55.9533° N, 3.1894° W
EDINBURGH
Most Famous People Born in Edinburgh, United Kingdom
- Notable people
- 2,337
- Peak decade
- 1980s
- Median birth year
- 1919
- Most distinctive
- Botanist 3.0×
Half university town, half capital. Edinburgh's notables are unusually dense in the 1700s and 1800s — botanists, chemists, physicians, judges, and engineers — a footprint that maps almost perfectly onto the Scottish Enlightenment and the Victorian scientific establishment. The modern half adds cricketers and rugby players (grouped in the data as 'player'), but the city's intellectual tilt is still its defining feature.
One face per decade — the most globally famous figure born in Edinburgh during each.
Notable Births by Decade
Click a decade to filter the list below. Peak: 1980s with 175 notable births.
What Edinburgh Is Known For
Click any row to filter the list of people below.
Football is Edinburgh's biggest profession — 22% of all notables (509).
Edinburgh over-indexes on botanist — 3.0× the global rate.
Edinburgh under-produces politician — only 0.7× the global rate.
Profession Mix Over Time
Each band shows a profession family's share of Edinburgh's notable births by decade. Hover the chart for the breakdown at any decade.
- Sports
- Science
- Politics & Law
- Writing
- Art & Design
- Film & TV
- Other
- Field: Painter Clear ×
Peter Doig
Born 1959
David Roberts (painter)
1796 - 1864
Henry Raeburn
1756 - 1823
Allan Ramsay (artist)
1713 - 1784
Samuel Peploe
1871 - 1935
William Bell Scott
1811 - 1890
William Allan (painter)
1782 - 1850
Alexander Nasmyth
1758 - 1840
Francis Cadell (artist)
1883 - 1937
James Archer (artist)
1823 - 1904
William Quiller Orchardson
1832 - 1910
William Russell Flint
1880 - 1969
Joseph Farquharson
1846 - 1935
John Pettie
1839 - 1893
William Miller (engraver)
1796 - 1882
Philip Reinagle
1748 - 1833
François Quesnel
1542 - 1619
Callum Innes
Born 1962
John MacWhirter
1837 - 1911
William Home Lizars
1788 - 1859
Jacob More
1740 - 1793
Robert Gibb
1845 - 1932
Robert Scott Lauder
1803 - 1869
Robert Burns (artist)
1869 - 1941
William Bruce Ellis Ranken
1881 - 1941
John Smibert
1688 - 1751
Alexander Runciman
1736 - 1785
Patrick Nasmyth
1787 - 1831
John Christian Schetky
1778 - 1874
James Ballantine
1806 - 1877
Frederick Gore
1913 - 2009
William Wilson (artist)
1905 - 1972
John Runciman
1744 - 1766
Ethel Walker
1861 - 1951
James Campbell Noble
1846 - 1913
Alexander Johnston (artist)
1816 - 1891
Dorothy Johnstone
1892 - 1980
James Drummond (artist)
1816 - 1877
Emily Murray Paterson
1855 - 1934
John Brown (artist)
1749 - 1787
Craigie Aitchison (painter)
1926 - 2009
Adam Bruce Thomson
1885 - 1976
Hew Locke
Born 1959
Cathcart William Methven
1849 - 1925
Max Meldrum
1875 - 1955
John Watson Gordon
1788 - 1864
John Mackie Falconer
1820 - 1903
Henry Raeburn Dobson
1901 - 1985
Jane Nasmyth
1788 - 1867
William Fettes Douglas
1822 - 1891
John Henry Lorimer
1856 - 1936
Andrew Geddes (artist)
1783 - 1844
Peter Graham (Maler)
1836 - 1921
David Scott (painter)
1806 - 1849
Anne Nasmyth
1798 - 1874
Robert Gemmell Hutchison
1855 - 1936
William Kidd (painter)
1790 - 1863
Allan Stewart (artist)
1865 - 1951
James Howe Carse
1819 - 1900
George Willison (artist)
1741 - 1797
Andrew Wilson (artist)
1780 - 1848
Mabel Pryde
1871 - 1918
John Burr
1831 - 1893
Walter Geikie
1795 - 1837
Alexander George Fraser
1786 - 1865
George Aikman
1830 - 1905
Hugh Buchanan (artist)
Born 1958
Denis Peploe
1914 - 1993
George Manson
1850 - 1876
John Scougal
1645 - 1730
Joan Warburton
1920 - 1996
John Graham (painter)
1754 - 1817
William Starkweather
1879 - 1969
Joyce W. Cairns
Born 1947
Charles Shirreff (painter)
1750 - 1831
Gourlay Steell
1819 - 1894
David Paton (artist)
Died 1709
George Chalmers (artist)
1720 - 1791
Peter Davies (artist)
Born 1970
Charles Heath Wilson
1809 - 1882
Patrick Gibson (artist)
1782 - 1829
Robert Noble (artist)
1857 - 1917
John Donaldson (painter)
1737 - 1801
Peter Alexander Hay
1866 - 1952
William Geissler
1894 - 1963
James Alfred Aitken
1846 - 1897
David Cooke Gibson
1827 - 1856
Louis Whirter
1873 - 1932
Robert Payton Reid
1859 - 1945
David Murray Smith
1865 - 1952
Richard Cooper Jr.
1740 - 1814
Walter Balmer Hislop
1886 - 1915
Andrew Somerville
1808 - 1834
William Carse
1800 - 1845
Tony Valentine
1939 - 2018
Edwin Alexander
1870 - 1926
Archibald Ramsay Douglas
1807 - 1886
Penelope Beaton
1886 - 1963
Reginald Henry Campbell
1877 - 1953
Anne Finlay
1898 - 1963
Simon Claridge
Born 1980
Jo Fraser
Born 1986
John Baxter Mather
1853 - 1940