde Craig
1834 - 1921
M. Sears Brooks
1830 - 1893