Orcadians are the native population of the Orkney islands of Scotland. Historically, they are descended from the Picts, Norse and Scots.
Jim Baikie British comics artist, who is best known for his work with Alan Moore on Skizz
William Balfour Baikie (1825–1864), explorer and naturalist
George Mackay Brown (1921–1996), poet, author, playwright
Mary Brunton (1778–1818), author of Self-Control, Discipline and other novels
Dr David Clouston (1871–1948), author and agriculturalist
Joseph Storer Clouston (1870–1944), author and historian
Thomas Clouston (1840–1915), psychiatrist, Superintendent of the Royal Edinburgh Asylum
James Copland (1791–1870), physician and prolific medical writer
Stanley Cursiter (1887–1976), artist
William Towrie Cutt (1898–1981), author
Walter Traill Dennison (1826–1894), Orcadian folklorist
Kris Drever, folk singer and guitarist
Magnus Erlendsson (Saint Magnus) (c.1070–c.1117), Earl of Orkney c.1105–1117
John Flett (geologist) (1869-1947) and his son William Roberts Flett FRSE (1900-1979) also a geologist
Matthew Forster Heddle (1828–1897), mineralogist, author of The Mineralogy of Scotland
Malcolm Laing (1762–1818), author of the History of Scotland from the Union of the Crowns to the Union of the Kingdoms
Samuel Laing (1780–1868), author of A Residence in Norway, and translator of the Heimskringla, the Icelandic chronicle of the kings of Norway
Samuel Laing (1812–1897), chairman of the London, Brighton & South Coast railway, and introducer of the system of "parliamentary" trains with fares of one penny a mile.
Kristin Linklater, born 1946, voice teacher, actor, director and author
Magnus Linklater (b. 1942), journalist, son of Eric Linklater
John D Mackay (b. 1909), headmaster and Orkney patriot
Ernest Marwick (1915–1977), writer noted for his writings on Orkney folklore and history
Murdoch McKenzie (d.1797), hydrographer
F. Marian McNeill (1885–1973) folklorist, best known for writing The Silver Bough
Edwin Muir (1887–1959), author and poet
Dr. John Rae (1813–1893), Arctic explorer
Robert Rendall (1898–1967), poet, and amateur naturalist
Rognvald Kali Kolsson (Saint Rognvald) (c.1103–1158), Earl of Orkney 1136–1158
Julyan Sinclair, television presenter
Bessie Skea aka Bessie Grieve (1923-1996), writer of prose and poetry about nature and Orkney life
Thomas Stewart Traill (1781–1862), professor of medical jurisprudence at Edinburgh University and editor of the 8th edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica
Cameron Stout (b. 1971) winner of Big Brother in 2003, brother of Julyan Sinclair
Margaret Tait (1918-1999), film maker and poet
James Wallace (fl. 1684–1724), physician and botanist
William Walls (1819–1893), lawyer and industrialist
Thomas Webster (1772–1844), geologist and architect
Sylvia Wishart (1936–2008), landscape artist
The Wrigley Sisters Jennifer and Hazel, international folk duo
