57.1501° N, 2.1018° W

ABERDEEN

Most Famous People Born in Aberdeen, United Kingdom

Notable people
885
Peak decade
1980s
Median birth year
1911
Most distinctive
Surgeon 7.8×

Granite-city overachievers: the Surgeon and Physician benches reflect the medical school that trained the founders of modern anaesthesia and tropical medicine, and the Botanist cluster comes from Kew-adjacent plant hunters who combed the empire. The Golf reading is simply what happens when your coastline invented the sport.

Through the Decades

One face per decade — the most globally famous figure born in Aberdeen during each.

What Aberdeen Is Known For

Click any row to filter the list of people below.

Football is Aberdeen's biggest profession — 22% of all notables (195).

Aberdeen over-indexes on surgeon7.8× the global rate.

Aberdeen under-produces actor — only 0.6× the global rate.

  1. Football195
  2. Politician79
  3. Actor27
  4. Painter20
  5. Writer19
  6. Physician18
  7. Poet15
  8. Historian15
  1. Surgeon97.8×
  2. Golf106.7×
  3. Botanist123.4×
  4. Physician183.0×
  5. Mathematician102.3×
  6. Engineer122.2×
  7. Football1952.0×
  8. Poet151.6×
  1. Actor270.6×
  2. Writer190.7×

Profession Mix Over Time

Each band shows a profession family's share of Aberdeen's notable births by decade. Hover the chart for the breakdown at any decade.

15001550160016501700175018001850190019502000
  • Sports
  • Science
  • Politics & Law
  • Writing
  • Art & Design
  • Music
  • Other
Politician79
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Showing 79 of 885 notable people

0049 POLITICIAN

Norman Baker

Born 1957

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0057 POLITICIAN

Anneliese Dodds

Born 1978

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0077 POLITICIAN

Kirsty Blackman

Born 1986

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0111 POLITICIAN

Kezia Dugdale

Born 1981

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0129 POLITICIAN

Nicol Stephen

Born 1960

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0132 POLITICIAN

Callum McCaig

Born 1985

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0136 POLITICIAN

Eilidh Whiteford

Born 1969

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0154 POLITICIAN

Stuart Donaldson (Scottish politician)

Born 1991

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0158 POLITICIAN

Ross Thomson

Born 1987

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0164 POLITICIAN

Richard Shepherd

Born 1942

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0195 POLITICIAN

George McCrae (politician)

1860 - 1928

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0201 POLITICIAN

Alexander Duff (British Army officer)

1777 - 1851

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0209 POLITICIAN

John Stevenson (British politician)

Born 1963

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0215 POLITICIAN

Maureen Watt

Born 1951

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0219 POLITICIAN

Walter Coutts

1912 - 1988

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0233 POLITICIAN

Kevin Stewart (Scottish politician)

Born 1968

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0241 POLITICIAN

James Cran

Born 1944

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0258 POLITICIAN

Keith Raffan

Born 1949

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0260 POLITICIAN

Robert Hughes, Baron Hughes of Woodside

Born 1932

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0263 POLITICIAN

Alexander Mackenzie Fraser

1756 - 1809

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0270 POLITICIAN

Sheila Gilmore

Born 1949

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0281 POLITICIAN

Norman Hogg, Baron Hogg of Cumbernauld

1938 - 2008

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0297 POLITICIAN

Richard Alexander (British politician)

1934 - 2008

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0300 POLITICIAN

James Moir Ferres

1813 - 1870

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0321 POLITICIAN

Jenny Gilruth

Born 1984

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0325 POLITICIAN

Colin Clark (politician)

Born 1968

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0328 POLITICIAN

Graeme Dey

Born 1962

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0346 POLITICIAN

Andrew Bowie (politician)

Born 1988

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0352 POLITICIAN

James Ferguson (Scottish politician)

1735 - 1820

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0366 POLITICIAN

Alexander Bannerman

1788 - 1864

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0370 POLITICIAN

Andrew Leith Hay

1785 - 1862

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0372 POLITICIAN

Dennis Robertson (politician)

Born 1956

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0399 POLITICIAN

Sir John Arbuthnot, 1st Baronet

1912 - 1992

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0408 POLITICIAN

Duncan Pirie

1858 - 1931

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0425 POLITICIAN

Peter Bevan-Baker

Born 1962

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0449 POLITICIAN

Michael Fraser, Baron Fraser of Kilmorack

1915 - 1996

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0462 POLITICIAN

James Hutchison (Australian politician)

1859 - 1909

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0466 POLITICIAN

James Forrester (politician)

1937 - 2011

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0468 POLITICIAN

John William Crombie

1858 - 1908

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0471 POLITICIAN

Francis Ormond

1827 - 1889

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0482 POLITICIAN

John McPherson

1860 - 1897

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0486 POLITICIAN

Alexander Thomson (pioneer)

1800 - 1866

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0487 POLITICIAN

Robert Morrison, 1st Baron Morrison

1881 - 1953

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0509 POLITICIAN

Nanette Milne

Born 1942

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0510 POLITICIAN

Alexander Allardyce (British MP)

1743 - 1801

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0524 POLITICIAN

Alfred Balfour

1885 - 1963

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0528 POLITICIAN

Horace Forbes, 19th Lord Forbes

1829 - 1914

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0532 POLITICIAN

George Thompson (shipowner)

1804 - 1895

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0552 POLITICIAN

Wallace Nelson

1856 - 1943

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0567 POLITICIAN

John G. Williams

Born 1946

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0569 POLITICIAN

Rosemary Hall (political activist)

1925 - 2011

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0570 POLITICIAN

James Macandrew

Died 1887

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0571 POLITICIAN

Nora Radcliffe

Born 1946

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0642 POLITICIAN

John Letford

Born 1935

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0673 POLITICIAN

John Black (Lower Canada politician)

Born 1764

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0680 POLITICIAN

Matthew Dymond

1911 - 1996

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0682 POLITICIAN

Sue Mackay

Born 1960

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0684 POLITICIAN

James W. Robison

1831 - 1909

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0704 POLITICIAN

Bruce Watson (politician)

1910 - 1988

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0709 POLITICIAN

William Bain Scarth

1837 - 1902

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0717 POLITICIAN

Stephen Robertson (politician)

Born 1962

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0723 POLITICIAN

John Milne (politician)

1839 - 1922

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0738 POLITICIAN

Frank Findlay

1884 - 1945

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0747 POLITICIAN

John Skene (New Jersey)

1649 - 1695

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0750 POLITICIAN

John Black (merchant)

1765 - 1823

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0782 POLITICIAN

Bisset Berry

1839 - 1922

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0800 POLITICIAN

Roy Hendry Thomson

1932 - 2009

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0805 POLITICIAN

Robert Gardiner (politician)

1879 - 1945

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0806 POLITICIAN

William Dawson (New Zealand politician)

1852 - 1923

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0823 POLITICIAN

Ian Strachan (Newfoundland and Labrador politician)

Born 1940

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0830 POLITICIAN

William Bruce Wood

1848 - 1928

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0836 POLITICIAN

James Aiken

1888 - 1974

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0849 POLITICIAN

William James Lovie

1868 - 1938

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0851 POLITICIAN

Joseph Petrie

1848 - 1908

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0857 POLITICIAN

William Davidson (British Columbia politician)

Born 1867

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0858 POLITICIAN

Alexander Duff Connon

1891 - 1975

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0860 POLITICIAN

John Salmon (politician)

1808 - 1873

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0873 POLITICIAN

John Watson (Queensland politician)

1833 - 1912

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0879 POLITICIAN

George Sangster (politician)

1845 - 1915

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