51.7519° N, 1.2597° W

OXFORD

Most Famous People Born in Oxford, United Kingdom

Notable people
740
Peak decade
1980s
Median birth year
1948
Most distinctive
Anthropologist 4.7×

Predictably high-table: the Anthropologist and Mathematician benches are the colleges showing through, with the Rower count a direct byproduct of Eights Week on the Isis. The quieter Composer thread is the interesting one — the choral tradition, the Holywell Music Room, and generations of organ scholars escaping into film scores.

Through the Decades

One face per decade — the most globally famous figure born in Oxford during each.

Notable Births by Decade

Click a decade to filter the list below. Peak: 1980s with 89 notable births.

What Oxford Is Known For

Click any row to filter the list of people below.

Football is Oxford's biggest profession — 12% of all notables (87).

Oxford over-indexes on anthropologist4.7× the global rate.

Oxford under-produces politician — only 0.4× the global rate.

  1. Football87
  2. Actor49
  3. Cricket44
  4. Politician33
  5. Writer29
  6. Player23
  7. Composer19
  8. Mathematician15
  1. Anthropologist74.7×
  2. Cricket444.7×
  3. Driver104.4×
  4. Mathematician154.1×
  5. Rower103.7×
  6. Novelist72.4×
  7. Photographer82.2×
  8. Composer191.9×
  1. Politician330.4×
  2. Painter110.6×

Profession Mix Over Time

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

15001550160016501700175018001850190019502000
  • Sports
  • Writing
  • Film & TV
  • Science
  • Music
  • Politics & Law
  • Other
Novelist7
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Showing 7 of 740 notable people

0017 NOVELIST

Piers Anthony

Born 1934

Preview
0063 NOVELIST

Pico Iyer

Born 1957

Preview
0154 NOVELIST

Susan Moody

Born 1940

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0160 NOVELIST

Rachel Seiffert

Born 1971

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0174 NOVELIST

Liz Jensen

Born 1959

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0278 NOVELIST

Claire Fuller

Born 1967

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0545 NOVELIST

Thomas Mogford

Born 1809

Preview