#1Famous people · Aberdare, Mid Glamorgan
Of the 91 famous people born in Aberdare, an unusual share are musicians
Jo Walton, the Welsh Canadian writer, is the most widely known, written about in 25 languages. Second and third on the list are Gareth Evans and Kelly Jones. 47 of them were born in the 20th century, more than in any other period. Among the 36 towns in Mid Glamorgan with famous people on record, the town ranks 3rd.
Born here
91
notable people
Best known
Jo Walton
in 25 Wikipedia languages
First
1440
Ieuan Ddu ap Dafydd ab Owain
Youngest
2001
Isaak Davies
Most common field
Sports
53 people
What stands out about Aberdare’s famous people
★ What stands out · Known for
What Aberdare is known for
Set against the usual town, musicians come out 1.7 times as common.
The usual town: the share across everyone listed across UK towns. Tap a field to see its people.
Through the years
When Aberdare’s famous people were born
More of them were born in the 1980s than in any other ten years, 10 in all.
SportsWriting & ArtsMusicPolitics & LawScience & MedicineFilm, TV & StageMilitaryBusiness
Each dot is a person, stacked by the decade they were born.
The best known
Born in Aberdare
Languages with an article: 25 for Jo Walton, 24 for Gareth Evans, 19 for Kelly Jones.
#1
#2
#3Music
Kelly Jones
born 1974Welsh singer-songwriter, guitarist and lead singer of the band Stereophonics
19 Wikipedia languagesRead more ↗
Everyone
Everyone else born in Aberdare
Another 88, the earliest born in 1440.
Henry Bruce, 1st Baron Aberdare
1815–1895British nobleman and politician (1815–1895)
Politics & LawWikipedia ↗
Dai Young
born 1967Welsh rugby union footballer, coach and administrator, and rugby league footballer
SportsWikipedia ↗
Elizabeth Andrews
1882–1960First woman organiser of the Labour Party in Wales (1882-1960)
Politics & LawWikipedia ↗
No one matches both filters.
Next door
Famous people from the towns next door
Around it, Merthyr Tydfil has the most people on record, 136 of them.
Merthyr Tydfil · 4 miJohn Hughes & 135 more
Rhondda · 5 miLeanne Wood & 47 moreGHMountain Ash · 4 miGeorge Henry Hall, 1st Viscount Hall & 28 moreDDTreorchy · 4 miDonald Davies & 20 more
Treherbert · 5 miDavid John Bowen & 14 moreSSTroedyrhiw and Pentrebach · 4 miSteve Speirs & 10 more
Ferndale · 4 miStanley Baker & 9 moreGBMaerdy · 3 miGeorge Baker & 7 moreQuestions about famous people from Aberdare
Who is the most famous person from Aberdare?
Jo Walton (Welsh Canadian writer) is the best known by our measure: Wikipedia has an article about them in 25 languages. Next come Gareth Evans and Kelly Jones.
How many famous people were born in Aberdare?
91 people born in Aberdare have an English Wikipedia article that confirms the town as their birthplace. Wikidata places 108 people here; the rest aren’t listed because their article names somewhere else, or no town.
What is Aberdare known for?
Among its famous people, athletes: 53 of the 91. That is 58% of the town’s list, against 49% across UK towns.
Who is the earliest-born famous person from Aberdare?
Ieuan Ddu ap Dafydd ab Owain, born in 1440. The youngest on the list was born in 2001.
Who counts as from Aberdare?
People Wikidata records as born in a place inside Aberdare’s built-up area (the ONS 2022 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 the ONS 2022 built-up-area boundary (Office for National Statistics, 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 (33)
- Jo Walton: Fazalmajid, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Gareth Evans: Nivrae, CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Kelly Jones: Yummifruitbat, CC BY-SA 2.5, Wikimedia Commons
- Henry Bruce, 1st Baron Aberdare: After Henry Tanworth Wells (1828-1903), Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Sir Harry Llewellyn, 3rd Baronet: photographer of IOC, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Stuart Cable: Citizen Erased, CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Alun Lewis: Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Alice Griffiths: James Boyes from UK, CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Lyn Evans: Maximilien Brice, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Isaak Davies: Timmy96, CC0, Wikimedia Commons
- Lee Lucas: Mattythewhite, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Maria Leijerstam: Maria leijerstam, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Richard Jones: Sven0705 (Sven-Sebastian Sajak), CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Jason Price: JJ Hall from Peckham Rye, London, UK, CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
- S. O. Davies: Geoff Charles, CC0, Wikimedia Commons
- Steph Davies: Harrias, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Dan Beddoe: Bain, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Ieuan Rhys: Ieu61, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Mark Donovan: Gareth Lewis, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Teddy Morgan: Rugby pioneers, CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Arthur Brown: Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Bethan Sayed: National Assembly For Wales / Cynulliad Cymru profile, CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Emrys Jones: London School of Economics, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Griffith Rhys Jones: Darren Wyn Rees at Aberdare Blog, CC BY 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Leah Dixon: Hoebele, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
- George Prowse: Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Lee Williams: https://www.flickr.com/photos/dimaphoto_luton/, CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Martyn Jones: Martynjones27, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Thomas Richard Owen: South Wales Geologists' Association, CC BY 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
- John Hughes: Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Leanne Wood: National Assembly for Wales, CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
- David John Bowen: User:Martb1966, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Stanley Baker: Eli Chen, 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.