54.5964° N, 5.9301° W

BELFAST

Most Famous People Born in Belfast, United Kingdom

Notable people
1,393
Peak decade
1950s
Median birth year
1949
Most distinctive
Loyalist 272.1×

A divided city whose most distinctive profession in the entire dataset, at more than two hundred times the global rate, is loyalist — paired with republican at more than thirty, the statistical footprint of the Troubles. Belfast's other distinctive shelves are boxers, rugby players (grouped as 'player'), footballers, and cricketers at concentrations that outpace every other city on the island. Van Morrison, George Best, Kenneth Branagh, and C.S. Lewis all grew up within walking distance of the Lagan, and the 19th-century shipbuilding establishment that built the Titanic anchors the older half of the bench.

Through the Decades

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

Notable Births by Decade

Click a decade to filter the list below. Peak: 1950s with 179 notable births.

What Belfast Is Known For

Click any row to filter the list of people below.

Football is Belfast's biggest profession — 23% of all notables (321).

Belfast over-indexes on loyalist272.1× the global rate.

Belfast under-produces painter — only 0.5× the global rate.

  1. Football321
  2. Politician160
  3. Actor77
  4. Player59
  5. Boxer36
  6. Cricket34
  7. Writer32
  8. Sport28
  1. Loyalist21272.1×
  2. Republican1632.3×
  3. Boxer366.5×
  4. Player592.2×
  5. Football3212.1×
  6. Cricket341.9×
  1. Painter180.5×
  2. Writer320.7×

Profession Mix Over Time

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

1700175018001850190019502000
  • Sports
  • Politics & Law
  • Film & TV
  • Writing
  • Science
  • Music
  • Other
All1,393
Sort By

Showing 26 of 1,393 notable people

0270 PLAYWRIGHT

George A. Birmingham

1865 - 1950

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0432 BIOLOGIST

Ernest MacBride

1866 - 1940

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0504 POLITICIAN

William Magennis

1867 - 1946

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0517 FOOTBALL

Olphert Stanfield

1869 - 1952

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0559 FOOTBALL

Jack Peden

1863 - 1944

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0609 CARTOONIST

George Morrow (illustrator)

1869 - 1955

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0658 FOOTBALL

Billy Crone

1863 - 1944

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0659 MILITAR

Frederick H. Crawford

1861 - 1952

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0732 MISSIONARY

Samuel Bill

1864 - 1942

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0762 POLICE

Charles Rafter

1860 - 1935

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0805 FOOTBALL

Archie Goodall

1864 - 1929

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0837 TRADE UNION

John Alexander McCullough

1860 - 1947

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0911 RUGBY

Dolway Walkington

1867 - 1926

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0920 FOOTBALL

Samuel Johnston (footballer)

1866 - 1910

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1016 PHOTOGRAPHER

Margaret Matilda White

1868 - 1910

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1104 SAILOR

Samuel McAllister

1869 - 1903

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1134 FOOTBALL

Sam Torrans

1869 - 1948

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1156 POLITICIAN

Hugh Langwell

1860 - 1933

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1178 SPORT

Willie Hume

1862 - 1941

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1187 LAWYER

Jackson Palmer

1867 - 1919

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1217 STOCKBROKER

Sir William Coates, 1st Baronet

1866 - 1932

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1243 JUDGE

Robert Noble Jones

1864 - 1942

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1257 LAWYER

Letitia Alice Walkington

Born 1868

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1329 CRICKET

Arthur George Paul

1864 - 1942

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1363 FOOTBALL

John McVickers

Born 1868

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1389 CHEMIST

Augustus Edward Dixon

1861 - 1946

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