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 93 of 15,663 notable people

0153 BOTANIST

Joseph Banks

1743 - 1820

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0233 ANTHROPOLOGIST

William Jones (philologist)

1746 - 1794

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0257 POLITICIAN

Charles James Fox

1749 - 1806

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0691 NOBLE

William Cavendish, 5th Duke of Devonshire

1748 - 1811

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0760 ECONOMIST

Arthur Young (agriculturist)

1741 - 1820

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0787 EXPLORER

Samuel Hearne

1745 - 1792

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0838 ARISTOCRAT

Prince William Henry, Duke of Gloucester and Edinburgh

1743 - 1805

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0889 POET

Charlotte Turner Smith

1749 - 1806

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0930 PRINCE

Prince Henry, Duke of Cumberland and Strathearn

1745 - 1790

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0962 ARCHITECT

Charles Cameron (architect)

1746 - 1812

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1158 MATHEMATICIAN

George Atwood

1745 - 1807

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1285 NOBLE

Henry Scott, 3rd Duke of Buccleuch

1746 - 1812

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1510 WRITER

Thomas Day

1748 - 1789

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1625 ARCHITECT

James Gandon

1742 - 1823

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1635 PAINTER

William Hodges

1744 - 1797

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1645 COMPOSER

Samuel Arnold (composer)

1740 - 1802

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2387 ARISTOCRAT

Henry Somerset, 5th Duke of Beaufort

1744 - 1803

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2467 PAINTER

Mary Moser

1744 - 1819

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2491 HISTORIAN

William Coxe (historian)

1747 - 1828

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2528 POLITICIAN

William FitzGerald, 2nd Duke of Leinster

1749 - 1804

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2587 PAINTER

François-Guillaume Ménageot

1744 - 1816

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2757 PRINTMAKER

Richard Earlom

1743 - 1822

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2763 WRITER

Henry James Pye

1745 - 1813

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2861 ARTIST

Kitty Fisher

1741 - 1767

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3157 SINGER

Martha Ray

1742 - 1779

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3199 WATCHMAKER

Benjamin Vulliamy

1747 - 1811

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3341 NOBLE

James Cecil, 1st Marquess of Salisbury

1748 - 1823

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3367 COMPOSER

Michael Arne

1740 - 1786

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3382 PAINTER

Thomas Malton

1748 - 1804

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3522 WORKER / BUSINESS (SMALL)

Elizabeth Batts Cook

1741 - 1835

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3604 ACTOR

Sophia Baddeley

1745 - 1786

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3685 COLLECTOR

Sarah Sophia Banks

1744 - 1818

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3869 ARTIST

James Forbes (artist)

1749 - 1819

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3959 ROYAL FAMILY

Princess Elizabeth of Great Britain

1741 - 1759

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4103 PLAYWRIGHT

Thomas Holcroft

1745 - 1809

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4336 ROYAL FAMILY

Anne, Duchess of Cumberland and Strathearn

1743 - 1808

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4359 POLITICIAN

Francis Ingram-Seymour-Conway, 2nd Marquess of Hertford

1743 - 1822

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4360 POLITICIAN

John Ker, 3rd Duke of Roxburghe

1740 - 1804

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4390 PLAYWRIGHT

Mary Bowes, Countess of Strathmore and Kinghorne

1749 - 1800

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4935 POLITICIAN

John Freeman-Mitford, 1st Baron Redesdale

1748 - 1830

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4966 KING

Princess Louisa of Great Britain

1749 - 1768

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5139 DRAUGHTSMAN

William Pars

1742 - 1782

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5592 WATCHMAKER

Robert Scot

1744 - 1823

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5900 PAINTER

Francis Wheatley (painter)

1747 - 1801

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6027 ENGRAVER

William Sharp (engraver)

1749 - 1824

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6036 PAINTER

Thomas Holloway (painter)

1748 - 1827

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6146 CARTOGRAPHER

William Faden

1749 - 1836

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6456 POLITICIAN

Charles Dillon, 12th Viscount Dillon

1745 - 1813

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6587 ILLUSTRATOR

Michael Angelo Rooker

1746 - 1801

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6743 COMPOSER

Raynor Taylor

1747 - 1825

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6829 ENGRAVER

Joseph Collyer

1748 - 1827

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6918 OFFICER

Nathaniel Dance

1748 - 1827

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7023 PUBLISHER

William Dickinson (engraver)

1746 - 1823

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7064 ACTOR

Ann Catley

1745 - 1789

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7115 ARCHITECT

Thomas Cooley (architect)

1740 - 1784

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7154 PHYSICIAN

Charles Combe

1743 - 1817

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7216 BOTANIST

Edward Whitaker Gray

1748 - 1806

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7307 SINGER

Isabella Young

1741 - 1791

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7601 PAINTER

James Durno

1745 - 1795

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7826 ARCHITECT

John Plaw

1745 - 1820

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7898 PRINTMAKER

Robert Dunkarton

1744 - 1811

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7901 POLITICIAN

Noel Hill, 1st Baron Berwick

1745 - 1789

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8383 ACTOR

Lewis Hallam Jr.

1740 - 1808

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8417 HISTORIAN

Joshua Toulmin

1740 - 1815

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8584 ACTOR

John Edwin (1749–1790)

1749 - 1790

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9240 ACTOR

John Palmer (actor)

1742 - 1798

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9350 ARCHITECT

John Carter (architect)

1748 - 1817

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9452 WRITER

Isaac Reed

1742 - 1807

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9484 LAWYER

Francis Hargrave

1741 - 1821

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9630 SINGER

Polly Young

1749 - 1799

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9652 SOCIALITE

Mary Nesbitt

1742 - 1825

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9901 PAINTER

Nicholas Thomas Dall

1741 - 1776

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9950 PRIEST

Reginald Courtenay (bishop of Exeter)

1741 - 1803

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10254 ENGRAVER

William Byrne (engraver)

1743 - 1805

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10274 PAINTER

Richard Hurleston

1740 - 1780

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10837 ENGRAVER

William Ellis (engraver)

1747 - 1810

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10964 BUSINESS

John Sotheby

1740 - 1807

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10994 PUPIL

Thomas Ryder (engraver)

1746 - 1810

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11079 ESSAYIST

Jane Bowdler

1743 - 1784

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11186 PAINTER

William Parry (artist)

1743 - 1791

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11432 PAINTER

John Alexander Gresse

1741 - 1794

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11688 PAINTER

Hugh Barron

1746 - 1791

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11808 ACTOR

Jane Pope

1744 - 1818

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12108 ARTIST

John Hewson (artist)

1744 - 1821

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12529 NATURALIST

William Watson (physician)

1744 - 1824

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12616 JUDGE

Simon Le Blanc

1748 - 1816

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12688 CARICATURIST

Henry Wigstead

1745 - 1800

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12708 CELLIST

James Cervetto

1748 - 1837

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13294 NATURALIST

John Bradby Blake

1745 - 1773

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13563 ORGANIST

John Alcock (figlio)

1740 - 1791

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13600 PRIEST

John Carver (Archdeacon of Surrey)

1741 - 1814

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14441 NAVY

Robert Mann (Royal Navy officer)

1748 - 1813

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15495 MILITAR

Fernando Velaz de Medrano Bracamonte y Dávila

1742 - 1791

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