#1Science & Medicine
Matthew Baillie
1761–1823Scottish anatomist, (1761-1823)
14 Wikipedia languagesRead more ↗
Famous people · Shotts, North Lanarkshire
Most of the 28 famous people born in Shotts came into the world in the 20th century
Matthew Baillie is the best known, with articles in 14 languages. Second place goes to the British actor Andrew Keir, third to Margaret Herbison. Over 232 years of births, the list goes from Matthew Baillie (1761) to Ricki Lamie (1993). Per head, the list is long: 31.8 for every 10,000 residents, where the typical town in North Lanarkshire has 13.2.
Born here
28
notable people
Best known
Matthew Baillie
in 14 Wikipedia languages
First
1761
Matthew Baillie
Youngest
1993
Ricki Lamie
Most common field
Sports
18 people
The best known
Born in Shotts
Matthew Baillie leads with articles in 14 languages, ahead of Andrew Keir (11) and Margaret Herbison (6).
#1
#2MH#3
Politics & Law
Margaret Herbison
1907–1996British politician (1907-1996)
6 Wikipedia languagesRead more ↗
Through the years
When Shotts’s famous people were born
The 1920s saw the most births of any decade: 6.
SportsPolitics & LawScience & MedicineWriting & ArtsFilm, TV & StageFaithNotable
Each dot is a person, stacked by the decade they were born.
Known for
What Shotts is known for
Set against the usual town, athletes come out 1.3 times as common.
The usual town: the share across everyone listed across UK towns. Tap a field to see its people.
Everyone
Everyone else born in Shotts
The other 25 span the years 1871 to 1993.
No one matches both filters.
Next door
Famous people from the towns next door
Of the towns nearby, 8 have famous names listed.
Wishaw · 6 miJohn Higgins & 67 moreWRCarluke · 6 miWilliam Roy & 21 more
Whitburn · 5 miLeon Jackson & 18 moreJDCleland · 5 miJimmy Delaney & 16 moreAHArmadale · 7 miAlex Hamilton & 16 moreAWNewmains · 4 miAndrew Wilson & 10 moreMMHarthill · 3 miMatt McQueen & 9 more
Fauldhouse · 4 miJack Aitchison & 7 moreQuestions about famous people from Shotts
Who is the most famous person from Shotts?
Matthew Baillie (Scottish anatomist, (1761-1823)) is the best known by our measure: Wikipedia has an article about them in 14 languages. Next come Andrew Keir and Margaret Herbison.
How many famous people were born in Shotts?
28 people born in Shotts have an English Wikipedia article that confirms the town as their birthplace. Wikidata places 29 people here; the rest aren’t listed because their article names somewhere else, or no town.
What is Shotts known for?
Among its famous people, athletes: 18 of the 28. That is 64% of the town’s list, against 49% across UK towns.
Who is the earliest-born famous person from Shotts?
Matthew Baillie, born in 1761. The youngest on the list was born in 1993.
Who counts as from Shotts?
People Wikidata records as born in a place inside Shotts’ 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 (7)
- Matthew Baillie: William Owen, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Andrew Keir: unknown (20th Century Fox), Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Thomas Torrance: Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- James Marley: CC0, Wikimedia Commons
- John Higgins: Benwmbc at English Wikipedia, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Leon Jackson: The original uploader was DavidDjJohnson at English Wikipedia. (Original text: David Johnson), CC BY 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Jack Aitchison: Pedro Semitiel from Cehegín, España, CC BY 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.