55.8610° N, 4.2512° W
GLASGOW
Most Famous People Born in Glasgow, United Kingdom
- Notable people
- 3,305
- Peak decade
- 1950s
- Median birth year
- 1943
- Most distinctive
- Football 3.8×
A football city, almost unhealthily so. More than forty per cent of Glasgow's notables are footballers — Old Firm shaped a city's entire celebrity economy — and the next bench down is the actors and singers of a Scottish stage tradition that has produced James McAvoy, Robbie Coltrane, and Mark Knopfler. The 19th-century Clyde shipbuilding boom is the peak that most of the rest of the bench grew out of, and there is also an unusually deep comedy lineage from the working men's clubs that the strict statistical panel doesn't capture but that gave the world Billy Connolly.
One face per decade — the most globally famous figure born in Glasgow during each.
Notable Births by Decade
Click a decade to filter the list below. Peak: 1950s with 337 notable births.
What Glasgow Is Known For
Click any row to filter the list of people below.
Football is Glasgow's biggest profession — 42% of all notables (1,378).
Glasgow over-indexes on football — 3.8× the global rate.
Glasgow under-produces writer — only 0.6× the global rate.
Profession Mix Over Time
Each band shows a profession family's share of Glasgow's notable births by decade. Hover the chart for the breakdown at any decade.
- Sports
- Politics & Law
- Film & TV
- Writing
- Science
- Music
- Other
- Filtered to 1900s Clear ×
Steven Runciman
1903 - 2000
Alexander R. Todd
1907 - 1997
William Primrose
1904 - 1982
Helen MacInnes
1907 - 1985
Jimmy McGrory
1904 - 1982
Jim Mollison
1905 - 1959
Leonard Schapiro
1908 - 1983
Erik Chisholm
1904 - 1965
Nigel Tranter
1909 - 2000
Helen Adam
1909 - 1993
Harry Watt
1906 - 1987
David Meiklejohn
1900 - 1959
Gilbert Highet
1906 - 1978
Hannah Frank
1908 - 2008
Denis William Brogan
1900 - 1974
M. C. Bradbrook
1909 - 1993
John Wheatley, Baron Wheatley
1908 - 1988
John Bannerman, Baron Bannerman of Kildonan
1901 - 1969
Molly Urquhart
1906 - 1977
Andy Aitkenhead
1904 - 1968
Joan du Plat Taylor
1906 - 1983
Jimmy Dunn (footballer, born 1900)
1900 - 1963
W. Murdoch Duncan
1909 - 1976
James Foster (ice hockey)
1905 - 1969
Alex Massie
1906 - 1977
Shmarya Guttman
1909 - 1996
Cezaro Rossetti
1901 - 1950
William Shand
1902 - 1997
Jock Semple
1903 - 1988
Alec Cheyne
1907 - 1983
Ian Collins (tennis)
1903 - 1975
Tommy Law
1908 - 1976
Evelyn Irons
1900 - 2000
Jack Harkness (footballer)
1907 - 1985
Eric Errington
1900 - 1973
Gilbert Gunn
1905 - 1967
George Brown (footballer, born 1907)
Born 1907
Sydney MacEwan
1908 - 1991
Myer Galpern
1903 - 1993
Janet Adam Smith
1905 - 1999
James Crawford (footballer, born 1904)
1904 - 1976
Stewart Chalmers
1907 - 1989
John Jackson (footballer, born 1906)
1906 - 1965
Danny Blair
1905 - 1985
Donald Robertson (athlete)
1905 - 1949
Jimmy Boyd (footballer)
1907 - 1991
George McLachlan
Born 1902
Russell Waters
1908 - 1982
Taso Mathieson
1908 - 1991
Jean S. MacLeod
1908 - 2011
Joe Nibloe
1903 - 1976
Sydney Elliott
1900 - 1987
Isabella Smith Andrews
1905 - 1990
Hugh Roberton
1900 - 1987
Jimmy Dykes (rugby union)
Born 1901
Helen Biggar
1909 - 1953
Arthur Matsu
1904 - 1987
James Litterick
Born 1901
Lex McLean
1908 - 1975
Agnellus Andrew
1908 - 1987
James Ronald
1905 - 1972
Duncan Sutherland
1905 - 1967
Charles Chesters
1904 - 1993
Bobby McKay
1900 - 1977
Roderich Dietze
1909 - 1960
Ferguson Rodger
1907 - 1978
Katherine Lee
1907 - 1968
Jack Lyons (soccer)
Born 1901
Bobby Graham (athlete)
1909 - 1963
Nancy Brysson Morrison
1903 - 1986
John McMenemy
1908 - 1983
Jenny Gilbertson
1902 - 1990
Kenneth Cochrane
1908 - 1998
Peter McGonagle
1904 - 1956
James Nelson (rugby)
1903 - 1981
Jim Money
1907 - 1989
Betty Henderson
1907 - 1979
David Archibald (footballer)
Born 1902
Robert Barr (scénariste)
1909 - 1999
Tony Carroll (footballer)
Born 1906
Sam Evans (footballer)
Born 1904
Johnny Paul
1904 - 1979
Alexander Wood (footballer)
Born 1906
Isa Benzie
1902 - 1988
Hugh McLaughlin Sr.
1909 - 1977
Peter Cunningham (footballer)
1906 - 1934
Peggy Kelman
1909 - 1998
William King (footballer)
1900 - 1962
James Ireland
1903 - 1998
Tommy Chester
1907 - 1979
Jean Sutherland
1907 - 2006
Willie Crilley
1903 - 1955
Sandy Cochrane
1903 - 1967
Luis Sigall
1906 - 1982
David Hodge (Glasgow)
1909 - 1991
John Priestley
1900 - 1980
Richard Robb
1901 - 1977
Thomas Hart (sportsman)
1909 - 2001
Andrew Finlay
Born 1901
Alex Hair
Born 1902
John Cairns (footballer)
1902 - 1965
Jim Forrester
1908 - 1938
Bob McLean (Scottish footballer)
1902 - 1970
George Ritchie (footballer)
1904 - 1978
Bob Lister
1901 - 1995
Dave Whitelaw
1909 - 1979
Bob Calder
Born 1907
Pat McMahon (footballer, born 1908)
1908 - 1992
Andrew Haddow
1903 - 1979
Max Simmers
1904 - 1972
Jimmy Deacon
1906 - 1976
George Rae (architect)
Born 1901
John Glass (footballer)
1908 - 1991
Hugh Lafferty
1901 - 1970
George Smith (footballer, born May 1901)
Born 1901
Sandy Torrance
1901 - 1941
Thomas McGunnigle
Born 1905
Danny McRorie
1906 - 1963
James Miller (footballer, born 1904)
Born 1904
Harry Greenlees
1903 - 1969
James Howden (rugby union)
1900 - 1978
James Maxwell (footballer, born 1900)
1900 - 1964
Jimmy Baxter (footballer, born 1904)
Born 1904
David Cumming (footballer, born 1900)
Born 1900
Frank Taylor (Scottish footballer)
Born 1909
James Adams (Fußballspieler, 1903)
Born 1903
William Knox (footballer, born 1904)
Born 1904
Robert Ferguson (footballer, born 1902)
Born 1902
Harry Dingley
1905 - 1988