#1Famous people · Meriden, West Midlands
Athletes stand out among the 8 famous people born in Meriden
Articles in 4 languages make the English footballer Adam Walker the best known. Second place goes to the English cricketer Oliver Smith, third to C. M. Ridding. Births since 1970 account for 2 of the names. Edward Merewether, born in 1858, is the earliest name and Adam Walker, born in 1991, the latest.
Born here
8
notable people
Best known
Adam Walker
in 4 Wikipedia languages
First
1858
Edward Merewether
Youngest
1991
Adam Walker
Most common field
Sports
6 people
What stands out about Meriden’s famous people
★ What stands out · Known for
What Meriden is known for
The field furthest above the usual share is athletes, at 1.5 times.
The usual town: the share across everyone listed across UK towns. Tap a field to see its people.
Through the years
When Meriden’s famous people were born
Births peak in the 1940s, with 2 people born in that decade.
SportsScience & MedicinePolitics & Law
Each dot is a person, stacked by the decade they were born.
The best known
Born in Meriden
Ranked by languages covered: Adam Walker with 4, then Oliver Smith with 4 and C. M. Ridding with 3.
#1OS#2
CR#3
Everyone
Everyone else born in Meriden
Of the other 5, 4 are athletes.
John Gray
born 1948English cricketer, and rugby union and rugby league footballer (born 1948)
SportsWikipedia ↗
No one matches both filters.
Next door
Famous people from the towns next door
The neighbour with the most names is Coventry, at 463.
Questions about famous people from Meriden
Who is the most famous person from Meriden?
Adam Walker (English footballer (born 1991)) is the best known by our measure: Wikipedia has an article about them in 4 languages. Next come Oliver Smith and C. M. Ridding.
How many famous people were born in Meriden?
8 people born in Meriden have an English Wikipedia article that confirms the town as their birthplace. Wikidata places 10 people here; the rest aren’t listed because their article names somewhere else, or no town.
What is Meriden known for?
Among its famous people, athletes: 6 of the 8. That is 75% of the town’s list, against 49% across UK towns.
Who is the earliest-born famous person from Meriden?
Edward Merewether, born in 1858. The youngest on the list was born in 1991.
Who counts as from Meriden?
People Wikidata records as born in a place inside Meriden’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 (5)
- Adam Walker: TheRealWilG, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Clive Owen: Alfonso_Cuarón_y_Clive_Owen_(Children_of_men).jpg: Mario Antonio Pena Zapatería derivative work: Jan Arkesteijn, CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Graham Potter: jamesboyes, CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Chris Dangerfield: Los Angeles Aztecs, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- John Wyndham: Stellar Publishing / unidentified staff artist, Public domain, 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.