Most Famous American Athletes

United States has produced 5,845 notable athletes throughout history, led by Muhammad Ali. Rankings are drawn from a cross-verified academic dataset of 152,953 people.

Top Ranked

  1. Muhammad Ali — American Boxer (1942–2016) , ranked #61
  2. Magic Johnson — American Basket (Born 1959) , ranked #549
  3. Lance Armstrong — American Sport (Born 1971) , ranked #584
  4. Jesse Owens — American Sprint (1913–1980) , ranked #1135
  5. Tiger Woods — American Golf (Born 1975) , ranked #1270
  6. Jackie Robinson — American Baseball (1919–1972) , ranked #1505
  7. Joe Frazier — American Boxer (1944–2011) , ranked #1543
  8. Charles Barkley — American Basket (Born 1963) , ranked #1728
  9. Dennis Rodman — American Basket (Born 1961) , ranked #1822
  10. Johnny Weissmuller — American Swimmer (1904–1984) , ranked #1851
  11. Caitlyn Jenner — American Olympic (Born 1949) , ranked #1923
  12. LeBron James — American Basket (Born 1984) , ranked #2102
  13. Kurt Angle — American Wrestler (Born 1968) , ranked #2498
  14. Joe DiMaggio — American Baseball (1914–1999) , ranked #2539
  15. Chris Evert — American Player (Born 1954) , ranked #2625
  16. Joe Louis — American Boxer (1914–1981) , ranked #2631
  17. Jim Thorpe — American Baseball (1887–1953) , ranked #2992
  18. Arnold Palmer — American Golf (1929–2016) , ranked #3201
  19. George Foreman — American Boxer (Born 1949) , ranked #3307
  20. Hank Aaron — American Baseball (Born 1934) , ranked #3489