22.2748° N, 114.1560° E

HONG KONG

Most Famous People Born in Hong Kong, China

Notable people
1,988
Peak decade
1980s
Median birth year
1968
Most distinctive
Justice 47.5×

A former British colony whose 20th-century entertainment industry became one of the largest in Asia. Almost one in five of Hong Kong's notables is an actor — a share matched by almost nowhere else — and the distinctive shelves beyond that are justices, legislators, badminton players, and chief executives, the vocabulary of a city that ran itself as a legal-commercial entrepôt. Jackie Chan, Leslie Cheung, Chow Yun-fat, Tony Leung, and Wong Kar-wai's regulars all belong to this bench.

Through the Decades

One face per decade — the most globally famous figure born in Hong Kong during each.

Notable Births by Decade

Click a decade to filter the list below. Peak: 1980s with 352 notable births.

What Hong Kong Is Known For

Click any row to filter the list of people below.

Actor is Hong Kong's biggest profession — 20% of all notables (390).

Hong Kong over-indexes on justice47.5× the global rate.

  1. Actor390
  2. Football225
  3. Politician180
  4. Singer141
  5. Film75
  6. Player70
  7. Badminton68
  8. Business58
  1. Justice2347.5×
  2. Badminton6815.0×
  3. Driver345.5×
  4. Actor3903.7×
  5. Singer1413.4×
  6. Entrepreneur213.1×
  7. Film753.1×
  8. Business582.9×

Profession Mix Over Time

Each band shows a profession family's share of Hong Kong's notable births by decade. Hover the chart for the breakdown at any decade.

1850187519001925195019752000
  • Sports
  • Film & TV
  • Politics & Law
  • Music
  • Business
  • Science
  • Other
All1,988
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Showing 7 of 1,988 notable people

0076 POTTER

Bernard Leach

1887 - 1979

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0144 DIPLOMAT

Wang Ch'unghui

1881 - 1958

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0238 WRITER

Arthur Grimble

1888 - 1956

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0300 POLITICIAN

Julio Lozano Díaz

1885 - 1957

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0676 ECONOMIST

Wichard von Moellendorff (engineer)

1881 - 1937

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1194 POLO

Percival Kinnear Wise

1885 - 1968

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1826 CRICKET

Colin McIver

1881 - 1954

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