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
- Field: Painter Clear ×
Edward Burne-Jones
1833 - 1898
David Cox (artist)
1783 - 1859
David Bomberg
1890 - 1957
Walter Langley
1852 - 1922
Peter Phillips (artist)
Born 1939
Ellen Sharples
1769 - 1849
John Walker (painter)
Born 1939
Gerald Brockhurst
1890 - 1978
Emmy Bridgwater
1906 - 1999
William Ashford
1746 - 1824
Arthur Gaskin
1862 - 1928
Edwin Harris
1855 - 1906
Bernard Fleetwood-Walker
1893 - 1965
Margaret Benyon
1940 - 2016
Thomas Wright (engraver)
1792 - 1849
Kate Bunce
1856 - 1927
Henry Payne (artist)
1868 - 1940
Harry John Johnson
1826 - 1884
Samuel Henry Baker
1824 - 1909
Hurvin Anderson
Born 1965
May Louise Greville Cooksey
1878 - 1943
Edward Cowie
Born 1943
Henry Jamyn Brooks
1839 - 1925
Donald Rodney
1961 - 1998
Albert Swinden
1901 - 1961
Louisa Sharpe
1798 - 1843
Bernard Sleigh
1872 - 1954
James John Hill
1811 - 1882
William Armfield Hobday
1771 - 1831
Michael Upton
1938 - 2002
William Derby
1786 - 1847
Eliza Sharpe
1796 - 1874
Henry James Johnstone
1835 - 1907
Andrew Freeth
1912 - 1986
William Breakspeare
1856 - 1914
Raymond Teague Cowern
1913 - 1986
John Hollins (artist)
1798 - 1855
Elijah Walton
1832 - 1880
William Thomas Roden
1818 - 1892
Robert Brandard
1805 - 1862
William John Wainwright
1855 - 1931
Geoff Bunn
Born 1963
Sheila Girling
1924 - 2015
Henry Burn
1807 - 1884
Vincent Barber
1788 - 1838
Barrie Cook
1929 - 2020
Frederick Henry Henshaw
1807 - 1891
Hugh Carter (painter)
1837 - 1903
Thomas Henry Illidge
1799 - 1851
Charles Walter Radclyffe
1817 - 1903
Barbara Balmer
1929 - 2017
Mary Morton Allport
1806 - 1895
Barbara Walker (artist)
Born 1964
Lucy Faulkner Orrinsmith
1839 - 1910
Ian Cook (artist)
Born 1983
Erasmus Walter Ellis
1849 - 1918
George Frederick Harris (painter)
1856 - 1924
John Yeackle
1940 - 2011
Fay Pomerance
1912 - 2001