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.
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 loyalist — 272.1× the global rate.
Belfast under-produces painter — only 0.5× the global rate.
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.
- Sports
- Politics & Law
- Film & TV
- Writing
- Science
- Music
- Other
- Field: Loyalist Clear ×
Johnny Adair
Born 1963
William McGrath
1916 - 1992
Mark Haddock
Born 1968
Stephen McKeag
1970 - 2000
Joe Bratty
1961 - 1994
Frankie Curry
1955 - 1999
William Marchant (loyalist)
1948 - 1987
Tommy Lyttle
1939 - 1995
Robert Bates (loyalist)
1948 - 1997
Gary Smyth (loyalist)
-
Jim Spence (loyalist)
Born 1960
Billy Elliot (RHC)
1964 - 1995
Jackie Mahood
Born 1954
Ken Barrett (loyalist)
Born 1963
James Millar (loyalist)
Born 1966
Jackie Thompson
Born 1963
Robert Seymour (loyalist)
1955 - 1988
Winkie Dodds
Born 1958
Donald Hodgen
Born 1963
Harry Stockman (loyalist)
Born 1961
James Watt (loyalist)
Born 1952