Louis Polonia
1935–2005French association football player (1935-2005)
Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
At the top of the list is the French association football player Louis Polonia, covered in 8 languages. The next two names are Jean Niel and Louis Denayrouze. Victor Dubourg de La Cassagne, born in 1715, is the earliest name and Louis Polonia, born in 1935, the latest. Between the Revolution and the Second Empire, 3 were born, the most of any period.
The field furthest above the usual share is leaders, at 2.6 times.
The usual town: the share across everyone listed in French towns. Tap a field to see its people.
Counted by languages, Louis Polonia is ahead of Jean Niel and Louis Denayrouze: 8, 3 and 3.
French association football player (1935-2005)
#2French politician (1894-1987)
#3French engineer and politician
More of them were born in the 1840s than in any other ten years, 2 in all.
Each dot is a person, stacked by the decade they were born.
5 more names, born between 1715 and 1914.

No one matches both filters.
Louis Polonia (French association football player (1935-2005)) is the best known by our measure: 8 Wikipedia and sister-site articles in different languages. Next come Jean Niel and Louis Denayrouze.
8 people born in Espalion have a French Wikipedia article that confirms the town as their birthplace (and an English one that agrees, when there is one). Wikidata places 17 people here; the rest aren’t listed because an article names somewhere else or no town, or a check couldn’t be completed.
Among its famous people, leaders: 5 of the 8. That is 63% of the town’s list, against 24% across French towns.
Victor Dubourg de La Cassagne, born in 1715. The youngest on the list was born in 1935.
People whose Wikidata birthplace is Espalion itself, matched by its INSEE code (a commune merged into it counts when the dates allow), whose French Wikipedia article agrees, and their English article too when they have one. A hospital or neighbourhood recorded without its commune isn’t matched. People who only lived here, adult performers and people known mainly for crimes aren’t listed.
Their Wikidata birthplace may be a hospital, a neighbourhood or a wider area, another commune, or missing, or their articles may not name a birthplace. We only list people the sources agree on; editing Wikidata or Wikipedia changes this page at the next refresh.
From Wikidata (CC0: birthplaces, descriptions, years, occupations, how many Wikipedia and sister-site articles cover each person) and French and English Wikipedia (each person’s articles confirm the birthplace; linked, not quoted). Birthplaces are matched to the commune by INSEE code and its history of mergers (INSEE COG 2026). Ranked by the number of articles. Fields are read from Wikidata’s description and occupations. “The usual town”: everyone listed across French towns. Portraits: each person’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the license below (our copy, resized).
Contains public sector information under the Licence Ouverte / Open Licence 2.0 (Etalab): INSEE, DGFiP, the Interior Ministry’s statistics service (SSMSI), the Ministry of Education (DEPP), the Health Ministry’s statistics service (DREES) and the Housing Ministry (Carte des loyers). Commune boundaries: IGN Admin Express.