List of Scots
This is a list of notable people from Scotland.
Actors
Architects and master masons
- James Adam, son of William Adam
- John Adam, eldest son of William Adam
- Robert Adam, architect, son of William Adam
- William Adam, father of James, John and Robert; architect and mason
- James Alison, architect responsible for the appearance of late Victorian Hawick
- John Macvicar Anderson
- Robert Rowand Anderson
- George Ashdown Audsley, architect, artist, illustrator, writer, and pipe organ designer
- William James Audsley
- Ormrod Maxwell Ayrton, FRIBA
- John Baird, influential figure in the development of Glasgow Georgian and Victorian Architecture
- Andrew Balfour, architect, work including Holmlea Primary School, Glasgow
- Isobel Hogg Kerr Beattie, possibly the first woman to practise architecture in Scotland
- John Begg, architect who practised in London, South Africa and India, and taught at Edinburgh College of Art
- William Bryce Binnie
- Alexander Black
- Hippolyte Blanc
- Thomas Bonnar, interior designer and architect
- James MacLellan Brown, city architect of Dundee, designer of the Mills Observatory
- Thomas Brown, architect, works including Bellevue Church, Edinburgh
- Thomas Brown, architect notable for prison design
- Sir George Washington Browne
- Sir William Bruce
- David Bryce
- William Burn
- John Burnet, architect who lived and practised in Glasgow
- Sir John James Burnet, Edwardian architect, son of John Burnet
- James Burton, famous London property developer and architect; father of Decimus Burton and James Burton
- James Byres of Tonley, architect, antiquary and dealer in Old Master paintings and antiquities
- Edward Calvert
- Charles Cameron
- Alexander Buchanan Campbell
- Alexander Lorne Campbell, architect founder of Scott & Campbell
- Colen Campbell
- Colin Robert Vaughan Campbell, 7th Earl Cawdor
- John Campbell
- John Chesser, architect largely based in Edinburgh
- Sir John Ninian Comper, Gothic Revival architect
- George Corson
- David Cousin, architect, landscape architect and planner
- James Craig
- James Hoey Craigie
- Alexander Hunter Crawford, architect and businessman, owner of Crawford's Biscuits
- Alexander Davidson, architect active in Australia
- William Gordon Dey, architect who specialised in college buildings
- John Douglas of Pinkerton, architect who designed and reformed several country houses
- Sir Robert Drummond of Carnock, Master of Work to the Crown of Scotland
- Sir James Duncan Dunbar-Nasmith,, leading conservation architect
- Alan Dunlop
- John Murray Easton, architect, winner of the Royal Gold Medal for architecture
- Alexander Edward, Episcopalian clergyman, draughtsman, architect and landscape designer
- Archibald Elliot
- Reginald Francis Joseph Fairlie, architect of the National Library of Scotland
- James Fergusson
- Claude Waterlow Ferrier, architect, specialising in the Art Deco style
- James Leslie Findlay
- Kathryn Findlay
- Robert Findlay
- George Topham Forrest
- William Fowler, architect
- Malcolm Fraser
- Patrick Allan Fraser, architect and painter
- Andrew Frazer
- Thomas Gildard, architect of Britannia Music Hall
- James Gibbs
- Charles Lovett Gill
- James Gowan, postmodernist architect of the "engineering style"
- Sir James Gowans, maverick Edinburgh architect and builder
- James Gillespie Graham
- John Edgar Gregan
- David Hamilton
- Sir James Hamilton of Finnart, Master of Work to the Crown of Scotland
- Thomas Hamilton
- John Henderson, architect chiefly remembered as a church architect
- James Macintyre Henry
- William Hastie
- Gareth Hoskins, architect, UK Architect of the year 2006
- Edith Mary Wardlaw Burnet Hughes, considered Britain's first practising woman architect, who established her own firm in 1920
- Robert Hurd
- Ernest Auldjo Jamieson, architect specialising in country houses, largely for wealthy family friends
- George Meikle Kemp, carpenter, draughtsman, and architect, best known as the designer of the Scott Monument
- Robert Kerr, co-founder of the Architectural Association
- Sir William Hardie Kininmonth, architect whose work mixed a modern style with Scottish vernacular
- Alexander Laing, architect
- William Leiper
- David Lennox, bridge-builder and master stonemason, working in Australia
- John Lessels
- Ian G Lindsay
- Robert Lorimer
- David MacGibbon
- Kate Macintosh, architect of Dawson's Heights in Southwark
- Alexander George Robertson Mackenzie, architect, in London and Aberdeen
- Alexander Marshall Mackenzie
- Charles Rennie Mackintosh, architect, designer and watercolourist; husband and business partner of Margaret McDonald
- James Marjoribanks MacLaren, associated with the Arts and Crafts movement and Scottish Vernacular architecture
- Thomas MacLaren, architect who worked in worked in London, and the United States
- Andy MacMillan, architect, educator, writer and broadcaster
- Ebenezer James MacRae, City Architect for Edinburgh
- Thomas P. Marwick, architect based in Edinburgh, important to the architectural character of Marchmont
- Robert Matheson, architect and Clerk of Works for Scotland
- Robert Matthew
- John McAslan, CBE, designed many buildings around the world, such as the new departures concourse at London King's Cross railway station, the Iron Market in Port-au-Prince and the Olympia Park in Moscow
- Alexander McGill, mason and architect, who worked in partnership with James Smith
- James Mckissack, cinema architect
- John McLachlan, architect
- George McRae, architect who migrated to Australia and pursued his career in Sydney
- Sir Frank Charles Mears
- Adam Menelaws
- James Miller
- Sydney Mitchell
- Robert Morham, City Architect for Edinburgh
- Richard Murphy, architect, winner of the 2016 RIBA House of the year
- Gordon Murray
- Sir James Murray of Kilbaberton, master wright and architect
- John Mylne, master mason
- John Mylne of Perth, master mason
- John Mylne, master mason and architect
- Robert Mylne, stonemason and architect, last Master Mason to the Crown of Scotland
- Robert Mylne, architect and civil engineer, remembered for Blackfriars Bridge, London
- Walter Newall
- Peter Nicholson
- John Paterson
- Robert Hamilton Paterson, partner in the architectural practice, Hamilton-Paterson and Rhind
- David Paton, architect and builder, who worked in the United States in the 1830s
- John Dick Peddie
- John More Dick Peddie
- Frederick Thomas Pilkington
- James Playfair, father of William Henry
- William Henry Playfair
- B. Marcus Priteca
- Alan Reiach
- Robert Reid Raeburn, architect who worked in and around Edinburgh
- Robert Reid, King's architect and surveyor for Scotland
- David Rhind
- James Robert Rhind
- John Rhind, architect from Inverness
- George Richardson, architectural and decorative draftsman
- John Thomas Rochead
- Thomas Ross
- Fred Rowntree, Arts and Crafts architect
- Witold Rybczynski
- James Salmon, grandson of James Salmon
- James Salmon, grandfather of James Salmon
- William Schaw, Master of Works to James VI of Scotland for building castles and palaces
- John Scrimgeour of Myres, Master of Work for royal buildings for James V and Mary, Queen of Scots
- James Robb Scott, chief architect of the Southern Railway
- James Sellars
- Richard Norman Shaw, architect known for his country houses and for commercial buildings
- Archibald Simpson, one of the major architects of Aberdeen
- James Smith
- James Smith of Jordanhill, architect, merchant, antiquarian, geologist, biblical critic and man of letters
- John Smith, first official city architect of Aberdeen
- Robert Smith, emigrant to America
- William Smith
- John Soutar
- James Souttar, worked in Sweden
- Basil Spence
- John James Stevenson
- James Stirling
- John Tait, architect based in Edinburgh
- Thomas S. Tait
- Bruce James Talbert, architect and interior designer
- Sir Andrew Thomas Taylor, architect and Conservative Party municipal councillor
- Alexander "Greek" Thomson
- James Thomson, City Engineer, City Architect, and Housing Director of Dundee
- Ramsay Traquair, architect and academic with strong links to Canada
- James Campbell Walker, architect specialising in poorhouses and schools
- William Wallace
- Frederick Walters, notable for Roman Catholic churches
- George Henry Walton
- Thomas Lennox Watson
- William Weir
- Charles Wilson
- Robert Wilson, architect for the Edinburgh Board of Education
- George Wittet, architect working mostly in Bombay, India
- William Young, designer of Glasgow City Chambers
Artists
Businesspersons
- Robert Aitken, Philadelphia printer, the first to publish an English language Bible in the United States
- Alexander Aikman, Jamaican printer, newspaper publisher, and landowner.
- Arthur Anderson, co-founder of P&O
- Alexander Arbuthnot, printer, work including George Buchanan's first History of Scotland
- Sir George Gough Arbuthnot, businessman and civic leader in British India
- John Bartholomew, Sr., cartographer and engraver, founder of John Bartholomew and Son Ltd
- John Bartholomew Jr., cartographer
- John Christopher Bartholomew, cartographer and geographer
- John George Bartholomew, cartographer and geographer
- John Bartholomew, cartographer and geographer
- William Beardmore, 1st Baron Invernairn, founder of William Beardmore & Company engineers and shipbuilders
- James Gordon Bennett, Sr., founder and publisher of the New York Herald
- Alexander Berry, town of Berry is named after him, possibly the first millionaire in Australia
- David Berry, livestock breeder, landowner and benefactor; brother of Alexander Berry
- John Broadwood, founder of the piano manufacturer Broadwood and Sons
- Peter Buchan, editor, publisher, and collector of ballads and folktales
- David Buick, founded the Buick car company
- Sir George Burns, 1st Baronet, shipping magnate
- Sir James Burns, businessman, shipowner and philanthropist in Australia
- James Burns, shipowner born in Glasgow
- John Burns, 1st Baron Inverclyde, shipowner, chairman of Cunard
- Agnes Campbell, Lady Roseburn, printer, described as "Scotland's wealthiest early modern printer".
- Andrew Carnegie, steel magnate, major philanthropist
- Thomas Catto, 1st Baron Catto, businessman, Governor of the Bank of England.
- William Chambers of Glenormiston, publisher
- Sir Arnold Clark, founder of Arnold Clark Automobiles
- Catherine Cranston, leading figure in the development of tea rooms, patron of Charles Rennie Mackintosh and others
- William Cunninghame of Lainshaw, tobacco merchant
- David Dale, merchant and businessman, established the weaving community of New Lanark
- William Davidson, entrepreneur and founder of the first colony in New Brunswick, Canada
- Adam Dawson, Linlithgow and owner of St Magdalene distillery
- George Dempster of Dunnichen and Skibo, advocate, landowner, agricultural improver, politician and business man
- Peter Denny, shipbuilder and shipowner, with William Denny & Brothers
- John Dewar, Sr., founder of John Dewar & Sons, Scotch whisky distillers
- Dr. Henry Duncan, Church of Scotland Minister; started the world's first savings bank in Ruthwell, Dumfries and Galloway
- John Elder, marine engineer and shipbuilder
- Sir Tom Farmer, entrepreneur
- Robert Fleming, financier, founder of Robert Fleming & Co merchant bank
- Bertie Forbes, founder of Forbes magazine
- Alexander Fordyce, banker, involved in the bank run on Neal, James, Fordyce and Down in 1772
- Sir Alexander Fraser, founder of Fraserburgh
- Hugh Fraser, founder of House of Fraser
- Anita Margaret Frew, businessperson
- Martin Gilbert, Chief Executive of Aberdeen Asset Management
- James Gillespie, snuff-maker and philanthropist
- Ann Gloag, co-founder of Stagecoach Group, born in Perth
- Thomas Blake Glover, Nagasaki-based trader in 19th-century Japan
- Robert Gordon, founder of the Robert Gordon University
- Sir Angus Grossart, chairman of merchant bank Noble Grossart
- Andrew Halyburton, merchant, 'Conservator of the Scottish privileges in the Low Countries'
- Willie Haughey, entrepreneur and founder of City Refrigeration Holdings
- George Heriot, goldsmith and founder of George Heriot's School
- Tom Hunter, entrepreneur and philanthropist, founder of Sports Division
- John Lawson Johnston, creator of Bovril
- Irvine Laidlaw, Scotland's 6th richest man and founder of the modern conference company
- John Law, advocate of paper money and founder of the Mississippi Company
- Sir Thomas Lipton, founder of Lipton's Tea
- Sir George Mathewson,, former chairman of the Royal Bank of Scotland
- Jim McColl, founder of Clyde Blowers
- William McEwan, founder of McEwans brewers
- Stewart Milne, founder of Stewart Milne Group and majority shareholder of Aberdeen F.C.
- Michelle Mone, founder of Ultimo
- Sir David Murray, founder of Murray International Metals
- Thomas Napier, builder, emigrant to Australia
- William Paterson, founder of Bank of Scotland and Bank of England
- Alexander Cameron Sim, pharmacist and entrepreneur active in Japan, founder of the Kobe Regatta & Athletic Club
- Robert Smith, Baron Smith of Kelvin, Chair of the Green Investment Bank
- Brian Souter, entrepreneur and co-founder of Stagecoach Group
- James Stirling, builder of steam locomotives, brother of Robert Stirling
- Thomas Sutherland, founder of HSBC
- David Couper Thomson, proprietor of the newspaper and publishing company DC Thomson
- George Thomson, marine engineer and shipbuilder
- William Walls, lawyer and industrialist, influenced the development of 19th-century Glasgow
- William Douglas Weir, 1st Viscount Weir, industrialist, engineer and politician
- George Watson, first chief accountant of the Bank of Scotland; founder of George Watson's College
- Wilson, Sons, founded in 1837 by Edward and Fleetwood Pellow Wilson; one of South America's largest shipping brokers
- Andrew Yule, businessman who founded Andrew Yule and Company in India
- Sir David Yule, 1st Baronet, businessman based in India
- George Yule, merchant in England and India, fourth President of the Indian National Congress