#1Famous people · Portland
Linus Pauling and 33 more famous people were born in Portland
Linus Pauling, the American scientist, has articles in 112 languages. Second and third on the list are Douglas Engelbart and Matt Groening. With 5 scientists and doctors, the list holds 2.5 times the share found across U.S. towns. The largest group, 15, was born since 1970.
Born here
34
notable people
Best known
Linus Pauling
in 112 Wikipedia languages
First
1887
John Reed
Youngest
1996
Domantas Sabonis
Most common field
Sports
10 people
Also called it home
9
notable residents
What stands out about Portland’s famous people
Known worldwideRead in 112 languages, Linus Pauling is known far beyond the town.A town of scientists and doctorsAmong the 34 people born here, 5 are scientists and doctors: 2.5 times the usual share.Still making namesBirths since 1950 number 21, the most recent in 1996.A chosen home9 more notable people chose to live here, Ursula K. Le Guin among them.
★ What stands out · The best known
Born in Portland
Scientists and doctors take two of the three places.
#1
#2Science & Medicine
Douglas Engelbart
1925–2013American engineer and inventor
74 Wikipedia languagesRead more ↗
#3Known for
What Portland is known for
Portland has 2.5× the usual share of scientists and doctors.
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 Portland’s famous people were born
The 1980s alone account for 8 of the births charted here.
SportsFilm, TV & StageScience & MedicineWriting & ArtsMusicNotablePolitics & LawFaith
Each dot is a person, stacked by the decade they were born.
Everyone
Everyone else born in Portland
31 more, best known first.
Ray Dolby
1933–2013American engineer and inventor of the Dolby noise reduction system
Science & MedicineWikipedia ↗
William Smith
1928–2018American wrestler and Olympic champion in Freestyle wrestling
SportsWikipedia ↗
No one matches both filters.
A chosen home
Also called Portland home
Born elsewhere, they lived here: 9 in all, led by Ursula K. Le Guin.
Gus Van Sant
born 1952American film director, producer, photographer and musician
Film, TV & StageWikipedia ↗
The town’s pick
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Next door
Famous people from the towns next door
Around it, Milwaukie has the most people on record, 9 of them.
From Wikidata and Wikipedia: people whose birthplace is Portland 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 (19)
- Linus Pauling: Nobel Foundation, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Douglas Engelbart: Alex Handy from Oakland, Nmibia, CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Matt Groening: PhilipRomanoPhoto, CC BY 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Mary E. Brunkow: US Embassy Sweden, CC BY 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
- John Reed: Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Dick Fosbury: Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- George Bernard Dantzig: Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Ryan Crouser: jenaragon94 on Flickr (Original version) UCinternational (Crop), CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Tonya Harding: bobgo29, CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Katee Sackhoff: Miguel Discart & Kiri Karma, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Domantas Sabonis: Augustas Didžgalvis, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Esperanza Spalding: Løken, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Ray Dolby: Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Ursula K. Le Guin: Marian Wood Kolisch, Oregon State University Restored by Adam Cuerden, CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Mel Blanc: Alan Light, CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Todd Haynes: Montclair Film, CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Sirena Irwin: Gage Skidmore, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Marissa Neitling: Gage Skidmore, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Nigel Williams-Goss: Bryan Horowitz, CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons