45.4232° N, 75.6926° W
OTTAWA
Most Famous People Born in Ottawa, Canada
- Notable people
- 1,174
- Peak decade
- 1970s
- Median birth year
- 1951
- Most distinctive
- Curler 23.1×
Less a national capital than the place Canada uses to manufacture winter athletes — the Curler bench runs at better than twenty-three times the global baseline, which is extreme even by Canadian standards, and the broom-and-blade pipeline goes deeper than the Parliament Hill day jobs. A disproportionate Skater count and a catch-all Sport bump fill in everything the Rideau Canal has frozen into Olympians over the decades.
One face per decade — the most globally famous figure born in Ottawa during each.
Notable Births by Decade
Click a decade to filter the list below. Peak: 1970s with 146 notable births.
What Ottawa Is Known For
Click any row to filter the list of people below.
Hockey is Ottawa's biggest profession — 21% of all notables (248).
Ottawa over-indexes on curler — 23.1× the global rate.
Ottawa under-produces football — only 0.5× the global rate.
Profession Mix Over Time
Each band shows a profession family's share of Ottawa's notable births by decade. Hover the chart for the breakdown at any decade.
- Sports
- Politics & Law
- Film & TV
- Music
- Writing
- Science
- Other
- Filtered to 1910s Clear ×
Lorne Greene
1915 - 1987
Rosina Lawrence
1912 - 1997
Elizabeth Smart (Canadian author)
1913 - 1986
Evelyn Lambart
1914 - 1999
Syd Howe
1911 - 1976
John Bassett
1915 - 1998
Robert Ford (poet)
1915 - 1998
F. R. Crawley
1911 - 1987
Johana Harris
1912 - 1995
George Tremblay
1911 - 1982
Kilby MacDonald
1913 - 1986
Marjorie J. Vold
1913 - 1991
Jean-Yves Bigras
1919 - 1966
Patsy Guzzo
1914 - 1993
Judith Crawley
1914 - 1986
Des Smith (ice hockey)
1914 - 1981
Grant H. Crabtree
1913 - 2008
John Newman (ice hockey)
1910 - 1967
James Alexander Gibson
1912 - 2003
William Clark (skier)
1910 - 1975
Ken Kilrea (ice hockey)
1919 - 1990
Jane Marsh Beveridge
1915 - 1998
Jacques Landry
1911 - 1976
Ray Kinsella
1911 - 1996
Laure Berthiaume-Denault
1910 - 1971
Yvon Beaulne
1919 - 1999
Robert Major
1915 - 1997
John Montague Gillett
1918 - 2014
Eddie Ouellette
1911 - 1975
Teddy Saunders
1911 - 2002
Leo Carbol
1910 - 1991
Francess Halpenny
1919 - 2017
Jack Manners
1914 - 1986
Bob Walton
1912 - 1992
Lilias Massey
1918 - 1997
Desmond Smith (general)
1911 - 1991
Jules Morin
1914 - 1988
Lou Bates
1912 - 1987
Gordon Lavergne
1910 - 1970
Roger Leger
1919 - 1965
Gordie Bruce
1919 - 1997
Gordon Henderson (lawyer)
1912 - 1993
Leo Landreville
1910 - 1996
Douglas Bradshaw
1912 - 1996
Thomas Ide
1919 - 1996
Edward Robert Sellstrom
1916 - 1942
Lloyd Jackson (ice hockey)
1912 - 1999
Rod Lorrain
1914 - 1980
Connie Tudin
1917 - 1988
Francis Leddy
1911 - 1998
William Kirby Lye
1918 - 2009
John Edwards (Canadian football)
1912 - 2005
Paul Tardif
1910 - 1998
Georgette Lamoureux
1910 - 1995
John Currie
1910 - 1989
May Nickson
1918 - 2010
E. Bower Carty
1916 - 2001