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: Painter Clear ×
John Lavery
1856 - 1941
Paul Henry (painter)
1876 - 1958
Henry Arthur McArdle
1836 - 1908
Gerard Dillon
1916 - 1971
Colin Middleton
1910 - 1983
Muriel Brandt
1909 - 1981
John Luke (artist)
1906 - 1975
Anne Donnelly
Born 1932
Colin Davidson (artist)
Born 1968
Andrew Nicholl
1804 - 1886
Thomas Carr (artist)
1909 - 1999
Rita Duffy
Born 1959
James Ward (Irish artist)
1851 - 1924
James Bingham
1925 - 2009
Maurice Canning Wilks
1910 - 1984
Mercy Hunter
1910 - 1989
Padraig Marrinan
1906 - 1975
Jack Morrow
1872 - 1926