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IIF Certified Assessment
Every famous IQ number has a story behind it — who said it, when, and whether anyone ever checked. We set out what is actually known for each name, then show you how your own measured score compares.
Excellent 4.8/51 million+ test takersIIF certifiedProfiles are grouped by what each person is known for. Categories with no profiles yet are shown so you can see the shape of the section as it fills out.
Founders, executives and inventors — the people whose intelligence gets talked about most, and measured least.
Researchers and theorists whose names have become shorthand for genius — and the numbers that came with them.
Screen and stage names whose off-camera reputations attract as much speculation as their work.
Songwriters, producers and performers — a field where “genius” is used constantly and defined rarely.
Sport is full of claims about reading the game. These are the numbers people attach to that.
Novelists, essayists and philosophers, and the figures that get retrofitted onto their reputations.
The category with the most documented hoaxes — invented scores here have twice reached the mainstream press.
People who died long before intelligence testing existed, and the retrospective estimates made about them.
Characters get IQ figures too — and unlike real people, nobody is harmed by the guess.
How this scales. Every category count, listing, filter chip and related rail on this site is derived from one data file. Adding a celebrity means appending a single record — no page is edited by hand.
Each profile sets out the figure that circulates, where it came from, and what a score like it would actually mean.
No profiles in that category yet.
Portrait © Matthew Yohe, CC BY-SA 3.0. The background-removed portrait above is a derivative work and is likewise offered under the same licence. · Portrait © Debbie Rowe / The Royal Society, CC BY-SA 3.0. The background-removed portrait above is a derivative work and is likewise offered under the same licence. · Portrait by Christopher Smith, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services — a work of the U.S. federal government, public domain. Background removed for the portrait above. · Portrait by Los Angeles Air Force Base, Space and Missile Systems Center — a work of the U.S. federal government, public domain. Background removed for the portrait above. · Portrait by Ferdinand Schmutzer (1921), public domain. Background removed for the portrait above. · Portrait via Festival de Deauville, CC BY 4.0. Background removed for the portrait above. · Portrait © David J. Cable / Arcadia Photographic UK, CC BY-SA 2.0. The background-removed portrait above is a derivative work and is likewise offered under the same licence. · Portrait © Frans Peeters, CC BY-SA 2.0. The background-removed portrait above is a derivative work and is likewise offered under the same licence. · Portrait by Godfrey Kneller (1689), public domain. · Portrait by Rembrandt Peale (1800), public domain. · Portrait from the workshop of Nicolas de Largillière, public domain. · Illustration by Sidney Paget (1890s), public domain. · Portrait by Jeff Sainlar, CC BY-SA 4.0. Background removed for the portrait above. · Photograph by Napoleon Sarony (c. 1890), public domain. Background removed for the portrait above. · Photograph by Toglenn, CC BY-SA 3.0. Background removed for the portrait above. · Portrait by Barbara Krafft (1819), public domain. Background removed for the portrait above. · Photograph by Bert Verhoeff for Anefo (1972), CC0. Background removed for the portrait above. · Portrait by Joseph Karl Stieler (1828), public domain. Background removed for the portrait above. · Photograph by Cecil W. Stoughton, White House, public domain. Background removed for the portrait above. · Presumed self-portrait, red chalk, c. 1512, via Wikimedia Commons, public domain. · Illustration by Sidney Paget (1893), public domain. Background removed for the portrait above. · Photograph by the USA International Trade Administration (2015), public domain. Background removed for the portrait above. · Los Alamos National Laboratory badge photograph, via Wikimedia Commons, CC0. Background removed for the portrait above. · Photograph by Toglenn (2018), CC BY-SA 4.0. Background removed for the portrait above. · Photograph by the Junta de Andalucía (2023), CC BY-SA 2.0. Background removed for the portrait above. · Photograph by Fryta 73 (2015), CC BY-SA 2.0. Background removed for the portrait above. · Photograph by Henri Manuel (c. 1920), public domain. Background removed for the portrait above. · Photograph by Alexander Gardner (8 November 1863), public domain. Background removed for the portrait above. · Photograph by Phillip Leonian for the New York World-Telegram & Sun (before 1959), public domain. Background removed for the portrait above. · Illustration by Sidney Paget for The Strand Magazine (1893), public domain. Background removed for the portrait above. · Photograph by iHeartRadioCA, CC BY 3.0. The background-removed portrait above is a derivative work offered under the same licence. · Official portrait by Shealah Craighead for the White House, public domain. Background removed for the portrait above. · Photograph by Bryan Berlin / WikiPortraits, CC BY-SA 4.0. The background-removed portrait above is a derivative work offered under the same licence. · Photograph by David Shankbone (2009), public domain. Background removed for the portrait above. · Photograph by Erik Drost, CC BY 2.0. The background-removed portrait above is a derivative work offered under the same licence. · Photograph by ²°¹°°, Paris, 2006, public domain. Cropped from the original. · Photograph by Gage Skidmore (2017), CC BY-SA 2.0. Background removed for the portrait above. · Photograph by the Institute for Pure & Applied Mathematics (2026), CC BY 4.0. Background removed for the portrait above. · Photograph by Sam Shaw (1954), public domain. Background removed for the portrait above. · Photograph by Brendan Linden (2021), CC0. Background removed for the portrait above. · Photograph by Ira Rosenberg for the New York World-Telegram (1967), public domain. Background removed for the portrait above. · The Chandos portrait, attributed to John Taylor (c. 1600–1610), public domain. · Official White House photograph by Pete Souza (2012), public domain. Background removed for the portrait above. · Photograph (1913) held by Trinity College, Cambridge, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0. · Frontispiece by Theodor von Holst for the 1831 edition, public domain. · Photograph by Stansfield PL, CC BY-SA 3.0. Background removed for the portrait above. · Photograph by Maryland GovPics, CC BY 2.0. Background removed for the portrait above. · Photograph by Gabriel Hutchinson, CC BY-SA 4.0. Background removed for the portrait above. · Photograph by Raph_PH, CC BY 2.0. Background removed for the portrait above. · Photograph by Erik Drost, CC BY 2.0. Background removed for the portrait above. · Photograph, 1907, via the Library of Congress (digital ID cph.3a08820), public domain. Background removed for the portrait above. · Print attributed to Jérôme David, after Rembrandt van Rijn, published by François Langlois. Rijksmuseum (object RP-P-OB-63.789), CC0. · Photograph by Eric Draper, White House, public domain. Background removed for the portrait above. · Photograph by Louis Bachrach, Bachrach Studios, restored by Michel Vuijlsteke, public domain. Background removed for the portrait above. · Photograph by Steve Jurvetson, CC BY 2.0. Background removed for the portrait above. · Photograph from the US National Archives (catalog 558579), public domain. · Photograph by iDominick, CC BY-SA 2.0. Background removed for the portrait above. · Portrait by Joseph Karl Stieler (1820), public domain. · Photograph by Przemysław Jahr, CC BY-SA 3.0. Cropped; background removed for the portrait above. · Daguerreotype, c. 1849, photographer unknown; restored version, public domain. · Photograph by Yousuf Karsh, Ottawa, 1941 — public domain in Canada and the United States; the Library and Archives Canada scan is CC BY 2.0. · Daguerreotype by Antoine Claudet (c. 1843), public domain. · Photograph of a cosplayer as Light Yagami by Farhan Ahmad Tajuddin (2017), CC BY 2.0. Cropped; background removed for the portrait above. The character is the creation of Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata. · Photograph by Village Global, CC BY 2.0. Background removed for the portrait above. · Photograph by Elliott & Fry, public domain. Background removed for the portrait above. · Photograph by Kevin Paul, CC BY 4.0. Background removed for the portrait above. · Photograph by Philip Romano, CC BY-SA 4.0. Background removed for the portrait above. · Photograph by Jay Godwin, LBJ Presidential Library, public domain (U.S. government work). · Portrait by Christian Albrecht Jensen (1840), via Wikimedia Commons, public domain. · Photograph by Rob Bogaerts, Nationaal Archief, CC0. Background removed for the portrait above. · Photograph by Napoleon Sarony (1882), Library of Congress, public domain. · Photograph of a cosplayer as L by Piotrus (2012), CC BY-SA 3.0. Cropped from the original. The character is the creation of Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata. · Photograph of a cosplayer as Shikamaru Nara by Narukyubi (2009), CC BY-SA 3.0. Cropped from the original. The character is the creation of Masashi Kishimoto. · Photograph by Bernhard Holub, CC BY-SA 4.0. Background removed for the portrait above. · Portrait by Joseph-Siffred Duplessis (c. 1785), public domain. · Photograph by Lloyd Arnold, public domain. Background removed for the portrait above. · Photograph by Raimond Spekking, CC BY-SA 4.0. Background removed for the portrait above. · Photograph by Foundations World Economic Forum, CC BY 2.0. Background removed for the portrait above. · Photograph by Jay Murdock, CC BY-SA 4.0. · Photograph by Harald Krichel, CC BY-SA 4.0. Background removed for the portrait above. · Photograph by PhilipRomanoPhoto, CC BY 4.0. Background removed for the portrait above. · Photograph by Jeffrey Beall, CC BY 3.0. Cropped from the original. · Photograph by Maull & Fox (1854), public domain. Background removed for the portrait above. · Photograph by the Russian Presidential Press and Information Office, CC BY 4.0. Background removed for the portrait above. · Press photograph by the Branch of the National Union of Journalists (1943), public domain. Background removed for the portrait above. · Photograph of a cosplayer as Kurisu Makise by Carter McKendry, CC BY 2.0. Background removed for the portrait above. The character is the creation of 5pb. and Nitroplus.
Thirty questions, scored against general-population benchmarks and placed on the standard scale — with the percentile that goes with it.
Take the test →Ordered on the midpoint of each estimate. These are inferences from documented records, not measured scores, so read the method column alongside the number.
| # | Name | Field | Estimate | Method |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mycroft Holmes | Fictional | 185–205 | Character analysis (fiction) |
| 2 | Sherlock Holmes | Fictional | 180–200 | Character analysis (fiction) |
| 3 | L Lawliet | Fictional | 178–195 | Character analysis (fiction) |
| 4 | Leonardo da Vinci | Historical | 175–195 | Achievement-based estimate (historiometric) |
| 5 | Professor Moriarty | Fictional | 175–195 | Character analysis (fiction) |
| 6 | Isaac Newton | Historical | 170–190 | Historiometric estimate (Cox 1926 method) |
| 7 | Voltaire | Writers | 170–190 | Historiometric estimate (Cox 1926 method) |
| 8 | Terence Tao | Scientists | 170–190 | Test-anchored estimate (SAT-derived) |
| 9 | Srinivasa Ramanujan | Historical | 170–190 | Achievement-based estimate (historiometric) |
| 10 | Doctor Faustus | Fictional | 170–190 | Character analysis (fiction) |
| 11 | Light Yagami | Fictional | 170–190 | Character analysis (fiction) |
| 12 | Carl Friedrich Gauss | Historical | 170–190 | Achievement-based estimate (historiometric) |
| 13 | Johann Wolfgang von Goethe | Writers | 165–185 | Historiometric estimate (Cox 1926 method) |
| 14 | Kurisu Makise | Fictional | 165–185 | Character analysis (fiction) |
| 15 | Albert Einstein | Scientists | 160–180 | Historiometric estimate (Cox 1926 method) |
| 16 | Bobby Fischer | Athletes | 160–180 | Test-anchored estimate (school record, unreleased) |
| 17 | Marie Curie | Historical | 160–180 | Achievement-based estimate (historiometric) |
| 18 | William Shakespeare | Writers | 160–180 | Achievement-based estimate (historiometric) |
| 19 | Victor Frankenstein | Fictional | 160–180 | Character analysis (fiction) |
| 20 | Alan Turing | Scientists | 160–180 | Academic record (completed doctorate) |
| 21 | Nikola Tesla | Scientists | 160–175 | Achievement-based estimate (historiometric) |
| 22 | J. Robert Oppenheimer | Scientists | 155–175 | Academic record (completed doctorate) |
| 23 | Ada Lovelace | Historical | 155–175 | Achievement-based estimate (historiometric) |
| 24 | Benjamin Franklin | Historical | 155–175 | Achievement-based estimate (historiometric) |
| 25 | Isaac Asimov | Writers | 155–170 | Academic record (completed doctorate) |
| 26 | Thomas Jefferson | Politics | 150–170 | Historiometric estimate (Cox 1926 method) |
| 27 | Stephen Hawking | Scientists | 150–170 | Academic record (completed doctorate) |
| 28 | Edgar Allan Poe | Writers | 150–170 | Achievement-based estimate (historiometric) |
| 29 | Shikamaru Nara | Fictional | 150–170 | Character analysis (fiction) |
| 30 | Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart | Musicians | 150–165 | Historiometric estimate (Cox 1926 method) |
| 31 | Steve Wozniak | Business & Tech | 150–165 | Achievement and academic record |
| 32 | Sergey Brin | Business & Tech | 150–165 | Achievement and academic record |
| 33 | Ludwig van Beethoven | Musicians | 150–165 | Historiometric estimate (Cox 1926 method) |
| 34 | Michio Kaku | Scientists | 150–165 | Achievement and academic record |
| 35 | Steve Jobs | Business & Tech | 150–160 | Achievement-based estimate (historiometric) |
| 36 | Bill Gates | Business & Tech | 150–160 | Test-anchored estimate (SAT-derived) |
| 37 | Mark Twain | Writers | 145–165 | Achievement-based estimate (historiometric) |
| 38 | Magnus Carlsen | Athletes | 145–160 | Domain performance (published Elo rating) |
| 39 | Warren Buffett | Business & Tech | 145–160 | Achievement and academic record |
| 40 | Larry Page | Business & Tech | 145–160 | Achievement and academic record |
| 41 | Ryan Fitzpatrick | Athletes | 145–160 | Domain performance (published Elo rating) |
| 42 | John Urschel | Athletes | 145–160 | Academic record (completed doctorate) |
| 43 | Jeff Bezos | Business & Tech | 145–155 | Achievement-based estimate (historiometric) |
| 44 | Abraham Lincoln | Politics | 140–160 | Historiometric estimate (Cox 1926 method) |
| 45 | Thomas Edison | Historical | 140–160 | Achievement-based estimate (historiometric) |
| 46 | Winston Churchill | Politics | 140–160 | Achievement-based estimate (historiometric) |
| 47 | Brian May | Musicians | 140–155 | Academic record (completed doctorate) |
| 48 | Dolph Lundgren | Actors | 140–155 | Achievement and academic record |
| 49 | Neil deGrasse Tyson | Scientists | 140–155 | Academic record (completed doctorate) |
| 50 | Mayim Bialik | Actors | 140–155 | Academic record (completed doctorate) |
| 51 | Oscar Wilde | Writers | 140–155 | Achievement and academic record |
| 52 | Angela Merkel | Politics | 138–155 | Academic record (completed doctorate) |
| 53 | Elon Musk | Business & Tech | 140–150 | Achievement-based estimate (historiometric) |
| 54 | Garry Kasparov | Athletes | 135–155 | Domain performance (published Elo rating) |
| 55 | Judit Polgár | Athletes | 135–155 | Domain performance (published Elo rating) |
| 56 | Sam Altman | Business & Tech | 138–150 | Achievement and academic record |
| 57 | James Woods | Actors | 135–150 | Test-anchored estimate (SAT-derived) |
| 58 | Art Garfunkel | Musicians | 135–150 | Achievement and academic record |
| 59 | Bill Bradley | Athletes | 135–150 | Achievement and academic record |
| 60 | Margaret Thatcher | Politics | 135–150 | Achievement and academic record |
| 61 | George Orwell | Writers | 135–150 | Achievement-based estimate (historiometric) |
| 62 | Natalie Portman | Actors | 135–145 | Achievement and academic record |
| 63 | Mark Zuckerberg | Business & Tech | 135–145 | Achievement and academic record |
| 64 | John Legend | Musicians | 132–145 | Achievement and academic record |
| 65 | Richard Feynman | Scientists | 125–150 | Test-anchored estimate (school record) |
| 66 | Barack Obama | Politics | 130–145 | Achievement and academic record |
| 67 | Sharon Stone | Actors | 130–145 | Achievement and academic record |
| 68 | Geena Davis | Actors | 130–145 | Test-anchored estimate (Mensa qualification) |
| 69 | Alicia Keys | Musicians | 130–145 | Achievement and academic record |
| 70 | Ernest Hemingway | Writers | 128–145 | Achievement-based estimate (historiometric) |
| 71 | Shakira | Musicians | 125–140 | Achievement and academic record |
| 72 | Benedict Cumberbatch | Actors | 125–140 | Achievement and academic record |
| 73 | Charles Darwin | Historical | 125–140 | Historiometric estimate (Cox 1926 method) |
| 74 | Eminem | Musicians | 120–140 | Achievement and academic record |
| 75 | Taylor Swift | Musicians | 120–135 | Achievement and academic record |
| 76 | Marilyn Monroe | Actors | 120–135 | Achievement and academic record |
| 77 | Arnold Schwarzenegger | Actors | 120–135 | Achievement and academic record |
| 78 | John F. Kennedy | Politics | 119–135 | Test-anchored estimate (school record) |
| 79 | Donald Trump | Politics | 115–130 | Achievement and academic record |
| 80 | Kanye West | Musicians | 115–130 | Achievement and academic record |
| 81 | Vladimir Putin | Politics | 115–130 | Achievement and academic record |
| 82 | George W. Bush | Politics | 110–130 | Achievement-based estimate (historiometric) |
| 83 | Jack Ma | Business & Tech | 108–122 | Achievement-based estimate (historiometric) |
| 84 | LeBron James | Athletes | 105–120 | Domain performance (expert recall) |
| 85 | Cristiano Ronaldo | Athletes | 100–115 | Domain performance (laboratory perceptual testing) |
| 86 | Muhammad Ali | Athletes | 80–100 | Test-anchored estimate (school record) |
This table re-sorts itself as profiles are added. Ranking a set of estimates is a convenience, not a claim that any two can be meaningfully separated.
Every figure gets the same treatment: we find where it came from, say how strong the trail is, and let you judge it.
Where did this number first appear, who published it, and in what year?
Does it lead to a documented assessment, a public statement, or only to other websites?
Sources listed, dates given, and the figure shown as what it is — a claim with a history.
Because most of them were never measured. A figure gets published once, other sites copy it, and the repetition starts to look like corroboration. Steve Jobs is the clearest case on this site — two different numbers circulate for one man, neither sourced. When two sites disagree it usually means both are quoting different unsourced originals; how we read a number sets out what we do instead.
Some have discussed results publicly, and where that is on the record we say so and link to it. Magnus Carlsen is the closest this site comes to a measured case, while Brian May’s doctorate is documented achievement rather than a score. A documented, administered result that can be pointed to is much rarer than the internet suggests — which is why taking the test yourself gives you something none of these profiles can.
Not from a test. Retrospective estimates exist in the academic literature, inferred from documented achievement — most famously Catharine Cox’s 1926 study. Isaac Newton is the worked example, and you can browse the rest under historical figures. Where we use one, we name the method and its author.
Far less accurate than a test. Historiometric methods carry wide error margins and can only see what the record preserved. Treat every range on this site as an inference about a documented record, not a measurement of a person. If you want a number that means something, measure your own rather than compare yourself to an estimate — how ours is scored and normed is set out in full.
Our ranking is ordered on the midpoint of each estimate, and it re-sorts itself as profiles are added. Ordering estimates is a convenience — it is not a claim that any two of them can be meaningfully separated. Browse by field instead from the categories if you want like-for-like.
On the standard scale the mean is 100 and about two-thirds of people fall between 85 and 115. Scores above 130 are roughly the top 2%, which is the threshold most high-IQ societies use. Average IQ by country shows how that same scale looks across populations, and the assessment places you on it with a percentile.
Take the IQ Metrics assessment — 30 questions, scored against general-population benchmarks and placed on the standard scale with a percentile, an ability breakdown and an optional IIF certificate. How we score and norm it explains the benchmarking, our general FAQ covers timing, retakes and results, and about IQ Metrics covers who runs it. Once you have your number, come back to the leaderboard to see where it would sit.
Take the certified assessment and get a measured score, your percentile, a full ability breakdown and a printable IIF certificate.
Find your IQ score now! →The assessment costs nothing and you always get a real result. Upgrades add precision, analysis and a certificate — never access to the test itself.
Whatever you paid comes off the next tier for 30 days. Start small without losing the money.
Not what you expected? Full refund, no questions, no form to hunt for.
Prices adjust to your country automatically, so the certificate is reachable outside high-income markets.
Coming later: an annual membership (~$89/year) for unlimited retests, practice sets and progress tracking. Monthly billing is deliberately not offered — a once-a-year assessment does not justify a monthly charge, and it would churn.
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