#1Politics & Law
Leanne Wood
born 1971Welsh Plaid Cymru politician (born 1971)
26 Wikipedia languagesRead more ↗
Famous people · Rhondda, Mid Glamorgan
Musicians stand out among the 48 famous people born in Rhondda
Articles in 26 languages make the Welsh Plaid Cymru politician Leanne Wood the best known. The Welsh association football player and coach Rob Page ranks second, ahead of Jill Evans. 31 of them were born in the 20th century, more than in any other period. Albert Bumford, born in 2000, is the youngest, and Tom Williams, born in 1859, the first on record.
Born here
48
notable people
Best known
Leanne Wood
in 26 Wikipedia languages
First
1859
Tom Williams
Youngest
2000
Albert Bumford
Most common field
Sports
25 people
What stands out about Rhondda’s famous people
★ What stands out · Known for
What Rhondda is known for
Compared with the usual town, musicians are the most over-represented field, at 2 times.
The usual town: the share across everyone listed across UK towns. Tap a field to see its people.
The best known
Born in Rhondda
Leaders take two of the three places.
#1
#2Sports
Rob Page
born 1974Welsh association football player and coach (born 1974)
25 Wikipedia languagesRead more ↗
#3Politics & Law
Jill Evans
born 1959British politician and MEP (born 1959)
20 Wikipedia languagesRead more ↗
Through the years
When Rhondda’s famous people were born
More of them were born in the 1950s than in any other ten years, 6 in all.
SportsPolitics & LawScience & MedicineMusicWriting & ArtsFilm, TV & Stage
Each dot is a person, stacked by the decade they were born.
Everyone
Everyone else born in Rhondda
The other 45 span the years 1859 to 2000.
David Kelly
1944–2003British scientist and authority on biological warfare (1944-2003)
Science & MedicineWikipedia ↗
Keith Burnett
born 1953Welsh physicist and Vice-Chancellor of Sheffield University
Science & MedicineWikipedia ↗
Ellen Evans
1891–1953Principal of the Glamorgan Training College, Barry (1891-1953)
Science & MedicineWikipedia ↗
No one matches both filters.
Next door
Famous people from the towns next door
Around it, Porth has the most people on record, 51 of them.
TEPorth · 4 miTrevor Edwards & 50 more
Tonypandy · 2 miRhys Davies & 39 moreDDTreorchy · 2 miDonald Davies & 20 more
Treherbert · 3 miDavid John Bowen & 14 more
Ferndale · 2 miStanley Baker & 9 moreGBMaerdy · 2 miGeorge Baker & 7 more
Nant-y-moel · 3 miLynn Davies & 2 more
Tylorstown and Pontygwaith · 2 miPaul Whitehouse & 1 more
Tonypandy · 2 miRhys Davies & 39 moreDDTreorchy · 2 miDonald Davies & 20 moreTreherbert · 3 miDavid John Bowen & 14 moreFerndale · 2 miStanley Baker & 9 moreGBMaerdy · 2 miGeorge Baker & 7 moreNant-y-moel · 3 miLynn Davies & 2 moreTylorstown and Pontygwaith · 2 miPaul Whitehouse & 1 moreQuestions about famous people from Rhondda
Who is the most famous person from Rhondda?
Leanne Wood (Welsh Plaid Cymru politician (born 1971)) is the best known by our measure: Wikipedia has an article about them in 26 languages. Next come Rob Page and Jill Evans.
How many famous people were born in Rhondda?
48 people born in Rhondda have an English Wikipedia article that confirms the town as their birthplace. Wikidata places 50 people here; the rest aren’t listed because their article names somewhere else, or no town.
What is Rhondda known for?
Among its famous people, athletes: 25 of the 48. That is 52% of the town’s list, against 49% across UK towns.
Who is the earliest-born famous person from Rhondda?
Tom Williams, born in 1859. The youngest on the list was born in 2000.
Who counts as from Rhondda?
People Wikidata records as born in a place inside Rhondda’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 (19)
- Leanne Wood: National Assembly for Wales, CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Rob Page: Jonesy702, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Jill Evans: Foto-AG Gymnasium Melle, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Jayne Ludlow: BCLFC photographer Jaskirt Dhaliwal, CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Gemma Evans: Katie Chan, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Chris Evans (British politician): Chris McAndrew, CC BY 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Ian 'H' Watkins: Choirgirlhotel, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Alan Curtis: Cazza3012, CC0, Wikimedia Commons
- Keith Burnett: Chemical Engineer, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Tich Gwilym: GanMed64 Medwyn Jones, CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Ellen Evans: unknown but guess 1940, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- May John: Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Rex Willis: Unknown (Crown Studios of Wellington), Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Tom Williams: scanned by User:FruitMonkey, author unknown, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Rhys Davies: Public domain, 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
- Lynn Davies: Unknown (Asahi Shinbun), Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Paul Whitehouse: Marcus Liversedge, CC BY 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.