And John Goodman.
And Woodrow Wilson.
Don’t forget Richard Nixon.
Perhaps you’re forgetting Francis Scott Key? Though in terms of pure fame Phelps is probably more well known now.
I’d add Geronimo to the list even though he was born well before statehood.
Louisiana - Louis Armstrong, Huey Long
Not so sure about the extra points. I believe Tom Petty moved to California in 1974 about the time Mudcrutch broke up and he started his solo career. Mudcrutch was popular in Gainesville but TP did not become famous until afterward.
I think “international facial recognition” is a lousy criterion for “fame.” If we were serious, this whole thread would be nothing but sports stars, actors, and musicians. Those are the only people recognizable worldwide.
So was Will Rogers.
But the territory where Geronimo was born is now part of New Mexico not Oklahoma.
Anyone want to take a shot at Delaware? Joe Biden, Robert Crumb, and Christine O’Donnell all live in Delaware but all three were born in Pennsylvania.
The most famous native-born Delawareans I can find are Valerie Bertinelli, Jennifer Leigh, Ryan Phillippe, Teri Polo, Judge Reinhold, Elisabeth Shue, Sean Patrick Thomas, and George Thorogood. None of whom are really world famous.
I’d say Jefferson trumps all of these regardless, but I’d take the man with the most extant portraits of any American over the whole bunch.
That would be one George Washington 
…and I see **Arnold **already has him. Nevermind.
Names included up to post 130.
List one: my choices for US States (reflecting my biases - e.g. I don’t follow sports).
List two: US territories since Colibri brought it up.
List three: candidates that have been brought up and might, IMHO, be defensible.
I’ve omitted a bunch of names that don’t come close.
List 1
State / Most famous person born in that state
Alabama / Helen Keller or James Cleveland “Jesse” Owens
Alaska / Curtis Montague Schilling
Arkansas / William Jefferson “Bill” Clinton or John R. “Johnny” Cash
California / Norma Jeane Baker aka Marilyn Monroe or Richard Milhous Nixon
Colorado / William Harrison “Jack” Dempsey
Florida / Thomas Earl Petty aka Tom Petty
Georgia / Martin Luther King or James Earl “Jimmy” Carter
Hawaii / Barack Hussein Obama
Illinois / Ronald Wilson Reagan or Miles Dewey Davis
Indiana / Michael Joseph Jackson (trumps Mellencamp because of MJ’s extreme worldwide fame)
Iowa / Marion Mitchell Morrison aka John Wayne
Kansas / Amelia Earhart
Kentucky / Abraham Lincoln
Louisiana / Louis Daniel Armstrong
Maine / Stephen Edwin King
Maryland / Frank Vincent Zappa or George Herman Ruth aka “Babe” Ruth
Massachussetts / John Fitzgerald Kennedy
Michigan / Madonna Louise Ciccone
Minnesota / Robert Allen Zimmerman aka Bob Dylan
Mississippi / Elvis Aaron Presley
Missouri / Samuel Langhorne Clemens aka Mark Twain (Walt Disney was born in Chicago, Illinois!)
Montana / Frank James “Gary” Cooper
Nebraska / Marlon Brando
New Hampshire / Franklin Pierce or Dan Brown
New Jersey / Francis Albert “Frank” Sinatra
New Mexico / John Denver or Demi Gene Guynes aka Demi Moore or Geronimo or Alfred “Al” Unser
New York / Franklin Delano Roosevelt aka FDR
North Carolina / Andy Samuel Griffith or William Franklin “Billy” Graham
Ohio / Thomas Alva Edison or Steven Allan Spielberg
Oklahoma / William Penn Adair “Will” Rogers or William Bradley “Brad” Pitt
Oregon / Matthew Abram “Matt” Groening or Linus Carl Pauling or Raymond Clevie Carver
Pennsylvania / William Henry “Bill” Cosby
South Dakota / Sitting Bull or Thomas John “Tom” Brokaw
Tennessee / Dolly Rebecca Parton or David Crockett
Texas / Lyndon Baines Johnson aka LBJ or Howard Robard Hughes or Dwight David “Ike” Eisenhower
Vermont / Joseph Smith
Virginia/ George Washington (I’ll accept him even though the state didn’t exist yet)
Washington / William Henry “Bill” Gates III (beats Jimi Hendrix)
Washington, DC / Albert Arnold “Al” Gore (being a political figure, he deserves to be the most famous native)
West Virginia / Charles Elwood “Chuck” Yeager
Wisconsin / Frank Lloyd Wright
Wisconsin / George Orson Welles
Wyoming / Paul Jackson Pollock
List 2
Territories
Canal Zone - John Sidney McCain
List 3
Other suggestions that don’t quite make the cut
Kentucky / John Christopher “Johnny” Depp
Maryland / Michael Fred Phelps
New Hampshire / Sarah Kate Silverman
New Mexico / Jeffrey Preston “Jeff” Bezos or William Henry “Bill” Mauldin
New York / Michael Jeffrey Jordan
Ohio / LeBron Raymone James
Oklahoma / Troyal Garth Brooks or Mickey Charles Mantle
South Dakota / Thomas Andrew Daschle
Tennessee / Aretha Louise Franklin or Morgan Porterfield Freeman
I also mentioned “name recognition”. Someone whose name is universally recognized is famous, even if you wouldn’t recognize his face. e.g. Jesus Christ, or Alexander the Great, or Thomas Edison (how many people could pick Thomas Edison out of a lineup?)
Or are you proposing a better definition of fame?
That would be a bunch of polls, unless I take all the disputed names for all the states and create one poll including all of them. A poll would be the best way to pick the “winner”. I’ll think about the best method.
Massachusetts seems pretty clear-cut to me. For the other ones you mention, I agree that there’s not one clear answer yet.
If you want to do a separate poll just for Tennesse, feel free.
My definition:
I consider someone famous if you hear the name (or see the photo) and know who the person is, meaning you can say one accurate fact about them. For example, in my case, I heard LeBron James and thought he was a football player at first (like I said, I don’t follow sports.) To know who is most famous, for a scientific study, you would poll a random group of people and choose the person recognized by the most people.
Hawaii- Barak!
<Insert Birther joke here>
I still think Sandra Bullock beats everyone but George Washington.
I’d argue that Henry Ford is more famous than Madonna. And certainly more a part of Michigan history.
An alternative for California might be Clint Eastwood, though I guess Marilyn Monroe really is more famous.
There’s really a lot of choice for this state.