#1Éric Abidal
born 1979French footballer (born 1979)
Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
At the top of the list is the French footballer Éric Abidal, covered in 69 languages. Second and third on the list are Marc Riboud and Mathieu Jaboulay. Fewer than a quarter of the 126 towns in Rhône with famous people list more. Éric Abidal, born in 1979, is the youngest, and Alphonse-Charles Gayet, born in 1833, the first on record.
Éric Abidal has articles in 69 languages, Marc Riboud in 23 and Mathieu Jaboulay in 3.
#1French footballer (born 1979)
#2French photographer (1923–2016)
#3French surgeon (1860–1913)
More of them were born in the 1920s than in any other ten years, 2 in all.
Each dot is a person, stacked by the decade they were born.
Writers and artists stand out most, at 1.4 times the usual share.
The usual town: the share across everyone listed in French towns. Tap a field to see its people.
6 more names, born between 1833 and 1937.




No one matches both filters.
Close by, the fullest list is Oullins-Pierre-Bénite’s, at 47 names.
Oullins-Pierre-Bénite · 2 miClément Turpin & 46 more
Sainte-Foy-lès-Lyon · 3 miAlexis Carrel & 26 moreMYSaint-Fons · 3 miMarie-Josèphe Yoyotte & 4 moreABLa Mulatière · 3 miAlain Bublex & 3 moreARVernaison · 3 miAdrien Rougier & 3 moreMTFrancheville · 4 miMaurice Thuilière & 1 moreJLBrignais · 2 miJean LoliveJBFeyzin · 4 miJean BarrèreÉric Abidal (French footballer (born 1979)) is the best known by our measure: 69 Wikipedia and sister-site articles in different languages. Next come Marc Riboud and Mathieu Jaboulay.
9 people born in Saint-Genis-Laval have a French Wikipedia article that confirms the town as their birthplace (and an English one that agrees, when there is one). Wikidata places 12 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, writers and artists: 3 of the 9. That is 33% of the town’s list, against 25% across French towns.
Alphonse-Charles Gayet, born in 1833. The youngest on the list was born in 1979.
People whose Wikidata birthplace is Saint-Genis-Laval 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.