RS#1
Famous people · Red Deer, Alberta
Of the 87 famous people born in Red Deer, an unusual share are athletes
At the top of the list is the Canadian swimmer Rebecca Smith, covered in 17 languages. Close behind are Chris Mason and Steven Elm. The oldest name on the list belongs to Annora Brown, born in 1899, the newest to Molly Simpson, born in 2002. Most were born since 1970: 49 of them.
Born here
87
confirmed by Wikipedia
Best known
Rebecca Smith
17 Wikipedia and sister-site articles
First
1899
Annora Brown
Youngest
2002
Molly Simpson
Most common field
Sports
62 people
What stands out about Red Deer’s famous people
★ What stands out · Through the years
When Red Deer’s famous people were born
More of them were born in the 1980s than in any other ten years, 21 in all.
SportsWriting & ArtsPolitics & LawScience & MedicineMusicFilm, TV & StageNotable
Each dot is a person, stacked by the decade they were born.
Known for
What Red Deer is known for
Compared with the usual town, athletes are the most over-represented field, at 1.9 times.
Compared with the usual town (everyone listed in Canadian towns, split by field). Tap a field to see the people in it.
The best known
Born in Red Deer
Rebecca Smith, Chris Mason and Steven Elm are written about in 17, 14 and 14 languages.
#2Sports
Chris Mason
born 1976Canadian ice hockey player
14 Wikipedia and sister-site articlesWikipedia ↗
#3Everyone
Everyone else born in Red Deer
Another 84, the earliest born in 1899.
No one matches both filters.
Next door
Famous people from the towns next door
Towns around it with someone on record: 1.
Questions about famous people from Red Deer
Who is the most famous person from Red Deer?
Rebecca Smith (Canadian swimmer) heads the list, ranked by how many Wikipedias cover them. Next come Chris Mason and Steven Elm.
How many famous people were born in Red Deer?
Of the 115 Wikidata puts here, the rest have no English or French article that confirms it.
What is Red Deer known for?
They make up 71% here, compared with 38% across Canadian towns.
Who is the earliest-born famous person from Red Deer?
The earliest is Annora Brown, born in 1899, and the latest birth listed is 2002.
Who counts as from Red Deer?
Born inside Red Deer’s municipal boundary (Statistics Canada’s 2021 census subdivision) on Wikidata’s record, with an English or French Wikipedia article to back it up: that is the test, hospitals and districts within the outline included. Someone who just lived here does not pass it, and adult performers and people known mainly for crimes are excluded.
Why is someone missing?
The likeliest reasons: a birthplace recorded only as a province or as Canada, a hamlet or rural area with no page of its own, or an article that gives another place or none. Fixing Wikidata or Wikipedia brings them onto the list at the next refresh, as long as the two then agree.
Birthplaces, descriptions, years, occupations and the count of Wikipedia and sister-site articles come from Wikidata (CC0). Each birthplace is checked against the person’s English Wikipedia article, or the French one where English says nothing or has no article; the articles are linked, never quoted. Wikidata’s Statistics Canada code, the place’s name or its point inside the 2021 census outline puts a birth in a town, and a birth given only as a split city stays on that city’s page. Fields are read from the description and occupations, and the list runs by number of articles. “The usual town” is everyone listed across Canadian towns. Portraits: each person’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
Photo credits (36)
- Chris Mason: Sean Russell, CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Steven Elm: Bloemmie29, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Zina Kocher: Mef.ellingen, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Glen Wesley: Rtphokie, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Caolan Lavery: Bradford City AFC, CC BY 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Jocelyn Peterman: Allthegoldmedals, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
- MacGregor Sharp: Alex Micheu Photography from VILLACH, Austria, CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Matt Fraser: Leech44, CC BY 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Barry Long: Los Angeles Kings, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Colton Sceviour: Lisa Gansky from New York, NY, USA, CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Drew Goldsack: Sergei ~ 5of7, CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Daine Todd: TheAHL, CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Trent Hunter: FrenchKheldar, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Brad Leeb: TheAHL, CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Chris Bailey: Chris Roussakis, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Jebb Sinclair: Stewart Baird, CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Paul Manning: Phins13td, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Earl Dreeshen: OSCE Parliamentary Assembly from Copenhagen, Denmark, CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Marcus To: 5of7, CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Parker Thompson: Circumvolution, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Pete Vandermeer: TheAHL, CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Shaun Sutter: Canada Hky, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Andrew Nielsen: TheAHL, CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Desmond Cole: OFL Communications Department, CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Greg Leeb: BKLuis, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Joane Cardinal-Schubert: rmajzels, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Stephen Wagner: Paula Johnson, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Barbara Sibbald: Barbara Sibbald, CC BY 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
- G. Scott MacLeod: Thebravestbird, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Jacob Plamondon: Cmm3, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Karmen McNamara: SamcoSmith, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Patrick Vellner: Armen Hammer, CC BY 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Ray Schultz: TheAHL, CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Thomas Speakman Barnett: BC NDP History Group, CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Dan Bennett: Dan Bennett, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Melinda Mills: Xw2088, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
Adapted from Statistics Canada (Census of Population 2021, population estimates 2025, 2021 census boundaries) under the Statistics Canada Open Licence; this does not constitute an endorsement by Statistics Canada. Neighbourhood names in some cities © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL).