#1Hector Tiberghien
1890–1951Belgian cyclist (1890-1951)
Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
The best known is the Belgian cyclist Hector Tiberghien, with articles in 12 languages. Charles Deruyter is second and Joseph Van Daele third. 12 of them were born between 1914 and 1969, more than in any other period. Births since 1970 account for 2 of the names.
Set against the usual town, athletes come out 3 times as common.
The usual town: the share across everyone listed in French towns. Tap a field to see its people.
All three are athletes.
#1Belgian cyclist (1890-1951)
#2The busiest decade was the 1920s, with 3 births.
Each dot is a person, stacked by the decade they were born.
20 more, best known first.





No one matches both filters.
Roubaix leads the towns around it, with 241 names.
Roubaix · 2 miBernard Arnault & 240 more
Tourcoing · 3 miYohan Cabaye & 126 moreCDCroix · 3 miCorinne Diacre & 28 moreHBRoncq · 5 miHenri Bouckaert & 10 more
Hem · 3 miFrançoise Leclercq & 5 moreGLLys-lez-Lannoy · 2 miGilbert Lannoy & 3 more
Wasquehal · 4 miHenri Dorgères & 3 more
Neuville-en-Ferrain · 4 miNoël Liétaer & 1 moreHector Tiberghien (Belgian cyclist (1890-1951)) is the best known by our measure: 12 Wikipedia and sister-site articles in different languages. Next come Charles Deruyter and Joseph Van Daele.
23 people born in Wattrelos have a French Wikipedia article that confirms the town as their birthplace (and an English one that agrees, when there is one). Wikidata places 26 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: 13 of the 23. That is 57% of the town’s list, against 19% across French towns.
Henri Briffaut, born in 1857. The youngest on the list was born in 1992.
People whose Wikidata birthplace is Wattrelos 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.