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.

Through the Decades

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.

Biggest Most distinctive Under-indexed

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.

Politician730.3×

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 1830s Clear ×

0007 PAINTER

Edward Burne-Jones

1833 - 1898

Notable Births by Decade

What Birmingham Is Known For

Profession Mix Over Time

Edward Burne-Jones

George Cadbury

Francis Edward Bache

John Benjamin Stone

William Hunt Painter

James Eustace Bagnall

George Rignold

Julian Salomons

Henry Jamyn Brooks

Joseph Henry Shorthouse

Sarah Anne Curzon

Samuel Lewis (financier)

Henry James Johnstone

Elijah Walton

George Clark Stanton

Hugh Carter (painter)

Lucy Faulkner Orrinsmith

Cornelius Ham

Edwin Derrington

James Millner (doctor)

Goodwin Newton

Henry Freer

Joseph Penzer