49.2608° N, 123.1138° W

VANCOUVER

Most Famous People Born in Vancouver, Canada

Notable people
1,538
Peak decade
1980s
Median birth year
1965
Most distinctive
Hockey 6.1×

A young Pacific city whose economy runs on trees, ships, and Hollywood North. Vancouver's distinctive professions are ice hockey players, sprinters, swimmers, rowers, skaters, and actors — the last because American studios have been shooting television and film here since the 1990s. Ryan Reynolds, Seth Rogen, Hayden Christensen, Cobie Smulders, and Joshua Jackson all grew up in the same few neighbourhoods; the pre-1900 tail is almost nonexistent.

Through the Decades

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

Notable Births by Decade

Click a decade to filter the list below. Peak: 1980s with 281 notable births.

What Vancouver Is Known For

Click any row to filter the list of people below.

Actor is Vancouver's biggest profession — 20% of all notables (304).

Vancouver over-indexes on hockey6.1× the global rate.

Vancouver under-produces writer — only 0.4× the global rate.

  1. Actor304
  2. Football148
  3. Hockey111
  4. Politician90
  5. Singer53
  6. Basket46
  7. Swimmer40
  8. Film36
  1. Hockey1116.1×
  2. Sprint156.1×
  3. Swimmer405.4×
  4. Rower295.1×
  5. Skater154.0×
  6. Actor3043.7×
  7. Novelist213.5×
  8. Basket462.4×
  1. Writer220.4×
  2. Politician900.5×

Profession Mix Over Time

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

187519001925195019752000
  • Sports
  • Film & TV
  • Music
  • Politics & Law
  • Writing
  • Art & Design
  • Other
All1,538
Sort By

Showing 27 of 1,538 notable people

0050 ACADEMIC

S. I. Hayakawa

1906 - 1992

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0113 ATHLETE

Percy Williams (sprinter)

1908 - 1982

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0190 ENGINEER

Elsie MacGill

1905 - 1980

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0225 MUSIC

Jean Coulthard

1908 - 2000

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0403 LYRICIST

Ralph Freed

1907 - 1973

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0466 DIPLOMAT

Norman Robertson

1904 - 1968

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0482 PARLIAMENT

Charles Merritt

1908 - 2000

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0491 MILITAR

Bert Hoffmeister

1907 - 1999

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0526 ACTOR

Victoria Hopper

1909 - 2007

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0544 ACTOR

Tetsu Nakamura (actor)

1908 - 1992

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0602 MILITAR

Charles Loewen

1900 - 1986

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0624 LINGUIST

William Cornyn

1906 - 1971

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0785 ROWER

George MacKay (rower)

1900 - 1972

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0968 SAILOR

Gardner Boultbee

1907 - 1980

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0973 LAWYER

John Clyne

1902 - 1989

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0993 PAINTER

Irene Hoffar Reid

1908 - 1994

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1010 MATHEMATICIAN

Walter Gage

1905 - 1978

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1116 SAILOR

Philip Rogers (sailor)

1908 - 1961

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1133 FOOTBALL

Don Archibald

1907 - 1968

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1248 SURGEON

Harry Botterell

1906 - 1997

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1271 LAWYER

K. Dock Yip

1906 - 2001

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1302 POLITICIAN

John Lambert Gibson

1906 - 1986

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1321 INSTRUCTOR

Helen Harrison-Bristol

1909 - 1995

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1394 ACTOR

Lim Cho Cho

1905 - 1979

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1474 BADMINTON

Jack Underhill

1902 - 1974

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1494 POLITICIAN

Hunter Vogel

1903 - 1990

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1510 SOCIOLOGIST

Helen MacGill Hughes

1903 - 1992

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