AY#1
Sports
Alex Young
1937–2017Scottish footballer and manager (1937-2017)
11 Wikipedia languagesRead more ↗
Famous people · Loanhead, Midlothian
Writers and artists stand out among the 9 famous people born in Loanhead
Articles in 11 languages make the Scottish footballer and manager Alex Young the best known. Second place goes to the British journalist Karl Miller, third to Tommy Johnston. In the 20th century, 6 were born, the most of any period. Born in 1839, Graeme Mercer Adam is the first name on record, and Linda Holloway, born in 1940, the most recent.
Born here
9
notable people
Best known
Alex Young
in 11 Wikipedia languages
First
1839
Graeme Mercer Adam
Youngest
1940
Linda Holloway
Most common field
Sports
4 people
What stands out about Loanhead’s famous people
★ What stands out · Known for
What Loanhead is known for
Set against the usual town, writers and artists come out 3.8 times as common.
The usual town: the share across everyone listed across UK towns. Tap a field to see its people.
The best known
Born in Loanhead
Athletes take two of the three places.
KM#2
TJ#3
Through the years
When Loanhead’s famous people were born
Count by decade and the 1930s come out on top, with 3 births.
SportsWriting & ArtsScience & Medicine
Each dot is a person, stacked by the decade they were born.
Everyone
Everyone else born in Loanhead
A further 6 follow, born between 1839 and 1940.
Linda Holloway
born 1940Scottish-New Zealand anatomical pathologist academic
Science & MedicineWikipedia ↗
No one matches both filters.
Next door
Famous people from the towns next door
The fullest list close by belongs to Edinburgh, with 2,695.
Edinburgh · 5 miArthur Conan Doyle & 2,694 more
Musselburgh · 6 miHenry Yule & 70 more
Dalkeith · 4 miPeter Guthrie Tait & 32 more
Penicuik · 4 miCharles Thomson Rees Wilson & 13 more
Tranent · 9 miGelie Duncan & 10 more
Bonnyrigg · 2 miMichael Leslie & 9 more
Mayfield · 4 miBilly Ritchie & 9 moreACGorebridge · 5 miAnnette Crosbie & 9 moreQuestions about famous people from Loanhead
Who is the most famous person from Loanhead?
Alex Young (Scottish footballer and manager (1937-2017)) is the best known by our measure: Wikipedia has an article about them in 11 languages. Next come Karl Miller and Tommy Johnston.
How many famous people were born in Loanhead?
9 people born in Loanhead have an English Wikipedia article that confirms the town as their birthplace.
What is Loanhead known for?
Among its famous people, athletes: 4 of the 9. That is 44% of the town’s list, against 49% across UK towns.
Who is the earliest-born famous person from Loanhead?
Graeme Mercer Adam, born in 1839. The youngest on the list was born in 1940.
Who counts as from Loanhead?
People Wikidata records as born in a place inside Loanhead’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)
- Graeme Mercer Adam: unknown, Siebrand, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Arthur Conan Doyle: Walter Benington, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Henry Yule: Theodore Blake Wirgman, c. 1890, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Peter Guthrie Tait: George Reid, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Charles Thomson Rees Wilson: The American Institute of Physics credits the photo [1] to AB Lagrelius & Westphal, which is the Swedish company used by the Nobel Foundation for most photos of its book series Les Prix Nobel., Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Gelie Duncan: Carolyn Sutton, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Michael Leslie: Benutzer:Bill da Flute, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Billy Ritchie: Behrens, Herbert / Anefo, CC0, 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.