#1Jean Fernel
1506–1558French physician (1506-1558)
Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Jean Fernel, the French physician, is the most widely known, written about in 24 languages. The road bicycle racer Jimmy Casper ranks second, ahead of Urbain Wallet. The largest group, 4, was born since 1970. Born in 1506, Jean Fernel is the first name on record, and Flavien Dassonville, born in 1991, the most recent.
No other field is as far above the usual share as leaders, at 1.8 times.
The usual town: the share across everyone listed in French towns. Tap a field to see its people.
The 1970s top the chart, with 2 births in the decade.
Each dot is a person, stacked by the decade they were born.
By how many languages cover them, Jean Fernel comes first (24), then Jimmy Casper (20) and Urbain Wallet (10).
#1French physician (1506-1558)
#2
#3French footballer (1899-1973)
Still to come: 11 more, from 1748 to 1991.


French politician, military personnel and painter (1834-1893)





French politician (1752-1819)
No one matches both filters.
Roye has the longest list next door: 6.
Jean Fernel (French physician (1506-1558)) is the best known by our measure: 24 Wikipedia and sister-site articles in different languages. Next come Jimmy Casper and Urbain Wallet.
14 people born in Montdidier have a French Wikipedia article that confirms the town as their birthplace (and an English one that agrees, when there is one). Wikidata places 34 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: 6 of the 14. That is 43% of the town’s list, against 24% across French towns.
Jean Fernel, born in 1506. The youngest on the list was born in 1991.
People whose Wikidata birthplace is Montdidier 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.