Who would you consider to be the 10 most well known people all over the world today?
 

Saw this thread in another forum and thought it'd be fun to do it here.

Name 10 people, whether in order or not it's up to you, who do you consider to be the most well known people all over the world today. And this is only about LIVING people. So no Hitler, Stalin, Julius Caeser, etc. :P

I'll try. In no order:

Donald Trump: A no brainer, really
Barack Obama: Also a no brainer. He's still fresh in memory. Maybe in some years the world will sorta forget him like they're forgetting George W. Bush these days who completely moved away from politics.
Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson: Highest grossing actor in Hollywood in the last few years, I believe?
Kanye West: A no brainer as far as musicians go.
Kim Kardashian: yeah I know she's famous for stupid reasons and all, but we're not discussing merits nor the quality of their work here, but their fame only. And also, she is married to Kanye West, meaning her relevancy in the mainstream wont' go away anytime soon.
Vladimir Puin: Arguably the most well know state leader nowadays next to Trump It's him or Angela Merkel or the Queen of England, imo.
Angela Merkel: See above.
The Queen of England: Ditto.
The current Pope: No brainer either. I mean... who doesn't know the goddamn Pope?

To complete the top 10... an athlete... one of these for certain: Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi, Lebron James or Michael Jordan. Also add Hulk Hogan if you count him into it.

Your turn now.

Can't argue with most of your list. I'd bump a couple people for Paul McCartney, Oprah, OJ Simpson, Beyoncé, and maybe a few others.

OJ's trial was HUGE all over the world, but we're talking as of today. Meaning he's no longer in the back of the mind of most people's all over the world. But I agree with the other three. Although the name The Beatles is bigger than any of the members. Ringo Starr is still alive and making music and I never hear of him on the news, per example.

I'd make a honorable mentions list but I'd still leave lots of famous people out. It's hard to make a list like this, which makes it interesting.

Hell I'm sure Bieber is still very famous and I don't have him in my list, per example. Not to mention people like jack Nicholson, Scarlett Johansson, etc.

Me. I know the Pope as a figure but not his name or face. I don't follow news & I'm not religous.

You don't have to be Catholic or religious to know him. I'm neither and he's on the news on a regular basis. Remember that popes are still treated like any regular state leader. Whenever they visit a country it's made a big deal out of their visit.

Anyway, I don't mean it as literally everyone knowing those people. I think it's impossible for every single person on Earth to know the same person by name and face. :P

I disagree, at least as far as America goes. He's been the butt of jokes pretty much nonstop ever since the trial, gets mentioned in rap lyrics a lot, etc.

Plus with his kid napping arrest, Chappelle's Netflix special, the excellent Emmy Award winning People v. OJ Simpson series on FX and his upcoming release from prison... he's a pretty popular topic again

Yeah I know he was arrested not too long ago.

He has a tv series based on him?

I mean people remember the name but he's not a top priority on people's minds all over the world. I never hear people talk about him. It's kinda like that Breivik guy from Norway who is still infamous but only occasionally will people remember him when they see him on the news again "oh that guy again...". Definitely not top 10 or 20, imo.

1- The Rock
2- Dwayne Johnson
3- The People's Champ
4- The Brahma Bull
5- The Most Electrifying Man in All of Entertainment
6- The jabroni beating, pie eating, trail blazing, eye brow raising, the best in the present, future and past, and if yall dont like it you can kiss the peoples ass!
7- The Great One
8- The Most Electrifying Man in all of Twittertainment
9- Flex F***in' Kavana
10- Seth Rogen

I agree with the people others have posted. Can't think of any others at the moment, though.

Out of all the people mentioned in this thread the only ones I agree would be Trump and The Rock. I would've included Pope Francis but Powder just proved us wrong on that one.

If you don't follow politics you wouldn't know who Putin is, at least not the average person as big as he is so people like Merkel have no chance. Even Kim Kardashian as big as she is in the US and people who follow that celebrity culture, most older people from other countries do not know who she is. I can tell you where I'm living a vast majority don't know nor care who OJ Simpson is, Oprah is definitely well known but not everyone would know her.

Obviously people would know Obama, right now but younger generations of other countries will soon not know who he is. For someone to know a person all over the world no matter age, culture etc. It's mostly going to be big singers and celebrities. Tom Cruise, Brittney Spears, Justin Bieber, Lady Gaga, Robert Downey Jr. etc.

In the world?

1. Donald Trump
2. Xi Jinping
3. Tom Cruise
4. Tom Hanks
5. Justin Bieber
6. Oprah Winfrey
7. Al Pacino
8. Robert DeNiro
9. Mark Zuckerberg
10. Vladimir Putin
11. Sam Worthington

Something like that.

Yeah, it was extremely popular here, and very well done outside of some poor casting choices. Sterling K. Brown and Courtney B. Vance are both amazing in it.

I'm with Powder concerning the Pope. I have no idea what he looks like and would not recognize his name either. I could imagine people around the world knowing who Oprah, Bono, Madonna, Beyoncé & kim kardashian are.

You say that not that many have heard of Putin or Kim Kardashian(older people) but then you put Britney Spears? Sure, she was a successful singer in her prime, but what makes you think she might be more well known among middle aged people than Kim Kardashian? I don't like Kardashian or her family at all, but sadly, they're very well known.

Why not Arnold Schwarzenegger up there? Or Obama? I'd have them over Sam Worthington.

Xi Jinping 2nd while Putin at 10th? I disagree. China might be the 2nd largest economy in the world but their president doesn't get much media attention outside his country compared to other state leaders, from my observation. Or maybe I'm just distracted.

I was totally kidding with Worthington.

Even if true, that doesn't matter. China has 1.5 billion people. By comparison, the US has only 323 million. It doesn't matter if not a single soul outside of China knows who Xi Jinping is... he wins by default.

Sure but that still leaved about 5 or 6 billion people outside of China.. and I'm sure most of the Chinese know Obama, Trump and Putin as well

Not counting politics or presidents, I'd say:

- Arnold Schwarzeneggar
- Sylvester Stallone
- Harrison Ford
- Jackie Chan
- Bruce Lee
- Madonna
- Sean Connery
- Mike Tyson or Mohammed Ali
- Michael Jackson
- Shigeru Miyamoto

Yeah right.

Also... Bruce Lee, Ali and Michael are all dead.

I forgot he said no dead people, but they're still rather recent. Ali only died back in...2014 or so? I'd replace them with Bill Gates then.

Also Shigeru Miyamoto is considered the, "Walt Disney" of videogames. Just like everyone knows Walt Disney created Mickey Mouse or Disney in general, everyone knows Super Mario Bros. was created by Shigeru Miyamoto.

No they don't. I'll agree that he's an extremely influential individual, you'd be hard pressed to find someone unfamiliar with at least some of his work, but a small percentage of people know his name or face.

Okay here's my take-

1: Oprah. Between her work on TV and movies, her magazine, media empire and her social works around the world, there are probably more people who know her name and face than who know their own national leaders around the world.

2: Trump. The big joke of the political world ATM. Nuff said.

3: Putin. Sad to say, but the "new cold war" with Russia's "meddling in US election scandal and his personal ties with Trump, he's probably one of the most visible leaders in the world- again.

4: Obama. In spite of all the critics, his two terms as president were some of the most high-profile years in recent history. He and Michelle are still in the public eye, so still quite relevant.

5: Pope Francis. Contrary to what Powder said, he IS known in many places around the world, especially as he has been very active from both a social and religious standpoint, making him a very influential figure. There's a reason he is being called "the People's Pope".

6: Bruce/Caitlin Jenner. Posterchild for transgender/LBGTQ rights and issues around the world, and high-profile member of the Kardashian family. Like it or hate it, he's part of the reason we now have debates on trans bathroom usage, sports, etc....

7: Kim Yong Un. Apple didn't fall far from the tree on this one. Paranoid dictator who doesn't quite have all his marbles....

8: Queen Elizabeth II. Hard to find someone who hasn't seen or heard of Britain's monarch.

9: Beyonce. Probably the biggest name in music today.

10: Probably Kim Kardashian. Famous just because she is rich and famous, but always being talked about.

In no particular order:

Trump
Kim Jong Un
Beyonce
Kim Kardashian
Ronaldo
Usain Bolt
Putin
Obama
Pope Francis
The Rock

Honorable mention: Oprah, Queen Elizabeth II, Bill Gates, Malala, Hasselhof

How could I have forgotten the Hoff. He is forsure well known. Maybe even more so than Oprah.

Hmm perhaps it'd be better to break this down by field... I'll make a top 10 by field then:

Politicians:

Trump
Putin
Merkel
Obama
Hillary Clinton
Bill Clinton
The Queen of England
King Jong Un
Bernie Sanders
Silvio Berlusconi

Sports people:

Cristiano Ronaldo
Lionel Messi
Pelé
Diego Maradona
Michael Jordan
Lebron James
Usain Bolt
Mike Tyson
Hulk Hogan (if you wanna count him as a sportsman)
Williams sisters or Roger Federer or Tiger Woods

Musicians:

Beyoncé
Rihanna
Kanye West
Justin Bieber
Selena Gomez
Katy Perry
Drake
Adele
Shakira
dunno... Lil Wayne?

Actors/actresses:

Scarlett Johansson
Arnold Schwarzenegger
Morgan Freeman
The Rock
Tom Hanks
Clint Eastwood
Seth Rogan
Hugh Laurie
Sofia Vergara
That woman from Game of Thrones

Just the ones I could think from the top of my head. Do you guys agree or disagree?

It's kinda funny how quickly big pop artists fade to obscurity. Like when I was a teen all everyone talked about was Britney Spears and Christina Augilera.

Yet the teens of today know Katy Perry or Taylor Swift...they don't know anything about Britney/Christina. They're like ancient history now. Reminds me when I was a kid Madonna felt like this "ancient" singer to me because by the late 90's she was already over and done with.

Is Britney Spears still relevant, even? What is she even up to these days?

Well yeah, stars rise and fall. Remember Marilyn Manson? Or bands such as Limp Bizkit, KoRn and Papa Roach?

I forgot about Taylor Swift... I guess Miley Cyrus is still famous as well?

Madonna? Isn't she a book author these days, mostly?

You had mentioned dead people... well obv if Michael Jackson and Ali were still alive they'd have been in my top 10.

This begs the question, who is the most well known person of all history as of today? I'd say Hitler. Who comes 2nd? I think everyone knows names such as Julius Caeser, Cleopatra, Napoleon and Stalin as far as politics go. Celebrities? Well Marilyn Monroe, Freddie Mercury, Michael Jackson...

More people probably know who Simon Cowell is due to the huge success of American Idol than any other game show host in history.

40 yrs since Elvis died , Im going to Graceland today :cry:

Ali, Jackson, Lee, would no longer be on the list, since they are dead.

Spears still makes music, not as big as her 1990's fame, She had stop by a concert in Vegas what? 2 years ago. So she still travels singing her hits like Hit me Baby one more time or Opps I did it again.

As for all time, To me its either Hitler or Alexander the Great. Hitler for WWII, and the Great, because of his conquest, of Greece, Persia, Egypt, and working his way into Africa when he died young. Who knows what would happen had he lived? He could have invaded China had he went on lol.

Most well known of all time? Easy. Jesus Christ. Thought that one was obvious. Hitler would be #2.

10- GRain_is_Goku
9- GokuSaysHi
8- Ultimate Super Goku
7- Pollyparrot
6- songoku
5- SuperSaiyanGoku
4- Cybercubed
3- PleasePleaseForgiveGoku
2- Gokugivesuphatesallofyou
1- SuperGoku

6 years later, I'd say, in no particular order:

Joe Biden
Cristiano Ronaldo
Donald Trump
Lionel Messi
Barack Obama
The Rock
Vladimir Putin
Pope Francis
Elon Musk

Can't think of just one single name to complete this top 10. Dozens of people could apply. And I'm not much up to date when it comes to who the current hottest musicians and actors are. Plenty are worldwide famous and it's hard to say which one is more famouss than other. Like, is Gal Gadot more well-known than, let's say, Scarlett Johansson? Seems impossible to tell.

Perhaps Xi Jinping could be the most well known person? Since he is the leader of the world's most populated country, and I imagine most people in the West too would know who he is.

Edit: realised he was discussed in the thread before. I still think he could be no.1 in being well known since he has become more recognisable worldwide due to American-Chinese tensions.

Pick A Royal, Any Royal. Six seasons of the Crown and the Harry/Meghan drama will help with that

Trump

Biden

Bill Gates

Putin

Musk

Ryan Reynolds

Margot Robbie

More possibilities:

Volodymyr Zelenskyy
Mike Pence
Rudy Giuliani
Candace Cameron Bure
Mario Lopez
Charles Martinet
Jimmy Carter
King Charles
Priscilla Presley
Whoopi Goldberg

Look at the greater majority of what everyone has cited - and even if you agree with the listed people or not the real pattern is that "infamy" seems to be more correlated with "most well known" than fame does.

Now the real question is does that say something about "infamy" or does that say something about the general population's direction of thought?

Here are my top picks:

Elon Musk
Cristiano Ronaldo
Greta Thunberg
Beyoncé
Xi Jinping
Jeff Bezos
Emma Watson
Justin Bieber
Malala Yousafzai
Narendra Modi