JV#1
Famous people · Methil, Fife
14 famous people were born in Methil, most of them in the 20th century
Articles in 18 languages make the Scottish painter Jack Vettriano the best known. The next two names are Henry McLeish and David Mach. David Mach, born in 1956, is the youngest, and David Gibb, born in 1883, the first on record. Per 10,000 residents, the town has 13.1, close to the 13.9 of the typical Fife town.
Born here
14
notable people
Best known
Jack Vettriano
in 18 Wikipedia languages
First
1883
David Gibb
Youngest
1956
David Mach
Most common field
Sports
8 people
The best known
Born in Methil
Jack Vettriano has articles in 18 languages, Henry McLeish in 16 and David Mach in 9.
HM#2
Politics & Law
Henry McLeish
born 1948Former First Minister of Scotland (born 1948)
16 Wikipedia languagesRead more ↗
#3Through the years
When Methil’s famous people were born
More of them were born in the 1910s than in any other ten years, 4 in all.
SportsWriting & ArtsPolitics & LawScience & MedicineMusic
Each dot is a person, stacked by the decade they were born.
Known for
What Methil is known for
Methil has 1.9× the usual share of writers and artists.
The usual town: the share across everyone listed across UK towns. Tap a field to see its people.
Everyone
Everyone else born in Methil
Of the other 11, 8 are athletes.
John Wallace
1949–2026British trumpeter, born in 1949 in Methilhill, Fife, Scotland, UK
MusicWikipedia ↗
No one matches both filters.
Next door
Famous people from the towns next door
Of the towns nearby, 8 have famous names listed.
Kirkcaldy and Dysart · 7 miAdam Smith & 191 more
Cupar · 9 miAlexander Wood & 23 more
Lochgelly · 12 miAlexander Wood & 21 moreAEBuckhaven · 1 miAlex Eadie & 16 more
Leven · 1 miRobert Reid & 13 moreDDBurntisland · 12 miDavid Danskin & 10 more
Glenrothes · 6 miDougray Scott & 6 moreDPBallingry · 12 miDavid Pratt & 5 moreQuestions about famous people from Methil
Who is the most famous person from Methil?
Jack Vettriano (Scottish painter (1951–2025)) is the best known by our measure: Wikipedia has an article about them in 18 languages. Next come Henry McLeish and David Mach.
How many famous people were born in Methil?
14 people born in Methil have an English Wikipedia article that confirms the town as their birthplace. Wikidata places 15 people here; the rest aren’t listed because their article names somewhere else, or no town.
What is Methil known for?
Among its famous people, athletes: 8 of the 14. That is 57% of the town’s list, against 49% across UK towns.
Who is the earliest-born famous person from Methil?
David Gibb, born in 1883. The youngest on the list was born in 1956.
Who counts as from Methil?
People Wikidata records as born in a place inside Methil’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 (8)
- David Mach: studio international, CC BY 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
- William Gear: Elliotuk1982, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
- John Wallace: Thechisholm, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Adam Smith: Etching created by Cadell and Davies (1811), John Horsburgh (1828) or R.C. Bell (1872)., Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Alexander Wood: Barraud & Jerrard, Photographers, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Alexander Wood: Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Robert Reid: Talma, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Dougray Scott: Gage Skidmore from Peoria, AZ, United States of America, CC BY-SA 2.0, 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.