Who would you say is the famous living person?

Trump, for all the wrong reasons but Trump.

Macca?

Ronaldo.

Not the pope. Many people will know that there is a pope, but much fewer will know who the current pope is. The last few haven't lasted very long.

Taylor Swift. No contest.

I suspect it is Narendra Modi. After 10 years in power I would assume that everyone in India and China knows who he is, plus millions more throughout Asia, so the majority of humanity.

I doubt that Trump and Putin are quite that well known.

Xi Jinping.

Tragically it will be some horrible bastard

Taylor Swift. No contest.

There’s a good argument to be made for her, her fanbase is huge, multicultural and global. And also apolitical and cross-generational as well. The fact that she’s the first artist who’s tour has made over a billion dollars - nobody’s ever done that before, and that’s hugely significant and newsworthy.

Taylor Swift. No contest.

By name alone, maybe.  I'd struggle to recognise her if I walked past her in the street, and I expect that's true for a lot of folk middle aged and upwards.

Lady Gaga

I’d say Trump by a mile.  Unfortunately.

America is the global superpower so most people globally are aware of the country - and Trump has been the most high profile talked about American for a good few years.

Taylor Swift - no. There’s lots of the world where western music just doesn’t register for the general population, they won’t know or care about Taylor Swift, or Lady Gaga, or Madonna, or whatever the next product of the global pop industry will be.

you could interpret the data to suggest that Taylor Swift has the 6th highest selling album in china since 2019.

Only 1.8mil copies, but that represents 25% of the sales of the highest selling artist.

Jesus Christ

Not the pope. Many people will know that there is a pope, but much fewer will know who the current pope is.

I don't remember the name of the current one.  It is no longer that nazi one is it?

Jesus Christ

Not sure he is alive (or ever was)

In the West I would guess most people are aware of Trump, Taylor Swift etc, but what about outside of the west where rather a lot of people live.  Who would have biggest awareness in China or India for example?

Ronaldo or Messi.

Joe Cocker.

Xi Jinping +1

Donald J Trump, as said previously, for all the wrong reasons 🙄

After a lot of thought, I'd say George Galloway

Probably not Ronnie Pickering. More likely to be Trump.

Louise?

Or Chris Martin

According to Reddit it is Rowan Atkinson or to put it correctly Mr Bean. Airs in 89 countries and I love these two anecdotes:

““Mr. Bean” is seen in 89 countries. “I didn’t think there were 89 countries in the world,” Atkinson says, laughing. He recalls the time a friend of his encountered “Mr. Bean” while making a documentary in a poor African village. “In this village there was one television, and she was wandering around late one night and heard this guffawing in this shack. She went in and there was most of the village gathered around this extremely fuzzy black-and-white television and there was ‘Mr. Bean’ on the screen.”

“In 2006 I crossed the border from Russia to Kazakhstan in a convoy of rusted and broken cars. There were four cars in total, and the border guards were bored and aloof as they checked our passports, visas and vehicle transit papers.

It was only as the last car approached the guard's hut that they burst into energy. Huge smiles. We had no idea what was going on, and found the whole thing terrifying since none of us understood Russian or Kazakh.

But when one guard pulled out a disposable camera and gestured to the car, we understood what he wanted. He kept blurted out "Meesta Beena Maheena!" over and over, with passion in his voice. He'd recognised the rally car* as being Mr Bean's Mini, and all the guards wanted their pictures with such a magnificent vehicle.”

Well if we are discussing people that us westerners recognise, a brief non scientific poll of people I work with (predominantly Indian, ****stani and Far Eastern) Obama, Ronaldo, Messi and Beckham are the most famous .

It would appear that western politics barely registers for the vast majority of people but football does🤷🏻‍♂️

According to Reddit it is Rowan Atkinson or to put it correctly Mr Bean. Airs in 89 countries and

The Premier League airs in 188 countries - and is viewed by 3.2 billion people. So the 'most famous person' is much more likely to be a footballer than a politician, musician or movie star.

David Beckham did an interesting documentary riding around Brazil, and there's a shot in that, like, 8 hours out of Rio, where they stop to buy drinks in some shack alongside the muddy highway. Someone asks the shookeeper if he knows omwho this guy is, shopkeeper shakes his head. Beckham turns to camera and says "that's the first time in X years that I've met someone who doesn't know who I am".

I'm very glad I'm not famous.

Joking aside it is probably Ronaldo. I have zero interest in football and even I recognise his sullen, pouty face. You can’t escape football even if you don’t care for it at all. I’d like it to be Mr Bean though. Just because that’s more interesting than football player. Jackie Chan is widely recognised in the West, India, Africa and China. So covers a lot of bases globally. Not sure if younger generations know who he is.

A horrible orange thing or his boss.

Yeah - if you think about Africa where 60% of the population is under 25, it's not Taylor Swift or the Pope that would be most recognisable. It'll be Messi or some other footballer.

But you also have to consider all the older folks who don't follow football or use much social media.

I don't know the answer to be honest, but I think the methodology will be more interesting than the result anyway.

Actually, Obama might be a good shout if you are thinking famous rather than being very current at this specific moment. First black president, very active on the world stage, very recognisable. Not in the news much these days but his profile has stuck.

Excellent shout, my money is going on Bazza for sure 👍

But you also have to consider all the older folks who don’t follow football or use much social media.

I don't think football is a particularly age specific interest. And it's also one of the most widely reported activities in the world on any media, so social media isn't really relevant. If you pick up a newspaper there are several pages of 'sports' (half the paper it seems in some cases) and the majority of that is football. Football somehow manages to generate pages and pages of 'news' every day of the week, even during the off season.

Not the pope. Many people will know that there is a pope, but much fewer will know who the current pope is. The last few haven’t lasted very long.

If it's not the pope, then it must be Dave standing next to him.

Pedro...

I’m older, I don’t follow football at all, and the only SM i use is here and youtube. And I’ve heard of Messi and Ronaldo.
My first thought upon reading the OP was ‘trump’
But having thought a bit more it probably is a footballer, for all the reasons given by previous posters.
Interesting question though.

Jennifer Aniston. Pretty sure I read somewhere that Friends is the most widely viewed TV show ever.

The Premier League airs in 188 countries – and is viewed by 3.2 billion people.
...
Joking aside it is probably Ronaldo. I have zero interest in football and even I recognise his sullen, pouty face. You can’t escape football even if you don’t care for it at all.

See my comment about Taylor Swift. If we discount players from my youth I could probably identify half a dozen players tops.

I don’t think football is a particularly age specific interest.

Anecdotally I'd say it's absolutely a gender-specific interest though. I know some women who are into it, but they are a considerable minority.

Jennifer Aniston. Pretty sure I read somewhere that Friends is the most widely viewed TV show ever.

By that metric I'd be going with Courtney Cox or Matt LeBlanc.  I'd struggle to name anything the other principal cast did post-Friends.

Elon Musk for the win

I had no idea who Messi was until I read this thread. Would have to Google to see what he looks like! Footballer does seem to make the most sense though unfortunately. Other than Ronaldo, Marcus Rashford is the only other modern player I’d recognise and that is due to stuff other than football.

Dan Dare

(IYKYK)

Would Usain Bolt not be more famous than the football players?

Another vote for a footballer.

In 2001 I was backpacking around China, and was in a tiny village in the mountains that was mostly ethnically Tibetan. It didn't have tarmaced roads, people washed their clothes in the river, and there was only a couple of TVs in the village.

But I still saw a kid wearing a 'Beckham' shirt. When he clocked the white people he excitedly shouted 'Beckham! Owen!' at us, which seemed to be his only English words.

Later that week I ended up playing football with a group of monks (robes for goalposts!) and one of them, intriguingly, had a Marseille FC shirt on under his robe.

So even at that early stage, footballers were still international megastars, way before social media, in a heavily censored country where even if you could find an internet cafe, you couldn't view BBC news online.

In the informal settlements I saw in Dar es Salaam, there were "football cafes" named after particular teams where you could pay and watch matches on a TV under shade (old advertising banners and hoardings). Presumably they sold drinks too. This was one of the most basic businesses being run. The penetration of football - which is cheap, engaging and doesn't require translation or literacy to enjoy - is huge.

Cricket is inconceivably massive in India and ****stan too, true - but it doesn't have the reach of football (yet?).

Would Usain Bolt not be more famous than the football players?

there’s premier league  football on the telly, worldwide, every week, with roughly half the world’s population watching. Usain Bolt only really gets broad media attention once every 4 years

Dalai lama

Why would we care? Beckham or Rolando - yes globally 'famous', but have they used that fame in any significant way other than getting rich(er)?

Most globally "meaningfully" influential maybe a worthwhile discussion. The meaningful is important in that statement imo - influencer levels of meaningful is mostly actually meaningless. I'm talking about people who have changed global policy on the big stuff, made political decisions that impact beyond their nation or even generation. People who have opened the world's eyes to stuff which have changed the way we live. People who have made the globe's population live in 'meaningful' levels of fear and made lives 'meaningfully' worse. Or I guess have invented or at least brought to market things (products, drugs, weapons even) that have had a profound impact on the way we live.

Yes dad.

I honestly don't believe anyone in europe would never have heard of Lionel Messi.

However worldwide I'd say Trump, Putin, with Barack Obama going down the charts - he is very well known in Africa if not Asia.  Modi in India and SE Asia, but not so much elsewhere.

Messi , then Ronaldo.

I think a lot of people are over-indexing on Important People rather than whoever is famous. I don't think Trump is as big a figure internationally as some people might think.

Obama has been out of power for 8 years. 40% of the population of Africa is under 25: none of them had finished secondary school when Obama left.

I doubt there's an overwhelming e number of Europeans that know who Modi is. The vast majority of UK people didn't know who their own PM was a few years ago.

https://www.varsity.co.uk/news/8317

I honestly don’t believe anyone in europe would never have heard of Lionel Messi.

I didn’t until today and didn’t know his forename was Lionel until your post! I can guarantee my wife won’t know who he is either.

Most globally “meaningfully” influential maybe a worthwhile discussion.

That would be a very short list. I can’t think of anyone who has done that amount of good who would be known globally. I’m struggling with the former, let alone the latter. Given the various global outlooks in different regions, one persons positive and meaningful is the next persons negative.

That would be a very short list. I can’t think of anyone who has done that amount of good who would be known globally. I’m struggling with the former, let alone the latter. Given the various global outlooks in different regions, one persons positive and meaningful is the next persons negative.

I never said anything about them being known. My argument is that 'globally known' is way way less important than the influence their life has had on the globe. I also never said that what they have influenced is positive.

The Premier League airs in 188 countries – and is viewed by 3.2 billion people.

So Mark Clattenburg then?

I never said anything about them being known. My argument is that ‘globally known’ is way way less important than the influence their life has had on the globe. I also never said that what they have influenced is positive.

Then you’re in the wrong thread or need to start another one!

I can’t think of anyone who has done that amount of good who would be known globally.

Bill and Melinda Gates. There are millions of women in Africa who are alive or alive longer or alive healthier because of what they've done. He's giving billions away and solving huge problems. And what's he known online for? A mad conspiracy theory.

Shirley The Beatles are known all over the world, young and old, so Macca (Paul McCartney) wins this at a canter aged ~85?

Tom. From Myspace. Surely...

With only 1 universal religion in the most-populus country in the world cricket,  I'd reckon that Sachin Tendulkar could be up there more than westerners would ever believe.

Although they might not know the name, they will know that it is of course Buzz Aldrin from possibly the most famous photo in history. The guy who took it is no longer here, sadly. Buzz is 94.

https://airandspace.si.edu/multimedia-gallery/as11-40-5903640jpg#:~:text=This%20photograph%20was%20taken%20during,standing%20on%20the%20lunar%20surface.

A US president would be a good shout but:

Biden is forgettable, the US hasn't done much abroad since the last Gulf War and Afghanistan so I doubt a lot of the world could pick him out.

Trump, probably, I don't know how much media attention he gets outside the English speaking / Western world though?

Obama, it was 8 years ago, so that's a big chunk of the growing world population who are under 20 and either too young to care or not born at the time.

As for Xi or Modi, maybe, but would you recognize them in normal clothes?

Putin, Russia has influence everywhere. China, India, the West. And I presume African news covers Russia as a result of Wagner's work.  The only place outside their influence is South America, and even then that's only I don't know.  Do they still have links as a result of former socialist/communist governments?

That does all assume though that the average person cares more about foreign politics than they do about the lyrics to Shake it off.

Facebook has 3 billion monthly users, I’d wager 1 or two more less regular ones, so reckon Zuck is up there.

I doubt there’s an overwhelming number of Europeans that know who Modi is.

Doesn't really matter, Modi is known to Indians, who make up about 17% of the global population. He's also a major player in several large countries in that part of the world, and known across Europe/US/etc

The most famous living person is either going to be an internationally recognised politician/celebrity from India or China (35% of the global population between them) or an International Sportsperson. Probably football, but  maybe Cricket.

Anecdotally I’d say it’s absolutely a gender-specific interest though. I know some women who are into it, but they are a considerable minority.

I briefly dated someone who knew who ALL the big name footballers were, because of who they were dating and what fashion houses/brands they represented. She *hated* football. (Similar story for Golf, F1, Cricket and a couple of other sports). Fashion and Style was her thing, and her job.

Patrick Stewart

Modi is known to Indians, who make up about 17% of the global population.

Yeah, that's true. I suppose it's either going to be someone that 80% of China or India knows OR someone that's recognised by 20% of people everywhere. But there is no-one that is universally known in China and India.

Putin, Russia has influence everywhere. China, India, the West.

This is totally overstating Russian influence. The former Wagner's adventures in CAR and Sudan are worrying, but they're not even the main players there and they are not hugely influential countries even within Africa - which is exactly why Russia is sticking its nose in. Russia is less influential in Africa than Turkey and the UAE. Putin wouldn't even get 10% recognition in CAR - only 17% of people have electricity, 31% have a phone, 40% of them are under 15.

Equally, Putin is not influential in China and India. He is dependent on them. Chinese tech and industry is steamrolling the Russian economy. India is making money from refining and reselling (laundering) cheap Russian oil - but if it all disappeared tomorrow the impact on India would be low.

I wonder if Tom Cruise would be in with a shout as a Top 10 recognisable face? His films are rubbish but have been around forever and very popular in China and India, I thought...?

More generally this whole thread is an interesting exercise of how difficult people find it to step inside the head of other people who are less interested in politics or sport or aren't Anglophones.

You ask 20 English kids on the street and I wonder how many of them would know The Beatles, let alone a Nicaraguan or Vietnamese 15 year old!

Ronnie Pickering?

Ronnie Pickering?

Not known in China or India, so he's out of the running...

Not known in China or India, so he’s out of the running…

I doubt Ronnie Pickering thinks that though. I can just picture him bellowing at people on the Great Wall.

Has anyone said the Pope yet?

I honestly don’t believe anyone in europe would never have heard of Lionel Messi.

raises hand

If "who is Lionel Messi" cropped up in a pub quiz I'd probably have guessed a Formula 1 driver.

If “who is Lionel Messi” cropped up in a pub quiz I’d probably have guessed a Formula 1 driver.

I genuinely struggle to believe a man who has an opinion on pretty much ever subject under the sun doesn’t know who Messi is!😜

I asked my 76 year old mum if she knew who he was. She said ‘he’s a footballer, doesn’t he play for a French team?’ So bonus points for the addition detail, but marks off as she said she wouldn’t be able to recognise him from a picture

Dan Dare

(IYKYK)

Hello! (that was my first thought, sadly enough. On which individual is most globally recognised, I make the average high court judge look down with the kids on the street and have zero interest in football possibly less (which being from Leeds is a blessing), but think you're going to have to try quite hard not to know anything about Lionel Messi. As to who's most famous, I asked a wise AI:

Considering the criteria of global awareness as individuals (rather than by their titles or jobs) and their cross-generational appeal, here's how Elon Musk, Donald Trump, Barack Obama, and Bill Gates might rank among the previously mentioned individuals:

Cristiano Ronaldo: Due to his active presence in sports and social media, appealing to a wide age range.
Michael Jackson: His lasting impact on music and pop culture makes him recognizable across generations.
Donald Trump: His tenure as President of the United States and significant media presence make him a highly recognizable figure globally.
Elvis Presley: Enduring legacy in music and culture.
Barack Obama: Former U.S. President with substantial global influence and continued presence in public discourse.
Bill Gates: Known for his role in technology as the founder of Microsoft and his extensive philanthropic work.
Oprah Winfrey: Widely recognized for her media influence and philanthropic efforts.
Elon Musk: Known for his innovative work in technology and space, with a strong media presence.
Queen Elizabeth II: Recognized globally due to her long reign and significant historical presence.
Muhammad Ali: Remembered for his contributions to sports and his cultural impact.

This ranking places Donald Trump, Barack Obama, Bill Gates, and Elon Musk in the middle tier, reflecting their significant influence and global recognition, but they might not surpass the most enduring cultural icons or the current highest-profile individuals like Cristiano Ronaldo.

so yep, it's Ronaldo, though I think more for that statue personally 

I know the names Ronaldo and Messi, and am aware that they play football but that's it. I have no idea which team/country they play for, what their first names are (obviously I know Messi's is Lionel now because someone said it above) and wouldn't recognise a photo of either of them.

Someone up there said Sachin Tendulka, I have zero interest in cricket either but I at least know both his names and which country he plays for, although also wouldn't recognise a photo.

PCA was saying about how, for instance Putin, has little influence in large parts of the world. I don't disagree with that but surely he would at least get a mention on every national news outlet from time to time? The North Korean coverage of him might take a different angle to the Australian for instance but there'd still be stories about him. Would the Uruguayan media mention Tendulka? Would the Malaysian press cover Messi? Probably not, but surely they both mention Putin or Xi or Trump from time to time?

Actor? Tom Cruise, Morgan Freeman, Al Pacino, Harrison Ford etc?

Would the Malaysian press cover Messi?

Yes, because the Malaysian Press would talk about football, and a quick Google suggests that 5 billion people globally watch football, and every single one of those people have heard of Ronaldo and/or Messi.

I’m going back to Jackie Chan. Well known in China, Africa, India and the western world. I reckon most people know who he is.

Putin, has little influence in large parts of the world. I don’t disagree with that but surely he would at least get a mention on every national news outlet from time to time?

Possibly - but being on telly from time to time doesn't make you famous. Especially if the TV news is incredibly boring and just repeats press releases of the government or the owners. And it's in a language you don't speak. And you don't have a TV. And you're under 20, like 33% of the world's population is!

but being on telly from time to time doesn’t make you famous

Name a famous person who isn't in the telly from time to time? And I think he's famous for more than just being on the telly - national leader for quite a large country who tend to do things their own way, human rights infringements, a tendancy to get his FSB mates to murder people he's not keen on on foreign soil, definitely isn't linked to planes falling out the sky that happen to contain an outspoken critic of his rule, being a psycho with his finger on the nuke button, anti-Western and oh, he invaded a country and started a war in the last 2 years. He's reasonably famous for all the wrong reasons...

I genuinely struggle to believe a man who has an opinion on pretty much ever subject under the sun doesn’t know who Messi is!😜

Whilst I'd like to think that I have a fairly broad range of experiences, I abhor football and have little interest in spectator sports generally.

If I do watch sport it'll be something that's a bit different from the same-old.  I watched (and played two-touch) American Football at high school, then the novelty wore off and today I just make a point of watching the Superbowl.  I followed Manchester Storm ice hockey team for a couple of years until, again, the novelty wore off.