#1Famous people · Lochgelly, Fife
22 famous people were born in Lochgelly, more of them athletes than in most towns
Most widely known is Alexander Wood, the American soccer player, with articles in 17 languages. The Scottish footballer Jock Aird ranks second, ahead of Jennie Lee, Baroness Lee of Asheridge. More than half were born in the 20th century, 14 in all. Per head, the list is long: 30.7 for every 10,000 residents, where the typical town in Fife has 13.9.
Born here
22
notable people
Best known
Alexander Wood
in 17 Wikipedia languages
First
1822
Henry Chisholm
Youngest
1953
Jim Leishman
Most common field
Sports
18 people
What stands out about Lochgelly’s famous people
★ What stands out · Known for
What Lochgelly is known for
Athletes stand out most, at 1.7 times the usual share.
The usual town: the share across everyone listed across UK towns. Tap a field to see its people.
The best known
Born in Lochgelly
First, Alexander Wood (17 languages), then Jock Aird (17) and Jennie Lee, Baroness Lee of Asheridge (10).
#1JA#2
#3Politics & Law
Jennie Lee, Baroness Lee of Asheridge
1904–1988British politician (1904-1988)
10 Wikipedia languagesRead more ↗
Through the years
When Lochgelly’s famous people were born
The 1920s saw the most births of any decade: 5.
SportsScience & MedicinePolitics & LawBusiness
Each dot is a person, stacked by the decade they were born.
Everyone
Everyone else born in Lochgelly
The rest number 19, with 16 athletes among them.
No one matches both filters.
Next door
Famous people from the towns next door
Nearby, Kirkcaldy and Dysart has the most on record, with 192.
Kirkcaldy and Dysart · 5 miAdam Smith & 191 more
Dunfermline · 6 miAndrew Carnegie & 185 more
Cowdenbeath and Lumphinnans · 2 miJim Baxter & 49 moreDDBurntisland · 5 miDavid Danskin & 10 more
Glenrothes · 7 miDougray Scott & 6 moreDPBallingry · 2 miDavid Pratt & 5 more
Kelty · 3 miStephen Husband & 5 moreKHLeslie · 6 miKen Hutchison & 3 moreQuestions about famous people from Lochgelly
Who is the most famous person from Lochgelly?
Alexander Wood (American soccer player (1907-1987)) is the best known by our measure: Wikipedia has an article about them in 17 languages. Next come Jock Aird and Jennie Lee, Baroness Lee of Asheridge.
How many famous people were born in Lochgelly?
22 people born in Lochgelly have an English Wikipedia article that confirms the town as their birthplace. Wikidata places 28 people here; the rest aren’t listed because their article names somewhere else, or no town.
What is Lochgelly known for?
Among its famous people, athletes: 18 of the 22. That is 82% of the town’s list, against 49% across UK towns.
Who is the earliest-born famous person from Lochgelly?
Henry Chisholm, born in 1822. The youngest on the list was born in 1953.
Who counts as from Lochgelly?
People Wikidata records as born in a place inside Lochgelly’s locality (the NRS 2022 locality boundary), a hospital or district within it included, whose English Wikipedia article agrees. People who only lived here, adult performers and people known mainly for crimes aren’t listed.
Why is someone missing?
Their Wikidata birthplace may be a bigger area (“London”), another town, or missing, or their article may give no birthplace. We only list people both sources agree on; editing Wikidata or Wikipedia changes this page at the next refresh.
From Wikidata (CC0: birthplaces, descriptions, years, occupations) and English Wikipedia (each person’s article confirms the birthplace; linked, not quoted). Birthplaces are placed in the town by National Records of Scotland’s Census 2022 locality boundaries (Open Government Licence v3.0). Ranked by how many Wikipedia languages cover each person. Fields are read from Wikidata’s description and occupations. “The usual town”: everyone listed across UK towns. Portraits: each person’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
Photo credits (10)
- Alexander Wood: Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Jennie Lee, Baroness Lee of Asheridge: not credited (Life time: not applicable), Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Andrew Gray: No coneguts, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Bob McKinlay: Flimda, CC BY 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Henry Chisholm: Orth, Samuel P. (1910). A History of Cleveland, Ohio. Volume 3. Chicago: S.J. Clarke Publishing, p. 959, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Adam Smith: Etching created by Cadell and Davies (1811), John Horsburgh (1828) or R.C. Bell (1872)., Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Andrew Carnegie: Theodore C. Marceau, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Jim Baxter: Paul McIlroy, CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Dougray Scott: Gage Skidmore from Peoria, AZ, United States of America, CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Stephen Husband: Ceaton89, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Contains HM Land Registry data © Crown copyright and database right 2026. Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right 2026 (ONS boundaries). Northern Ireland: Source: NISRA; contains Land & Property Services data and Ordnance Survey of Northern Ireland information, © Crown copyright, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Scotland: contains National Records of Scotland data, Registers of Scotland data and SEPA data, © Crown copyright / © SEPA 2025, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.