Nigel Tranter OBE (23 November 1909 – 9 January 2000) was a Scottish historian and author.

Nigel Tranter was born in Glasgow and educated at George Heriot's School in Edinburgh. He trained as an accountant and worked in Scottish National Insurance Company, founded by his uncle. In 1933 he married May Jean Campbell Grieve and had two children, Frances May and Philip. He joined the Royal Artillery and served in East Anglia in the Second World War.