52.4791° N, 1.9017° W
BIRMINGHAM
Most Famous People Born in Birmingham, United Kingdom
- Notable people
- 1,855
- Peak decade
- 1960s
- Median birth year
- 1945
- Most distinctive
- Cricket 4.2×
England's second city, and the engine room of the Industrial Revolution. Birmingham's distinctive professions are cricketers, boxers, footballers, and musicians — the last because the city produced an outsized share of the British heavy-metal scene, from Black Sabbath (Ozzy, Geezer Butler, Bill Ward) through Judas Priest and ELO. Matthew Boulton, Francis Galton, and Neville Chamberlain all belong to the 19th-century Midlands establishment that built the place.
One face per decade — the most globally famous figure born in Birmingham during each.
Notable Births by Decade
Click a decade to filter the list below. Peak: 1960s with 216 notable births.
What Birmingham Is Known For
Click any row to filter the list of people below.
Football is Birmingham's biggest profession — 25% of all notables (467).
Birmingham over-indexes on cricket — 4.2× the global rate.
Birmingham under-produces politician — only 0.3× the global rate.
Profession Mix Over Time
Each band shows a profession family's share of Birmingham's notable births by decade. Hover the chart for the breakdown at any decade.
- Sports
- Film & TV
- Writing
- Music
- Art & Design
- Science
- Other
- Filtered to 1790s Clear ×
George Pritchard (missionary)
1796 - 1883
William Wyon
1795 - 1851
William Simms (instrument maker)
1793 - 1860
Thomas Wright (engraver)
1792 - 1849
Matthew Davenport Hill
1792 - 1872
Louisa Sharpe
1798 - 1843
Sarah Booth
1793 - 1867
Eliza Sharpe
1796 - 1874
John Hollins (artist)
1798 - 1855
Edwin Hill (engineer)
1793 - 1876
Thomas Wyon
1792 - 1817
Thomas Henry Illidge
1799 - 1851
Edward Nevil Macready
1798 - 1848
George Unite
1798 - 1896
James Shipton
1798 - 1865
Thomas Barnett (Niagara Falls)
1799 - 1890