What was Arthur Conan Doyle’s IQ?
The famous 190 belongs to his detective; Doyle has a medical degree, a thesis and no test score.
Arthur Conan Doyle has no published IQ score, and no figure circulates for him: the 190 people quote is for his creation, Sherlock Holmes. Our Arthur Conan Doyle IQ estimate is 130–145, from a documented record: a Bachelor of Medicine and Master of Surgery from Edinburgh in 1881, a Doctor of Medicine in 1885 and a knighthood in 1902.
Arthur Conan Doyle’s estimated IQ
- A Bachelor of Medicine and Master of Surgery from the University of Edinburgh in August 1881, after studying there from October 1876 (Doyle, Memories and Adventures).
- A Doctor of Medicine in 1885, with a dissertation on the vasomotor changes in tabes dorsalis (American College of Surgeons Bulletin, 2022; Wikipedia).
- Specialist training in Vienna and Paris and an ophthalmology practice in London from 1891 (American College of Surgeons Bulletin).
- Four novels and 56 short stories about Sherlock Holmes, published from 1887 to 1927, plus other novels such as The Lost World (1912) (Wikipedia).
- A knighthood in the 1902 Coronation Honours (Wikipedia).
A degree and a long writing career show ability and persistence, not a score. Doyle himself wrote that he passed his final examination “with fair but not notable distinction,” so we do not read the medical record as evidence of an extreme figure. The range sits level with the 130–145 this site gives Agatha Christie and well below the 180–200 for his character.
- Born
- May 22, 1859, Edinburgh
- Died
- July 7, 1930, Crowborough, Sussex
- Schools
- Hodder and Stonyhurst College (to 1875); Stella Matutina, Austria (1875–1876)
- Medical degrees
- M.B. and C.M., Edinburgh, August 1881; M.D. with a thesis on tabes dorsalis, 1885
- Holmes canon
- Four novels and 56 short stories, 1887–1927
- Honor
- Knighted in the 1902 Coronation Honours
- Psychical research
- Joined the London Society for Psychical Research in 1893
- Circulating figure
- None for Doyle; 190 is quoted for Sherlock Holmes
What an IQ of 130–145 actually means
Set the claim aside for a moment. If someone genuinely scored in this range, here is what that would represent.
| Score range | Classification | Share of people | What it indicates |
|---|---|---|---|
| 85 – 114 | Average | ~68% | The range most people fall into. |
| 115 – 129 | Above average | ~13.6% | Roughly one person in seven. |
| 130 – 144 | Gifted | ~2% | The threshold most high-IQ societies use. |
| Above 144 | Highly gifted | ~0.1% | Figures above this range are extrapolated from the curve rather than measured. |
Percentages are approximate and describe a normal distribution. The same number means different things on tests with different standard deviations.
Thirty questions gives you a measured position on this exact scale — your score, your percentile and the ability breakdown behind it.
Find out in 30 minutes →Who Arthur Conan Doyle was
Who was Arthur Conan Doyle? He was born in Edinburgh on May 22, 1859, the second of ten children, and died at Crowborough, Sussex, on July 7, 1930. Supported by wealthy uncles, he was sent at nine to the Jesuit preparatory school Hodder and then to Stonyhurst College in Lancashire, which he attended until 1875, followed by a year at a school in Austria where he studied German (Wikipedia; American College of Surgeons Bulletin).
What was his medical record? He entered the University of Edinburgh’s medical school in October 1876 and emerged as a Bachelor of Medicine in August 1881, which he called a long grind through botany, chemistry and anatomy. He wrote the M.D. dissertation four years later, in 1885, and in 1891 opened an ophthalmology practice in London after training in Vienna and Paris. See other research on the IQ of medical doctors.
What is he remembered for? A Study in Scarlet, written in three weeks and accepted by Ward Lock on November 20, 1886, introduced Holmes in 1887. Doyle went on to write four Holmes novels and 56 short stories, and he was knighted in the 1902 Coronation Honours. He wrote that he wanted a detective who would reduce “this fascinating but unorganized business to something nearer to an exact science.” See the other authors in our writers category.
By Elora Mercer, Celebrity Research WriterFigures checked by Leon Falkner, Data & Research AnalystReviewed by Aarav Vardhan, Editor-in-Chief · Last reviewed November 2026
Arthur Conan Doyle: the documented record
The estimate above rests on this record. Every entry here is a matter of public fact, which is more than can be said for the number itself.
- 1859Born on May 22 in Edinburgh.
- 1868Sent at nine to the Jesuit preparatory school Hodder, then to Stonyhurst.
- 1876Enters the University of Edinburgh’s medical school in October.
- 1881Becomes a Bachelor of Medicine and Master of Surgery in August.
- 1885Completes the Doctor of Medicine with a dissertation on tabes dorsalis.
- 1886Ward Lock accepts A Study in Scarlet on November 20.
- 1887A Study in Scarlet appears and introduces Sherlock Holmes.
- 1891Opens an ophthalmology practice in London.
- 1893Joins the London Society for Psychical Research.
- 1902Knighted in the Coronation Honours.
- 1930Dies on July 7 at Crowborough.
Why no figure circulates
Following a claim back to its first appearance is the part almost nobody does — and it is what most people are actually asking.
What is Arthur Conan Doyle’s IQ? No score has been published, and we found no figure attached to him. He died in 1930, 25 years after the first intelligence scale, and his memoir, Wikipedia and a 2022 article on his medical career mention degrees, dates and books but no test. For how celebrity numbers are made and why most are not tests, see where celebrity IQ numbers come from.
Was Sherlock Holmes smarter than his creator? The 190 attached to Sherlock Holmes is a figure people assign to a character; this site’s estimate for him is 180–200, and for his brother Mycroft 185–205. A character is written to be right, so his output says little about the author’s mind. Doyle’s own account is that he built Holmes’s method on a teacher: “I thought of my old teacher Joe Bell, of his eagle face, of his curious ways, of his eerie trick of spotting details.”
Who was the real doctor behind Holmes? In his memoir Doyle names Joseph Bell, a surgeon at the Edinburgh Infirmary, who singled him out as his out-patient clerk and whose strong point was diagnosis, “not only of disease, but of occupation and character.” Compare the detective’s rival, Professor Moriarty (175–195 on this site), or another writer whose record we have audited, Agatha Christie.
Does his belief in spiritualism say anything about his intelligence? It says what he believed, not how well he reasoned. He joined the London Society for Psychical Research in 1893 (Wikipedia), and his memoir says that as he read the “literature of psychic science” he became more and more impressed by the Spiritualist position. An IQ score is not a measure of which claims a person accepts. If you want to see what a score of 130 to 145 means in practice, try our percentile calculator.
How we read a number →His own account: entered Edinburgh in October 1876 and “emerged as a Bachelor of Medicine in August 1881,” passing finals “with fair but not notable distinction”; Joseph Bell as his teacher and the model for Holmes; joining the Psychical Research Society. Read in the Gutenberg text; the memoir does not mention the M.D. thesis or any IQ test.
Born in Edinburgh in 1859, second of 10 children; Stonyhurst until 1875; Austria 1875–1876; Edinburgh medical school 1876–1881; the M.D. thesis finalized in 1885 on vasomotor changes in tabes dorsalis; London ophthalmology practice in 1891 after training in Vienna and Paris.
Dates of birth and death, the 1881 M.B. C.M. and 1885 M.D., acceptance of A Study in Scarlet on November 20, 1886, four novels and 56 short stories, the 1902 knighthood, and joining the London Society for Psychical Research in 1893. The article gives no IQ.
Confirms Q35610 is the British writer and physician (1859–1930), not another Doyle.
Carbon-print photograph by Herbert Rose Barraud (1845–c. 1896), 1893, from Bonhams; public domain (PD-old-100).
Ranges used for comparison: Sherlock Holmes 180–200, Mycroft 185–205, Moriarty 175–195, Agatha Christie 130–145.
Doyle’s memoir, Wikipedia and the American College of Surgeons article contain no IQ test, Mensa listing or school test score, and a web search for a stated figure found none for him (only for Holmes).
The sources behind our estimate
The figures that circulate for Arthur Conan Doyle, what we were able to confirm, and where the two diverge.
We found no page that gives an IQ score for Doyle himself. The only figure that comes up near his name is 190, the figure most often attached to Sherlock Holmes.
Doyle’s own memoir, Wikipedia and a 2022 American College of Surgeons Bulletin article about his medical career give degrees, dates and works but no IQ, Mensa listing or test. Mensa was founded in 1946, 16 years after he died.
Our range for Doyle is 130 to 145, and 190 is the figure attached to Holmes. The gap between them is the gap between an author’s documented record and a character who is written to be right.
Want a number that does hold up? Every figure on this page is somebody’s claim. Take the 30-question test and get a percentile you can check rather than a figure you have to trust.
Arthur Conan Doyle — frequently asked
What is Arthur Conan Doyle’s IQ?
Arthur Conan Doyle has no published IQ score. The figure often seen near his name, 190, belongs to his character Sherlock Holmes. Our own Arthur Conan Doyle IQ estimate is 130–145, based on his medical degrees, his M.D. and his writing record.
Was Conan Doyle a genius or just a successful writer?
The record shows a trained physician with a Doctor of Medicine (1885) who created one of fiction’s best-known detectives. That is a high but not extreme achievement. Doyle himself said he passed his final medical examination with fair but not notable distinction.
Was Sherlock Holmes smarter than his creator?
A character is written to be right, so Holmes’s performance reflects Doyle’s plotting, not a separate mind. This site estimates Holmes at 180–200 and Doyle at 130–145, but the first number measures a fiction and the second a documented record.
Who was the real doctor behind Sherlock Holmes?
Doyle named Joseph Bell, a surgeon at the Edinburgh Infirmary, as his teacher and the model for Holmes. In his memoir he says Bell’s strong point was diagnosis, not only of disease but of occupation and character, and that he made Doyle his out-patient clerk.
What degrees did Arthur Conan Doyle hold?
He earned a Bachelor of Medicine and Master of Surgery from the University of Edinburgh in August 1881. He completed a Doctor of Medicine in 1885 with a dissertation on the vasomotor changes in tabes dorsalis, and he was knighted in 1902.
Did Conan Doyle’s belief in spiritualism say anything about his intelligence?
It says what he believed, not how he reasoned. He joined the Society for Psychical Research in London in 1893 and wrote that he became more and more impressed by the Spiritualist position. An IQ score does not measure which claims a person accepts, and he has no score.
Was Arthur Conan Doyle a member of Mensa?
No record exists, and it would have been impossible: Mensa was founded in 1946, 16 years after Doyle died in 1930. Neither his memoir nor Wikipedia mentions any IQ test or Mensa listing.
How does my IQ compare with Arthur Conan Doyle?
You can find out in about fifteen minutes. The IQ Metrics assessment is 30 questions, scored on the same 100-mean scale used throughout this page, so your result and the estimate above are at least expressed in the same units — one measured, one inferred. Once you have a number, the leaderboard shows where it would sit, and how we score and norm it explains the benchmarking.
Where does this estimate come from?
From the documented record rather than a test — the method is named above and set out in full under how we read a number. Compare it against the other writers profiles, starting with Voltaire.
- Take the 30-question IQ test — get a measured score and percentile of your own
- Average IQ by country — how the scale behaves across populations
- How IQ Metrics scores its assessment — the method behind our own number
- More on how IQ testing works — reliability, error and what a score can and cannot say
- More writers profiles — same field, same method
More writers
Photograph of Agatha Christie by Joop van Bilsen for Anefo (Schiphol Airport, Amsterdam, September 17, 1964), Nationaal Archief, released under CC0 (Commons file). Cropped and with background removed for the portrait above. · Daguerreotype, c. 1849, photographer unknown; restored version, public domain. · Photograph, 1907, via the Library of Congress (digital ID cph.3a08820), public domain. Background removed for the portrait above.
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