#1István Nyers
1924–2005Hungarian association football player
Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Most widely known is István Nyers, the Hungarian association football player, with articles in 26 languages. The Algerian and French footballer Abdelhakim Omrani ranks second, ahead of Henri Atamaniuk. 4 of them were born between 1914 and 1969, more than in any other period. From Paul Masson to Abdelhakim Omrani, the births on the list run from 1863 to 1991.

Freyming-Merlebach has 3× the usual share of athletes.
The usual town: the share across everyone listed in French towns. Tap a field to see its people.
The three best known are all athletes.
#1Hungarian association football player
Algerian and French footballer
French football manager
The busiest decade was the 1920s, with 2 births.
Each dot is a person, stacked by the decade they were born.
Of the other 4, 2 are writers and artists.
No one matches both filters.
The neighbour with the most names is Forbach, at 36.
István Nyers (Hungarian association football player) is the best known by our measure: 26 Wikipedia and sister-site articles in different languages. Next come Abdelhakim Omrani and Henri Atamaniuk.
7 people born in Freyming-Merlebach have a French Wikipedia article that confirms the town as their birthplace (and an English one that agrees, when there is one). Wikidata places 10 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, athletes: 4 of the 7. That is 57% of the town’s list, against 19% across French towns.
Paul Masson, born in 1863. The youngest on the list was born in 1991.
People whose Wikidata birthplace is Freyming-Merlebach 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.