Top Greatest 100 Scottish People

Who is the greatest Scottish person?

Perhaps the most influential person from a global perspective is David Hume (philosopher) or Adam Smith (economist). From the perspective of Scottish history Robert the Bruce or William Wallace. When compiling this list, there's certainly no shortage of inventors or writers to choose from.

If you want to make a suggestion about who should be in list (who shouldn't) you can leave a comment here:

  1. Robert the Bruce – (1274 - 1329) Leader of Revolt against English
  2. Alexander Fleming – (1881 - 1955) Discovered Penicillin
  3. John Logie Baird - (1888 - 1946) Inventor of TV and fibre optics
  4. David Hume (1711 - 1776) – Philosopher and leading figure of European enlightenment.
  5. William Wallace - (1274 - 1305) Rebel and leader of the Scottish
  6. Alexander Graham Bell (1847 - 1922) – Invented telephone
  7. Alex Ferguson – (1941 - ) Football manager of Aberdeen and Manchester Unite)
  8. Robert Burns (1759 - 1796) - Poet and Writer.  
  9. James Watt – (1736 - 1819) - Invented Steam Engine
  10. Adam Smith (1723 - 1790) – Economist
  11. J.K.Rowling (1961 - Writer. Born England, but lives in Scotland
  12. Arthur James Balfour (1848 - 1930)   British Prime Minister (1902 to 1906. 
  13. Eric Henry Liddell (1902 - 1945) – Olympic athlete in 1924 Paris Games. Immortalised in film ‘Chariots of Fire’
  14. Rev. Patrick Bell (1800 – 1869) -   Invented the reaping machine a forerunner of combine harvester.
  15. Billy Connolly (1942 - ) - comedian
  16. Sean Connery (1930 - ) – Oscar winning Actor.  
  17. Thomas Carlyle (1795 - 1881) - Writer
  18. Joseph Black (1728 - 1799) - Chemist.   Regarded as the Father of Quantitative Chemistry.
  19. Andrew Bonar-Law (1858 - 1923) - British Prime  Minister
  20. Sir James Dewar (1842 - 1923) – Invented vacuum flask.
  21. Lord John Boyd-Orr (1880 - 1971) - Nobel Peace prize in 1947, as Director of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO)  
  22. Robert Stevenson (1772 - 1850) – Engineer
  23. James Boswell (1740 - 1795) - Biographer and Traveller. 
  24. Robert Louis Stevenson (1850 - 1894) – Author
  25. Jackie Stewart (1939 - ) World Champion Racing Driver
  26. Robert William Thomson (1822 - 1873) - Invented the vulcanised rubber pneumatic tyre.
  27. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (1859 - 1930) - Author. Creator of  Sherlock Holmes.   
  28. Tony Blair (1953 - British Prime Minister 1997
  29. John Boyd Dunlop (1840 - 1921) – Invented improvement to pneumatic tyre.
  30. Sir David Brewster (1781 - 1868) - Physicist and inventor of kaleidoscope.
  31. William Spiers Bruce (1867 - 1921) - Oceanographer and Polar Explorer.   
  32. John Buchan   (1875 - 1940) - Author, biographer and politician.  
  33. Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman (1836 - 1908) - Prime Minister of Britain between 1906 and 1908.
  34.  Andrew Carnegie (1835 - 1918) - U.S. Steel magnate and philanthropist.   
  35. Gordon Brown (1951 - ) - British Prime Minister from 2007
  36. James Chalmers (1782 - 1853) – Inventor of adhesive postage stamp
  37. James Braid (1795 - 1860) - Surgeon and developed process of Hypnosis.
  38. James  Clark (1936 - 1968) – World Racing Champion.
  39. Bill Shankly (1913 - 1981) – Football Manager
  40. George Cleghorn (1716 - 1794) – Doctor who helped discover Quinine as cure for Malaria
  41. Sir Ralph Alexander Cochrane (1895 - 1977) – Air Chief in World War Two. Planned Dambusters raid in 1943 
  42. James Keir Hardie (1856 - 1915) – Socialist, founder of Independent labour party, forerunner of British Labour Party.
  43. Donald Crisp (1880 - 1974) – Oscar Winning Actor for role in     "How Green is my Valley “ 1941.
  44. James Ramsay MacDonald (1866 - 1937) First British Labour Prime Minister. Led the first Labour government in 1924.
  45. Archibald Joseph Cronin (1896 - 1981) Author.
  46. Kenny Dalglish (1951 - ) Scottish Football player
  47. John Knox (1505 - 1572) – Instrumental in Protestant reformation in Scotland.
  48. Sir Hugh Dalrymple (Lord Drummore) (1700 - 1753) - Invented better drainage system for agriculture.
  49. David Douglas (1798 - 1834)
  50. William Whitelaw (1918 - ) Conservative British Politician
  51. Air Chief Marshall Hugh Dowding (1882 - 1970) Commander in Chief of Fighter Command during Battle of Britain.
  52. Donald Caskie (1902 - 1983) – Scottish Minister who helped British servicemen flee occupied France.
  53. Sir Patrick Geddes (1854 - 1932) – Father of Town Planning
  54. Willie Carson (1942 - ) – Race horse jockey.
  55. Charles Mackintosh (1766 - 1843) – Invented Mac Rain coat 
  56. James Gregory (1638 - 1675) - Inventor of the first reflecting telescope.   
  57. Earl Douglas Haig (1861 - 1928) – Commander of allied troops on Western Front in World War. Later found the Poppy fund for ex-servicemen.
  58. William Hunter (1718 - 1783) - Pioneer in the field of Obstetrics.  
  59. Elsie Inglis (1864 - 1917) – Suffragette and leading surgeon
  60. James VI (1566 - 1625) King of England and Scotland.
  61. Saint Kentigern (c. 518 - 613) - The Apostle of Cumbria and Founder of Glasgow.  
  62. Kenneth Graham (1859 - 1932) - Author. Including "The Wind in the Willows"
  63. James Lind (1716 - 1794) – Naval doctor. Helped prevent scurvy on naval expeditions.
  64. Mary, Queen of Scots (1542 - 1587) - Monarch of Scotland.  
  65. Joseph Lister (1827 - 1912) – Pioneered use of antiseptics reducing infections after operations.
  66.  Sir Alexander Douglas Home   (1903 - 1995) - British Prime Minister (1963).    
  67. David Livingstone (1813 - 1873) - Explorer
  68. James Ure (Midge), (1953 - ) Musician, member of U2
  69. John McAdam (1756 - 1836) - Surveyor and builder of roads.
  70. Bonnie Charlie (1720 - 1788) -The Young Pretender to the throne of Great Britain
  71. David Niven, (1909-1983) - Actor
  72. Sir Robert McAlpine (1847 - 1934) – Construction Firm.
  73. Norman MacCaig (1910 - 1996) – Poet
  74. Ronald Balfour Corbett (Ronnie), (1930) - Comic
  75. Hugh MacDiarmid (1892 - 1978) Poet. A founder of SNP
  76. Flora MacDonald (1722 - 1790)
  77. Dr. William McEwan (1827 - 1913) - Brewer and Philanthropist.  
  78. Sir John Alexander MacDonald (1815 - 1891) - First Prime Minister of Canada.
  79. Kirkpatrick Macmillan (1813 - 1878) – Inventor of Bicycle.
  80. James Clerk Maxwell (1831 – 1879] -    Mathematician and Physicist.  
  81. Andrew Meikle (1719 - 1811) - Inventor of the threshing machine.
  82. David Niven (1909 - 1983) – Actor
  83. Sir William Ramsay (1852 - 1916) – Chemist
  84. Sir Walter Scott (1771 - 1832) – Writer and Poet
  85. Muriel Spark (1918 - ) – Author
  86. Ewan McGregor, (1971) - Actor
  87. Robert Watson-Watt, (1892-1973), invented radar
  88. Robbie Coltrane, (1950) - Actor
  89. Donovan, (1946) - Singer
  90. Sir Thomas Lipton (1850 - 1931) – Retail Grocery trade. 
  91. Annie Lennox, (1954) - Individual Singer
  92. Lulu (Marie McDonald Lawrie) (1948 - ) - Pop singer
  93. Graham Obree - Cyclist - World Pursuit Champion and broke world hour record
  94. Jo Grimond, (1913-1993), Liberal Party leader from 1956 to 1967
  95. Alex Salmond, Nationalist (SNP leader 1990-2000)
  96. Sir John Sholto Douglas (8th Marquis of Queensberry) (1844 - 1900) Devised the "Queensberry Rules" for boxing in 1867.  
  97. Sir William Arrol (1839 - 1913)  -  Engineer. 
  98. George Wishart (1513 - 1546) – Luteran Martyr
  99. Sir Harry Lauder (1870 - 1950) - Singer and Music Hall Entertainer.  
  100. James Young (1811 - 1883)  - Chemical Engineer.

 

References for Famous Scottish People