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Famous Athletes

The best-known sportspeople in our archive, ranked by historical popularity.

1,514 athletes in our database, ranked by historical popularity. Page 14 of 31.

Most famous athlete

Muhammad Ali

Highest historical popularity score (HPI 90.7)

Most common birth month

August

146 of 1,514 were born in August

Living vs deceased

1,357 / 157

90% are still living

Most common nationality

Japanese

233 people, 15% of the list

Editor-written profiles

81

5% have a full original profile so far

The ranked list (from #651)

  1. 651Sami HyypiäSami HyypiäCentre-back who helped Liverpool win the 2005 Champions League and later managed Bayer Leverkusen.🇫🇮Finn · Born October 7, 1973View profile
  2. 652Raphaël VaraneRaphaël VaraneCentre-back who won the 2018 World Cup with France and four Champions League titles with Real Madrid.🇫🇷French · Born April 25, 1993View profile
  3. 653Ana IvanovicAna IvanovicTennis player who won the 2008 French Open and reached world number one.🇷🇸Serbian · Born November 6, 1987View profile
  4. 654Jamie VardyJamie VardyStriker who scored in a record eleven consecutive Premier League games on the way to Leicester City's 2016 title.🇬🇧British · Born January 11, 1987View profile
  5. 655
    HG
    Haile GebrselassieDistance runner who won two Olympic 10,000 metres gold medals and set world records in the marathon.🇪🇹Ethiopian · Born April 18, 1973View profile
  6. 656Li NaLi NaTennis player who became the first Asian-born singles Grand Slam champion by winning the 2011 French Open.🇨🇳Chinese · Born February 26, 1982View profile
  7. 657FernandinhoFernandinhoDefensive midfielder who captained Manchester City and won four Premier League titles after joining from Shakhtar Donetsk.🇧🇷Brazilian · Born May 4, 1985View profile
  8. 658Sebastian CoeSebastian CoeMiddle-distance runner who won consecutive Olympic 1500 metres golds in 1980 and 1984, later chairing the London 2012 organising committee.🇬🇧British · Born September 29, 1956View profile
  9. 659
    KY
    Kenzo YokoyamaMember of Japan's bronze-medal side at the 1968 Mexico City Olympics who later managed the national team.🇯🇵Japanese · Born January 21, 1943View profile
  10. 660César SampaioCésar SampaioDefensive midfielder who was part of Brazil's 1994 World Cup-winning squad and later became a coach.🇧🇷Brazilian · Born March 31, 1968View profile
  11. 661Iván CórdobaIván CórdobaColombian defender who spent over a decade at Inter Milan and captained his country at Copa América 2001, which Colombia won.🇨🇴Colombian · Born August 11, 1976View profile
  12. 662Alberto ContadorAlberto ContadorSpanish cyclist who won the Tour de France twice and also took the Giro d'Italia and Vuelta a España.🇪🇸Spanish · Born December 6, 1982View profile
  13. 663Julián AlvarezJulián AlvarezForward who won the 2022 World Cup with Argentina and the treble with Manchester City.🇦🇷Argentine · Born January 31, 2000View profile
  14. 664Jon Dahl TomassonJon Dahl TomassonStriker who won the 2003 Champions League with AC Milan and scored 52 goals for Denmark.🇩🇰Danish · Born August 29, 1976View profile
  15. 665Yelena IsinbayevaYelena IsinbayevaRussian pole vaulter who won two Olympic golds and was the first woman to clear five metres.🇷🇺Russian · Born June 3, 1982View profile
  16. 666CasemiroCasemiroDefensive midfielder who won five Champions League titles with Real Madrid.🇧🇷Brazilian · Born February 23, 1992View profile
  17. 667Virgil van DijkVirgil van DijkLiverpool captain who helped the club win the 2019 Champions League and the 2020 Premier League.🇳🇱Dutch · Born July 8, 1991View profile
  18. 668David AlabaDavid AlabaAustrian who won the Champions League with Bayern Munich in 2013 and 2020 before joining Real Madrid.🇦🇹Austrian · Born June 24, 1992View profile
  19. 669Anthony DavisAnthony DavisWon the 2020 NBA championship with the Los Angeles Lakers after years as a dominant big man in New Orleans.🇺🇸American · Born March 11, 1993View profile
  20. 670Nicolás OtamendiNicolás OtamendiCommanding centre-back who helped Argentina win the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.🇦🇷Argentine · Born February 12, 1988View profile
  21. 671José Antonio ReyesJosé Antonio ReyesWinger in Arsenal's unbeaten 2003-04 league side who later won the Europa League with Atlético Madrid and Sevilla.🇪🇸Spanish · Born September 1, 1983 · Died June 1, 2019View profile
  22. 672
    MA
    Márcio AmorosoForward who finished as Serie A top scorer with Udinese in 1998–99 and later won the Bundesliga with Borussia Dortmund.🇧🇷Brazilian · Born July 5, 1974View profile
  23. 673Memphis DepayMemphis DepayForward who became the Netherlands' all-time leading scorer, after earlier spells at Manchester United, Lyon and Barcelona.🇬🇭Ghanaian · Born February 13, 1994View profile
  24. 674Vladimir KramnikVladimir KramnikChess grandmaster who ended Garry Kasparov's long reign by beating him in a 2000 London match for the Classical world title.🇷🇺Russian · Born June 25, 1975View profile
  25. 675Seydou KeitaSeydou KeitaMalian midfielder who won two Champions League titles with Barcelona, in 2009 and 2011.Malian · Born January 16, 1980View profile
  26. 676Ivica OlićIvica OlićStriker who scored for Bayern Munich in the 2010 Champions League run and later became a Croatia assistant coach.🇭🇷Croatian · Born September 14, 1979View profile
  27. 677Stone Cold Steve AustinStone Cold Steve AustinWrestler whose defiant Stone Cold persona made him a headline star of the WWF's Attitude Era.🇺🇸American · Born December 18, 1964View profile
  28. 678Ichiro SuzukiIchiro SuzukiOutfielder who set the single-season record of 262 hits in 2004 and won the 2001 American League MVP with Seattle.🇯🇵Japanese · Born October 22, 1973View profile
  29. 679Carlos MoyáCarlos MoyáSpaniard who won the 1998 French Open and later reached world number one.🇪🇸Spanish · Born August 27, 1976View profile
  30. 680Hakeem OlajuwonHakeem OlajuwonCentre who led the Houston Rockets to NBA championships in 1994 and 1995, with his famed Dream Shake.🇳🇬Nigerian · Born January 21, 1963View profile
  31. 681Jenson ButtonJenson ButtonBritish driver who won the 2009 Formula One title with Brawn GP.🇬🇧British · Born January 19, 1980View profile
  32. 682Alberto GilardinoAlberto GilardinoStriker who scored for Parma and AC Milan and was part of Italy's 2006 World Cup-winning squad.🇮🇹Italian · Born July 5, 1982View profile
  33. 683Philippe CoutinhoPhilippe CoutinhoBrazilian playmaker who excelled at Liverpool before a big-money move to Barcelona in 2018.🇧🇷Brazilian · Born June 12, 1992View profile
  34. 684
    JH
    Justine HeninTennis player who won seven Grand Slam singles titles and Olympic gold at the 2004 Athens Games.🇧🇪Belgian · Born June 1, 1982View profile
  35. 685Jana NovotnáJana NovotnáCzech player who won the 1998 Wimbledon singles title and was also a leading doubles champion.🇨🇿Czech · Born October 2, 1968 · Died October 19, 2017View profile
  36. 686Jordi AlbaJordi AlbaLeft-back who scored in Spain's 4-0 win over Italy in the Euro 2012 final and starred for Barcelona.🇪🇸Spanish · Born March 21, 1989View profile
  37. 687Mario LemieuxMario LemieuxPittsburgh Penguins centre who won two Stanley Cups as a player and later saved the franchise by becoming its owner.🇨🇦Canadian · Born October 5, 1965View profile
  38. 688Darijo SrnaDarijo SrnaRight-back who captained Croatia and made a record 134 appearances for the national side.🇭🇷Croatian · Born May 1, 1982View profile
  39. 689Gilmar RinaldiGilmar RinaldiGoalkeeper in Brazil's 1994 World Cup-winning squad, who later became a leading football agent.🇧🇷Brazilian · Born January 13, 1959View profile
  40. 690Claudio BravoClaudio BravoGoalkeeper who captained Chile to consecutive Copa América titles in 2015 and 2016, after long spells at Real Sociedad and Barcelona.🇨🇱Chilean · Born April 13, 1983View profile
  41. 691
    MW
    Mitsuo WatanabeJapanese footballer who earned international caps for the national team during his playing days.🇯🇵Japanese · Born June 4, 1953View profile
  42. 692AndersonAndersonMidfielder who scored in the 2008 Champions League final shootout against Chelsea for Manchester United.🇧🇷Brazilian · Born April 13, 1988View profile
  43. 693Radja NainggolanRadja NainggolanCombative Belgian midfielder known as Il Ninja, a mainstay of Roma's midfield and later of Inter Milan.🇧🇪Belgian · Born May 4, 1988View profile
  44. 694Shunsuke NakamuraShunsuke NakamuraPlaymaker famed for his free kicks, including one that beat Manchester United for Celtic in 2006.🇯🇵Japanese · Born June 24, 1978View profile
  45. 695
    GM
    Gyoji MatsumotoFormer Japan national team player who later worked as a football coach.🇯🇵Japanese · Born August 13, 1934 · Died September 2, 2019View profile
  46. 696PedriPedriBarcelona midfielder who won the 2021 Kopa Trophy and then Euro 2024 with Spain.🇪🇸Spanish · Born November 25, 2002View profile
  47. 697Viswanathan AnandViswanathan AnandIndian grandmaster who won the undisputed world chess title, beating Vladimir Kramnik in 2008 and Boris Gelfand in 2012.🇮🇳Indian · Born December 11, 1969View profile
  48. 698Andrey ArshavinAndrey ArshavinWinger who scored four goals for Arsenal in a 4–4 draw at Liverpool in 2009.🇷🇺Russian · Born May 29, 1981View profile
  49. 699Yevgeny KafelnikovYevgeny KafelnikovWon the 1996 French Open and 1999 Australian Open, then took Olympic singles gold in Sydney in 2000.🇷🇺Russian · Born February 18, 1974View profile
  50. 700Adriano Correia ClaroAdriano Correia ClaroAmbidextrous Brazilian full-back who won La Liga and the Champions League with Barcelona.🇧🇷Brazilian · Born October 26, 1984View profile

How we rank and select

  • Ranking: people are ordered by their Historical Popularity Index (HPI) from Pantheon. HPI combines how many Wikipedia language editions have an article about a person, how many page views those articles get, how evenly the views are spread across languages and how long ago the person lived. People Pantheon does not yet cover are listed after them, ordered by our own popularity score (the number of Wikipedia language editions with an article about them).
  • Membership: each person appears in one occupation list only, based on their primary occupation as classified by Pantheon (for example, a queen who wrote poetry is listed as royalty, not as a writer). Kings, queens, emperors, sultans and royal consorts are not listed as politicians or writers: anyone who held a monarch's office on Wikidata, and never served as a president or head of government, counts as royalty. For the few people Pantheon does not cover, we use the primary field recorded in our database.
  • One-line summaries: each summary is an original line written for this site with AI assistance under our editorial rules, then checked against the Wikipedia introduction so no wording is copied.
  • Statistics: every figure on this page is calculated live from our database each time the page loads, so it changes as we add people.

Further reading

Reviewed by the Who Shares My Birthday editorial team.

Last reviewed: October 2026

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