Edinburgh
Edinburgh ranks 79th in number of biographies on Pantheon, behind Frankfurt, Brazil, and Saitama Prefecture. Memorable people born in Edinburgh include Alexander Graham Bell, Arthur Conan Doyle, and Sean Connery. Memorable people who died in Edinburgh include Adam Smith, David Hume, and John Napier. Edinburgh has been the birth place of many soccer players, and writers and the death place of many mathematicians, and writers. Edinburgh is located in United Kingdom.
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth estuary and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh had a population of 506,520 in mid-2020, making it the second-most populous city in Scotland and the seventh-most populous in the United Kingdom. The wider metropolitan area had a population of 912,490 in the same year. Read more on Wikipedia
People
Between 1534 and 1997, Edinburgh was the birth place of 135 globally memorable people, including Alexander Graham Bell, Arthur Conan Doyle, and Sean Connery. Additionaly, 65 globally memorable people have passed away in Edinburgh including Adam Smith, David Hume, and John Napier.
People Born in Edinburgh
Go to all RankingsAlexander Graham Bell
INVENTOR
1847 - 1922
HPI: 80.48
Rank: 1
Arthur Conan Doyle
WRITER
1859 - 1930
HPI: 79.10
Rank: 2
Sean Connery
ACTOR
1930 - 2020
HPI: 78.60
Rank: 3
James Clerk Maxwell
PHYSICIST
1831 - 1879
HPI: 76.55
Rank: 4
Robert Louis Stevenson
WRITER
1850 - 1894
HPI: 74.84
Rank: 5
Walter Scott
WRITER
1771 - 1832
HPI: 74.63
Rank: 6
Tony Blair
POLITICIAN
1953 - Present
HPI: 71.00
Rank: 7
John Law
ECONOMIST
1671 - 1729
HPI: 69.54
Rank: 8
Muriel Spark
WRITER
1918 - 2006
HPI: 65.00
Rank: 9
James Hutton
GEOLOGIST
1726 - 1797
HPI: 64.28
Rank: 10
Daniel Rutherford
PHYSICIST
1749 - 1819
HPI: 62.16
Rank: 11
William John Macquorn Rankine
ENGINEER
1820 - 1872
HPI: 62.07
Rank: 12
Newly Added People Born in Edinburgh
Go to all RankingsGrace Elliott
WRITER
1754 - 1823
HPI: 51.80
Rank: 41
David Mountbatten, 3rd Marquess of Milford Haven
NOBLEMAN
1919 - 1970
HPI: 47.59
Rank: 57
Karim Ahmad Khan
LAWYER
1970 - Present
HPI: 44.50
Rank: 76
Balfour Stewart
PHYSICIST
1828 - 1887
HPI: 44.24
Rank: 77
William Bell Scott
WRITER
1811 - 1890
HPI: 44.06
Rank: 79
Jimmy Murray
SOCCER PLAYER
1933 - 2015
HPI: 43.32
Rank: 81
William Whitelaw, 1st Viscount Whitelaw
POLITICIAN
1918 - 1999
HPI: 40.97
Rank: 88
Walter Donaldson
SNOOKER
1907 - 1973
HPI: 40.63
Rank: 89
Henry Dundas, 1st Viscount Melville
POLITICIAN
1742 - 1811
HPI: 40.25
Rank: 93
Richard Norman Shaw
ARCHITECT
1831 - 1912
HPI: 38.03
Rank: 98
Jason Cummings
SOCCER PLAYER
1995 - Present
HPI: 18.18
Rank: 124
Scott Bain
SOCCER PLAYER
1991 - Present
HPI: 17.66
Rank: 125
People Deceased in Edinburgh
Go to all RankingsAdam Smith
ECONOMIST
1723 - 1790
HPI: 90.65
Rank: 1
David Hume
PHILOSOPHER
1711 - 1776
HPI: 80.25
Rank: 2
John Napier
MATHEMATICIAN
1550 - 1617
HPI: 74.84
Rank: 3
Charles Glover Barkla
PHYSICIST
1877 - 1944
HPI: 69.77
Rank: 4
Peter Higgs
PHYSICIST
1929 - 2024
HPI: 69.09
Rank: 5
Edward Victor Appleton
PHYSICIST
1892 - 1965
HPI: 68.66
Rank: 6
Joseph Black
CHEMIST
1728 - 1799
HPI: 67.14
Rank: 7
John Knox
RELIGIOUS FIGURE
1514 - 1572
HPI: 65.25
Rank: 8
James Hutton
GEOLOGIST
1726 - 1797
HPI: 64.28
Rank: 9
Colin Maclaurin
MATHEMATICIAN
1698 - 1746
HPI: 62.94
Rank: 10
Daniel Rutherford
PHYSICIST
1749 - 1819
HPI: 62.16
Rank: 11
Thomas De Quincey
WRITER
1785 - 1859
HPI: 61.58
Rank: 12
Newly Added People Deceased in Edinburgh
Go to all RankingsDavid Rizzio
NOBLEMAN
1533 - 1566
HPI: 50.85
Rank: 27
David Octavius Hill
PAINTER
1802 - 1870
HPI: 48.47
Rank: 37
William Muir
WRITER
1819 - 1905
HPI: 46.14
Rank: 44
Thomas Henderson
MATHEMATICIAN
1798 - 1844
HPI: 45.53
Rank: 48
Jimmy Murray
SOCCER PLAYER
1933 - 2015
HPI: 43.32
Rank: 52
Henry Dundas, 1st Viscount Melville
POLITICIAN
1742 - 1811
HPI: 40.25
Rank: 62
Occupations
Most individuals born in present day Edinburgh were soccer players (24), writers (16), politicians (16), actors (13), and biologists (10), while most who died were mathematicians (8), writers (8), physicists (7), biologists (5), and politicians (4).
Occupational Trends
Over the past 100 years, soccer players have been the top profession of globally memorable people born in Edinburgh, including Graeme Souness, Gordon Strachan, and Dave Mackay. Whereas, throughout history, soccer players have been the profession with the most memorable people born in present day Edinburgh, including Graeme Souness, Gordon Strachan, and Bart McGhee.
Places
Overlapping Lives
Below is a visual represetation of the lifespans of the top 25 globally memorable people born in Edinburgh since 1700.