#1Famous people · New York City
Of the 99 famous people born in New York City, an unusual share are performers
At the top of the list is the American singer-songwriter Lana Del Rey, covered in 159 languages. Close behind are Robert De Niro and Jane Fonda. The largest group, 63, was born between 1920 and 1969. Born in 1783, Washington Irving is the first name on record, and Abigail Breslin, born in 1996, the most recent.
Born here
99
notable people
Best known
Lana Del Rey
in 159 Wikipedia languages
First
1783
Washington Irving
Youngest
1996
Abigail Breslin
Most common field
Film, TV & Stage
46 people
Also called it home
24
notable residents
What stands out about New York City’s famous people
Known worldwideLana Del Rey has a Wikipedia article in 159 languages.A town of performers46 of the 99 people born here are performers, 4.9× the usual share.Still making namesThe most recent birth on the list came in 1996, among 37 since 1950.A chosen home24 more notable people chose to live in New York City, including George Washington.
★ What stands out · The best known
Born in New York City
Two of the three are performers.
#1RN#2
#3Known for
What New York City is known for
The field furthest above the usual share is performers, at 4.9 times.
The usual town: the share across everyone born in the towns gathered so far. Tap a field to see its people.
Through the years
When New York City’s famous people were born
No decade has more births than the 1920s, at 16.
Film, TV & StageScience & MedicineWriting & ArtsMusicSportsNotablePolitics & LawMilitary
Each dot is a person, stacked by the decade they were born.
Everyone
Everyone else born in New York City
96 more, from 1783 to 1996.
Whoopi Goldberg
born 1955American actress, comedian, author and television personality
Film, TV & StageWikipedia ↗
Susan Sontag
1933–2004American writer and filmmaker, professor, and activist
Writing & ArtsWikipedia ↗
Grace Hopper
1906–1992American computer scientist and United States Navy officer
Science & MedicineWikipedia ↗
Jon Stewart
born 1962American comedian, writer, producer, activist, and television host
Film, TV & StageWikipedia ↗
Billy Crystal
born 1948American actor, comedian, writer, producer, director and television presenter
Film, TV & StageWikipedia ↗
No one matches both filters.
A chosen home
Also called New York City home
Born elsewhere, they lived here: 24 in all, led by George Washington.
Franklin Delano Roosevelt
1882–1945President of the United States from 1933 to 1945
Politics & LawWikipedia ↗
Theodore Roosevelt
1858–191926th President of the United States from 1901 to 1909
Politics & LawWikipedia ↗
Aung San Suu Kyi
born 1945Former State Counsellor of Myanmar and Leader of the National League for Democracy
Politics & LawWikipedia ↗
Eleanor Roosevelt
1884–1962American diplomat and activist, First Lady of the United States from 1933 to 1945
Politics & LawWikipedia ↗
Melania Trump
born 1970First Lady of the United States (2017–2021; since 2025)
Writing & ArtsWikipedia ↗
The town’s pick
Town Square →Who’s the most famous person from New York City?
Pick one and say why. Your answer becomes a post in Town Square.
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Next door
Famous people from the towns next door
Mount Vernon has the longest list next door: 44.
From Wikidata and Wikipedia: people whose birthplace is New York City and whose English Wikipedia article agrees, ranked by how many Wikipedia languages cover each person. People known mainly for crimes, and adult performers, aren’t listed. “The usual town” = everyone born in the towns gathered so far.
Photo credits (105)
- Lana Del Rey: Mike Monaghan from Seattle, United States, CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Jane Fonda: Unstated photographer, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Humphrey Bogart: Published by The Minneapolis Tribune-photo from Warner Bros., Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- J. D. Salinger: Lotte Jacobi, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Washington Irving: Attributed to Charles Robert Leslie, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Eugene O'Neill: Nobel Foundation, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Rita Hayworth: Columbia Pictures; photographer not identified, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- George Carlin: Little David Records, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Louise Glück: Gerard Malanga, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Henry James: John Singer Sargent (died 1925), Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Anthony Bourdain: Peabody Awards, CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Emmy Rossum: PhilipRomano, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Anna Politkovskaya: Blaues Sofa, CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Susan Sontag: Lynn Gilbert, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Maria Meneghini Callas: CBS Television, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Edith Wharton: E. F. Cooper, Newport, Rhode Island, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Jonas Salk: SAS Scandinavian Airlines, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Pete Seeger: Fred Palumbo, World Telegram staff photographer, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Colin Powell: Department of State of the United States of America, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Joan Rivers: John Mathew Smith & www.celebrity-photos.com from Laurel Maryland, USA, CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Kareem Abdul-Jabbar: Yahoo from Sunnyvale, California, USA, CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Mario Puzo: Bernard Gotfryd, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Oliver Stone: Gage Skidmore, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Rosalyn Sussman Yalow: US Information Agency (see image credits at the end), Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Gertrude B. Elion: GlaxoSmithKline plc, CC BY 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Grace Hopper: James S. Davis, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Burt Lancaster: Hal Wallis Productions, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Charlie Sheen: Joella Marano, CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Samuel P. Huntington: Copyright World Economic Forum (www.weforum.org), swiss-image.ch/Photo by Photo by Peter Lauth, CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Barbara Bush: David Valdez, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Emilio Estevez: Sam, CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Macaulay Culkin: Kevin Paul, CC BY 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Christopher Reeve: Jbfrankel, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
- John Williams: Lindseysharpe, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Leon M. Lederman: FNAL, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Leon Cooper: Kenneth C. Zirkel, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Cyndi Lauper: Philip Romano, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Julian Seymour Schwinger: Nobel foundation, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Andrea M. Ghez: BorderlineRebel, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Roy J. Glauber: Markus Pössel (User name: Mapos), CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Alexandra Daddario: Pansvalnac, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Amanda Peet: Mingle Media TV, CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Kenneth Arrow: Linda A. Cicero / Stanford News Service, CC BY 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Melanie Griffith: Pamela Price, CC BY 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Robert Hofstadter: Nobel foundation, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Sheldon Glashow: Luboš Motl - Lumidek, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Burton Richter: Burton_Richter_NSF.jpg: NSF derivative work: Materialscientist, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Angela Bassett: Gage Skidmore, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
- J. J. Abrams: Montclair Film Festival, CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Russell A. Hulse: ENERGY.GOV, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Alan Greenspan: While provided by the Bureau of Engraving and Printing, it is a Federal Reserve image., Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Cuba Gooding Jr.: Bandit1155, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Lee Marvin: NBC Television Uploaded by We hope at en.wikipedia, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Ruth Benedict: World Telegram staff photographer, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Sarah Michelle Gellar: Rach, CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Steven Tyler: Gage Skidmore, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Walter Matthau: Film screenshot, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Anthony Perkins: Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- George Cukor: Allan warren, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Marvin Minsky: The original uploader was Sethwoodworth at English Wikipedia., CC BY 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Peter Falk: NBC Television, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Alvin Toffler: Vern Evans, CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Billy Crystal: Gage Skidmore, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Cesar Romero: Allan warren, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Claudia Goldin: Editing1088, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Diane Lane: Siebbi, CC BY 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Erica Jong: Wes Washington, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Jack Kirby: Susan Skaar, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Jon Favreau: Eva Rinaldi(Uploader: Musa Raza), CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Gōtoku Sakai: Светлана Бекетова, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Hermann Joseph Muller: Alfred De Bat, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Julia Stiles: David Shankbone, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Audre Lorde: K. Kendall, CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
- John Fenn: Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Michelle Trachtenberg: Greg2600, CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Abigail Breslin: Gage Skidmore, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Joan Cusack: Anthony Quintano from Hillsborough, NJ, United States, CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Murray Rothbard: Ludwig von Mises Institute, CC BY 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Robert Fogel: Michael Fogel, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
- George A. Romero: nicolas genin, CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
- George Washington: Gilbert Stuart, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Salvador Dalí: Van Vechten, Carl, 1880-1964., Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Franklin Delano Roosevelt: Leon Perskie, CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Nikola Tesla: Napoleon Sarony, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Theodore Roosevelt: Adam Cuerden, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- John Lennon: Tony Barnard, Los Angeles Times, CC BY 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Aung San Suu Kyi: Cabinet Public Relations Office of the Cabinet Secretariat, CC BY 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Igor Stravinsky: George Grantham Bain Collection, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Ulysses S. Grant: Brady-Handy Photograph Collection, Library of Congress, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Ban Ki-moon: World Economic Forum, CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Eleanor Roosevelt: Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Toni Morrison: John Mathew Smith (celebrity-photos.com), CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Herman Melville: Joseph Oriel Eaton, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Sandra Bullock: Kevin Paul, CC BY 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Hannah Arendt: Barbara Niggl Radloff, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Kurt Vonnegut: Bernard Gotfryd / Adam Cuerden, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Jennifer Lawrence: Ciné Zooms 2, CC BY 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Garry Kasparov: Lukasz Kobus, CC BY 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Michelle Bachelet: Government of Chile, CC BY 3.0 cl, Wikimedia Commons
- Arthur Miller: Wolfgang Fischer, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Priyanka Chopra: Bollywood Hungama, CC BY 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Arthur Leonard Schawlow: Jose Mercado / Stanford News Service, CC BY 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Jon Voight: Toglenn, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Louis Auchincloss: White House photo by Eric Draper, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Harvey Milk: Public domain, Wikimedia Commons