51.5071° N, 0.1297° W

LONDON

Most Famous People Born in London, United Kingdom

Notable people
15,663
Peak decade
1960s
Median birth year
1919
Most distinctive
Novelist 2.6×

Nine centuries of the British public eye. London's notables fan out across a longer continuous span than almost any other anglophone city, from medieval peers and antiquarians through Georgian solicitors and impresarios to a postwar wave of actors, footballers, and singers. The court and the stage have always been within walking distance of each other here, and the dataset shows it.

Standouts

What London Is Known For

Click any row to filter the list of people below.

Actor is London's biggest profession — 13% of all notables (2,038).

London over-indexes on novelist 2.6× the global rate.

London under-produces football — only 0.3× the global rate.

  1. Actor 2,038 2.5×
  2. Politician 1,102 0.6×
  3. Painter 769 1.9×
  4. Writer 646 1.3×
  5. Football 600 0.3×
  6. Singer 424 1.3×
  7. Film 350 1.8×
  8. Music 340 1.5×
  1. Novelist 163 2.6×
  2. Actor 2,038 2.5×
  3. Painter 769 1.9×
  4. Film 350 1.8×
  5. Composer 318 1.5×
  6. Music 340 1.5×
  1. Football 600 0.3×
  2. Politician 1,102 0.6×

Profession Mix Over Time

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

1550 1600 1650 1700 1750 1800 1850 1900 1950 2000
  • Film & TV
  • Writing
  • Art & Design
  • Politics & Law
  • Music
  • Sports
  • Other
All15,663
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Showing 64 of 15,663 notable people

0163 WRITER

Horace Walpole

1717 - 1797

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0281 POET

Thomas Gray

1716 - 1771

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0311 POLITICIAN

George Grenville

1712 - 1770

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0479 COMPOSER

Thomas Arne

1710 - 1778

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0699 COMPOSER

William Boyce (composer)

1711 - 1779

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0740 EDUCATION

John Needham

1713 - 1781

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0845 SURGEON

Percivall Pott

1714 - 1788

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0848 BOTANIST

William Watson (scientist)

1715 - 1787

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1047 POLITICIAN

George Germain, 1st Viscount Sackville

1716 - 1785

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1347 COMPOSER

John Stanley (composer)

1712 - 1786

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1407 ANTHROPOLOGIST

James Stuart (1713–1788)

1713 - 1788

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1524 PHYSICIAN

William Heberden

1710 - 1801

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1669 OFFICER

Edward Cornwallis

1713 - 1776

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1899 ACTOR

Kitty Clive

1711 - 1785

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2009 MUSIC

John Hawkins (author)

1719 - 1789

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2166 PRIEST

Frederick Cornwallis

1713 - 1783

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2205 JUDGE

Charles Pratt, 1st Earl Camden

1714 - 1794

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2375 POLITICIAN

Francis Seymour-Conway, 1st Marquess of Hertford

1718 - 1794

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2421 ARISTOCRAT

Diana Russell, Duchess of Bedford

1710 - 1735

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2832 POLITICIAN

John Perceval, 2nd Earl of Egmont

1711 - 1770

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2939 JUDGE

Henry Bathurst, 2nd Earl Bathurst

1714 - 1794

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2940 ACTOR

Susannah Maria Cibber

1714 - 1766

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3273 PHILOSOPHER

Emanuel Mendez da Costa

1717 - 1791

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3676 ROYAL FAMILY

Prince George William of Great Britain

1717 - 1718

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3693 WRITER

Richard Glover (poet)

1712 - 1785

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3778 DIPLOMAT

Robert Darcy, 4th Earl of Holderness

1718 - 1778

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4046 OPERA

John Beard (tenor)

1716 - 1791

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4367 MILITAR

Richard Kempenfelt

1718 - 1782

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4392 NOVELIST

Charlotte Charke

1713 - 1760

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4493 MUSIC

John Alcock (organist)

1715 - 1806

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4580 AUTHOR

Richard Owen Cambridge

1717 - 1802

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4608 HYMNWRITER

Joseph Hart

1712 - 1768

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4959 LAWYER

James Wright (governor)

1716 - 1785

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5006 WRITER

Paul Whitehead (satirist)

1710 - 1774

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5119 ACTOR

Hannah Pritchard

1711 - 1768

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5192 PRIEST

Robert Hay Drummond

1711 - 1776

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5716 PAINTER

John Wollaston (painter)

1710 - 1775

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5924 OPERA

Thomas Lowe (tenor)

1719 - 1783

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6119 NOBLE

James Cecil, 6th Earl of Salisbury

1713 - 1780

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6229 PAINTER

Richard Paton

1717 - 1791

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6410 BUSINESS

Joseph Salvador

1716 - 1786

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6569 ARTISAN

Thomas Elfe

1719 - 1775

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6780 ENGRAVER

Charles Grignion the Elder

1717 - 1810

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6906 OPERA

Cecilia Young

1712 - 1789

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7170 PEER

Anthony Ashley Cooper, 4th Earl of Shaftesbury

1711 - 1771

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7848 ARTIST

John van Nost the younger

1712 - 1787

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8290 SOCIAL REFORMER

William Shipley

1714 - 1803

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8588 POLITICIAN

Richard Onslow, 3rd Baron Onslow

1713 - 1776

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8593 PAINTER

Anthony Highmore

1719 - 1799

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8697 OFFICER

James Young (Royal Navy officer, born 1717)

1717 - 1789

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8917 SINGER

Esther Young

1717 - 1795

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9144 MEMOIRIST

Frances Vane, Viscountess Vane

1715 - 1788

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9279 MERCHANT

Samuel Enderby

1719 - 1797

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9969 PAINTER

Henry Robert Morland

1716 - 1797

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10885 THEATRE

Lewis Hallam

1714 - 1756

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10916 CLERIC

William Cooke (Provost of King's College)

1711 - 1797

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11073 PRIVATEER

Henry Simms

1717 - 1747

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11212 ENGRAVER

Andrew Lawrence (engraver)

1710 - 1747

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11398 GOVERNOR

Richard Bulkeley (civil servant)

1717 - 1800

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12293 ACTOR

Hannah Norsa

1712 - 1784

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12446 PAINTER

John Parker (Maler)

1710 - 1765

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12659 PHILOSOPHES

John Aikin (Unitarian)

1713 - 1780

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13836 PROFESSOR

William Fraigneau

1717 - 1788

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15123 MISSING

Elisabeth Dorothea von Wiser

1718 - 1771

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