#127 famous people were born in Rochester, more of them musicians than in most towns
John Lithgow, the American actor, is the most widely known, written about in 64 languages. Behind the leader come Ryan Lochte and Cab Calloway. More than half were born between 1920 and 1969, 16 in all. From Blanche Calloway in 1902 to Jon Jones in 1987, the births cover 85 years.
What stands out about Rochester’s famous people
What Rochester is known for
Compared with the usual town, musicians are the most over-represented field, at 4.7 times.
The usual town: the share across everyone born in the towns gathered so far. Tap a field to see its people.
Born in Rochester
John Lithgow, Ryan Lochte and Cab Calloway are written about in 64, 51 and 46 languages.
#1
#2
#3When Rochester’s famous people were born
More were born in the 1940s than in any other decade: 5.
Each dot is a person, stacked by the decade they were born.
Everyone else born in Rochester
Another 24, 6 of them athletes.



Kim Gordon
born 1953American musician and artist, most known as co-founding member of Sonic Youth

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Also called Rochester home
Born elsewhere, they lived here: 7 in all, led by Stanley Engerman.
Louise Herschman Mannheimer
1845–1920Czech-born American writer, teacher and inventor
Who’s the most famous person from Rochester?
Pick one and say why. Your answer becomes a post in Town Square.
Be the first to say who Rochester’s most famous person is.
Famous people from the towns next door
Greece leads the towns around it, with 3 names.
From Wikidata and Wikipedia: people whose birthplace is Rochester 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 (9)
- John Lithgow: Rubenstein, CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Ryan Lochte: Rory, CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Cab Calloway: Carl Van Vechten, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Robert Forster: Toglenn, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Jon Jones: K.O. Artist Sports, CC BY 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
- John Ashbery: David Shankbone, CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Leehom Wang: Sry85, CC BY 2.5, Wikimedia Commons
- Jennifer Cody: MandiRodriguez7, CC0, Wikimedia Commons
- Edward S. Lacey: US gov, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons

