#1Famous people · Lanark, South Lanarkshire
82 famous people come from Lanark, Colin McRae the best known
At the top of the list is the British racing driver Colin McRae, covered in 45 languages. Behind the leader come Walter Smith and Alister McRae. Since 1970, 39 were born, the most of any period. The list runs from Bessie Clarksone, born in 1584, to Rory Currie, born in 1998.
Born here
82
notable people
Best known
Colin McRae
in 45 Wikipedia languages
First
1584
Bessie Clarksone
Youngest
1998
Rory Currie
Most common field
Sports
59 people
What stands out about Lanark’s famous people
★ What stands out · Through the years
When Lanark’s famous people were born
Count by decade and the 1980s come out on top, with 20 births.
SportsPolitics & LawMusicNotableScience & MedicineFaithWriting & ArtsFilm, TV & StageMilitary
Each dot is a person, stacked by the decade they were born.
The best known
Born in Lanark
Athletes take two of the three places.
#1
#2Sports
Walter Smith
1948–2021Scottish soccer player and manager (1948–2021)
25 Wikipedia languagesRead more ↗
#3Known for
What Lanark is known for
Lanark has 1.5× the usual share of athletes.
The usual town: the share across everyone listed across UK towns. Tap a field to see its people.
Everyone
Everyone else born in Lanark
Of the other 79, 57 are athletes.
No one matches both filters.
Next door
Famous people from the towns next door
The most names next door are in Wishaw: 68.
Wishaw · 9 miJohn Higgins & 67 moreJMLarkhall · 9 miJim McLean & 46 more
Shotts · 10 miMatthew Baillie & 27 moreWRCarluke · 5 miWilliam Roy & 21 moreJCLesmahagow · 5 miJohn Cairncross & 19 moreJDCleland · 10 miJimmy Delaney & 16 moreAWNewmains · 9 miAndrew Wilson & 10 more
Fauldhouse · 11 miJack Aitchison & 7 moreQuestions about famous people from Lanark
Who is the most famous person from Lanark?
Colin McRae (British racing driver (1968–2007)) is the best known by our measure: Wikipedia has an article about them in 45 languages. Next come Walter Smith and Alister McRae.
How many famous people were born in Lanark?
82 people born in Lanark have an English Wikipedia article that confirms the town as their birthplace. Wikidata places 90 people here; the rest aren’t listed because their article names somewhere else, or no town.
What is Lanark known for?
Among its famous people, athletes: 59 of the 82. That is 72% of the town’s list, against 49% across UK towns.
Who is the earliest-born famous person from Lanark?
Bessie Clarksone, born in 1584. The youngest on the list was born in 1998.
Who counts as from Lanark?
People Wikidata records as born in a place inside Lanark’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 (25)
- Colin McRae: Carolyn, CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Walter Smith: Crowsus, CC BY 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Alister McRae: bjmullan, CC BY-SA 2.5, Wikimedia Commons
- Stephen Pearson: TuborgLight, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Ali Crawford: Jack86mkII, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Jimmy McRae: Scanbus at English Wikipedia, CC BY 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Alison Thewliss: Richard Townshend, CC BY 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Lee Miller: Garden, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Fraser Brown: www.davidmolloyphotography.com from Sydney, Australia, CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Scott Lawson: Graham Wilson from United Kingdom, CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Walter Elliot: Bassano Ltd, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Gary MacKenzie: Jonesy702, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Margaret Agnes Bunn: Hutchinson Jr, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Dougie Imrie: Bully Wee at English Wikipedia, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- William Budge: Andrew Jenson, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Robert McQueen: Henry Raeburn, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Stewart Greacen: Alasdair Middleton from Rothesay, Scotland, CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
- William Newbigging: Stephencdickson, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Andrew McArthur: Cyrille Bertin, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Lewis McDonald: Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- William Bryce: House of Commons of Canada, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- James Murray: paul birrell, CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
- John Higgins: Benwmbc at English Wikipedia, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Matthew Baillie: William Owen, Public domain, 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.