CM#1
Science & Medicine
Cyrus Macmillan
1882–1953Canadian academic, writer, and politician
6 Wikipedia and sister-site articlesWikipedia ↗
Photo: Marty Aligata · CC BY-SA 4.0Famous people · Belfast, Prince Edward Island
Of the 6 famous people born in Belfast, an unusual share are leaders
Cyrus Macmillan is the best known, going by the number of languages that write about them. Second and third on the list are Alan Buchanan and John Duncan MacLean. 3 of them were born between Confederation and 1913, more than in any other period. As early as 1854, Angus Alexander McLean was born here, one of 2 born before Confederation.
Born here
6
confirmed by Wikipedia
Best known
Cyrus Macmillan
6 Wikipedia and sister-site articles
First
1854
Angus Alexander McLean
Youngest
1952
Alan Buchanan
Most common field
Politics & Law
4 people
★ What stands out · Known for
What Belfast is known for
Each field is set against the usual town, its share among everyone listed in Canadian towns. Tap one to see who is in it.
Through the years
When Belfast’s famous people were born
Politics & LawScience & MedicineFaith
One dot per person, piled up by decade of birth.
The best known
Born in Belfast
Two of the three are leaders.
AB#2
Politics & Law
Alan Buchanan
born 1952Canadian politician
3 Wikipedia and sister-site articlesWikipedia ↗
JM#3
Politics & Law
John Duncan MacLean
1873–1948Canadian politician
3 Wikipedia and sister-site articlesWikipedia ↗
Everyone
Everyone else born in Belfast
No one matches both filters.
Next door
Famous people from the towns next door
Count of the towns around it with a famous name listed: 1.
Questions about famous people from Belfast
Who is the most famous person from Belfast?
By our measure the best known is Cyrus Macmillan (Canadian academic, writer, and politician); the spotlight above gives the details. Next come Alan Buchanan and John Duncan MacLean.
How many famous people were born in Belfast?
Wikidata places 9 here in all, and those missing from the list lack a confirming article.
What is Belfast known for?
67% here, set against 22% for Canadian towns.
Who is the earliest-born famous person from Belfast?
Angus Alexander McLean (1854). At the other end, the youngest was born in 1952.
Who counts as from Belfast?
What counts is a birth that Wikidata places inside Belfast’s municipal boundary (Statistics Canada’s 2021 census subdivision), its hospitals and districts too, and that the person’s English or French Wikipedia article repeats. Adult performers, people known chiefly for crimes and those who only lived here are not on the list.
Why is someone missing?
Wikidata may give their birthplace only as Canada or a province, as a rural area or hamlet without a page here, or as another town; or their article may name a different place, or none. Only people both sources agree on are listed, and a fix on Wikidata or Wikipedia shows up here at the next refresh.
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 (1)
- Francis Kelley: Bain News Service, publisher, Public domain, 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).