#1Athletes stand out among the 42 famous people born in Merced
At the top of the list is the American actress Janet Leigh, covered in 63 languages. Second place goes to the American basketball player Ray Allen, third to Jalen Green. 24 of them were born between 1920 and 1969, more than in any other period. For every 10,000 residents the town has 4.6, while at least half the towns in California list nobody born there.
What stands out about Merced’s famous people
When Merced’s famous people were born
Births peak in the 1960s, with 9 people born in that decade.
Each dot is a person, stacked by the decade they were born.
Born in Merced
Athletes take two of the three places.
#1
#2
#3What Merced is known for
Set against the usual town, athletes come out 1.8 times as common.
The usual town: the share across everyone born in the towns gathered so far. Tap a field to see its people.
Everyone else born in Merced
A further 39 follow, born between 1885 and 1998.











Tony Slaton
born 1961All-American college football player, professional football player, offensive lineman
Lee Udall Bennion
born 1956American figurative painter and historical preservationist
No one matches both filters.
Who’s the most famous person from Merced?
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From Wikidata and Wikipedia: people whose birthplace is Merced and whose English Wikipedia article agrees, ranked by how many Wikipedia languages cover each person. People known mainly for crimes, and adult performers, aren’t listed. “The usual town” = everyone born in the towns gathered so far.
Photo credits (14)
- Janet Leigh: Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Ray Allen: Keith Allison, CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Jalen Green: All-Pro Reels, CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Bruce Bowen: Embajada de los Estados Unidos en Uruguay, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Adam Gray: Ike Hayman, House Creative Services, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Bubba Nickles: Scinsvche, CC0, Wikimedia Commons
- Summer Bartholomew: CBS Television, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Steven Stayner: Associated Press, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Dennis Cardoza: U.S. Congress, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Doug Fister: David on Flickr (Original version) UCinternational (Crop), CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Brian Fuentes: User Onetwo1 on en.wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Philip H. Lathrop: Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Curtis Partch: NewJack984, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Tom Cable: Mike Morris, CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons