In 2025, fame didn’t come from red carpets, it came from timelines, livestreams, courtrooms, and breaking-news alerts. The people we Googled this year weren’t just celebrities, they were flashpoints in viral moments that hijacked the internet for days or weeks at a time. From political firestorms and AI personalities to trial-by-TikTok scandals and reality-TV figures crossing into real-world controversy, search trends in 2025 reveal who stopped the scroll and forced the world to ask, ‘Wait, who is this?’ These are the names that defined the year not by longevity, but by the sheer speed at which curiosity spread.
Prompted by our own curiosity, the team at PlayersTime took a deeper look at what (and more importantly who) the world has been ‘Googling’ the most in 2025, both globally and on a regional level. Using Ahrefs search volume data, we analysed the top 100 most searched personalities around the world as well as the top 10 in 20 selected countries.
Key takeaways:
- Donald Trump is the world’s most searched person with 16 million average global searches per month, followed by Elon Musk and Taylor Swift with 11 million and 8.1 million, respectively.
- Surprising entries on the list include criminals such as the man accused of murdering the CEO of UnitedHealthcare Luigi Mangione and the head of the Catholic Church Pope Francis.
- Six of the top 10 most-searched public figures globally are American celebrities, highlighting the United States’ cultural and political influence around the world.
The World’s Top 10 Most Googled People in 2025
Ranking based on monthly global search volume on Google for the past 12 months
Data Sources: Ahrefs, IMDb, meeglimpse.com, Google Trends
The world’s most searched celebrities in 2025 reveal a fascinating blend of politics, tech, entertainment, and global star power. Pulling in an average of 15.96 million monthly searches, U.S. President Donald Trump is the most Googled person in the world, closely followed by tech entrepreneur Elon Musk with 10.97 million. But the real surprise comes in third place: Lebanese-born Mia Khalifa, a former adult entertainment performer, who draws 8.76 million searches.
Music is the most represented field on the list, accounting for five out of the top ten names, including female pop icons like Taylor Swift and Sabrina Carpenter, as well as the late American rapper XXXTentacion, the lead vocalist of the former bachata group Aventura Anthony ‘Romeo’ Santos, each amassing between 6 and 8 million global searches every month. Sport ranks surprisingly lower, represented by football’s most enduring superstar Cristiano Ronaldo (7.76 million searches) and 17-year-old sensation Lamine Yamal (5.76 million monthly searches).
What’s just as remarkable is the geographic imbalance, as six of the top ten are from the United States, highlighting how American politics, tech, and entertainment dominate global attention. Europe makes only a small appearance through Portugal and Spain, and Australia’s Bianca Censori is the lone representative from Oceania. The list skews heavily toward entertainment: aside from Trump and Musk, most names derive their influence from Music, Fashion, or Sports. This concentration suggests that global visibility is shaped less by geographic diversity and more by the international reach of U.S.-centric media ecosystems.
Top 100 Most Googled Persons in 2025: Fields & Genders by Search Volume
Based on the average global search volume on Google per month for the past 12 months
Data Sources: Ahrefs, IMDb, meeglimpse.com, Google Trends
Beyond the glitz of global searches, the top 100 celebrities reveal a striking gender divide across fame. While Film, Television, and Music feature a mix of male and female stars sharing the spotlight, Sports, Politics, and Business are spheres dominated by men; fashion and the British Royal family remain firmly in female hands. Film & TV leads overall with 112.37 million monthly searches, followed by Music at 93.32 million, and these showcase a relatively balanced mix of male and female stars – 44% male and 56% female in Film & TV, and 46% male and 54% female in Music.
At first glance, several sectors in the top 100 appear to be entirely dominated by one gender, but this imbalance is driven not by broad industry trends, but rather by the outsized visibility of single, highly searched individuals within each niche. 27-year-old American murder suspect Luigi Mangione and the Crime category appear on the list following the highly publicised manhunt and subsequent murder trial, as his case sparked intense international media coverage and online discussion.
Religion is similarly shaped by one figure – Pope Francis, while Fashion is defined by Bianca Censori, whose unconventional public appearances and viral fashion moments have repeatedly drawn worldwide attention. Meanwhile, the Royal Family category is dominated by Princess of Wales Kate Middleton, reflecting sustained global interest in her health, public appearances, and role within the British monarchy.
Top 10 Nationalities Dominating the Global Search Interest
Ranking based on monthly global search volume on Google for the past 12 months
Data Sources: Ahrefs, IMDb, meeglimpse.com, Google Trends
Global search is heavily concentrated in English-speaking countries, at least when it comes to the 100 most-searched people. Among the top 100, Americans are Googled the most, generating 237.26 million monthly searches, followed by UK-based celebrities with 24.07 million, while public figures from Canada and Australia attract an average of 13 to 16 million global searches each month. These nationalities collectively account for more than 80% of the search volume among the top 10 countries.
The Most Searched Person by Country in 2025
Search volume refers to average searches per month over the past 12 months.
Data Sources: Ahrefs, IMDb, meetglimpse.com
Shifting from global patterns to local passions, our map, comprising twenty selected countries, reveals just how differently fame plays out around the world. Each nation crowns its own standout star, spanning Politics, Sports, Entertainment, and even some unexpected cultural icons. In the United States, current President Donald Trump dominates searches with 4.94 million monthly searches. In Canada, former Bank of Canada Governor and current Prime Minister Mark Carney tops the charts with 627,000 searches, proving that financial leadership and political gravitas can capture national attention just like entertainment or sports.
Across Europe and beyond, country-specific preferences drive online attention. In Spain and Italy, the tennis craze dominates online searches, with Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner drawing 1.85 million and 1.83 million monthly searches, respectively. In Brazil and Poland, football reigns supreme, with João Fonseca attracting 922,000 searches and Robert Lewandowski leading with 373,000. Sweden and Ireland, on the other hand, show the power of cultural and entertainment influence, with singer Måns Zelmerlöw and actor Paul Mescal topping searches in their home countries, reflecting strong national followings in Music and Film.
Interestingly, in a handful of countries, including Germany, Romania, South Korea, and the United States, political leaders dominate the search charts, showing that national attention doesn’t always gravitate toward Entertainment or Sports. Figures like Friedrich Merz, President Nicușor Dan, and President Lee Jae-myung illustrate how political visibility, media coverage, and public interest can make leaders the most famous figures in their own countries, highlighting a fascinating contrast with nations where athletes and entertainers steal the spotlight.
Top 100 Most Searched People on Google in 2025:
Breakdown by Field, Gender & Nationality
Data Sources: Ahrefs, IMDb, meeglimpse.com, Google Trends
Breaking down our top 100 list reveals a fame landscape that is far more uneven and astounding. Film & TV leads at 36% of all searches, fueled by the global reach of streaming platforms that can turn an actor into a worldwide buzz overnight, while Music (28%) continues to thrive on the power of hyperactive global fandoms. Sport may account for just 16% of the list, yet its stars regularly generate some of the highest individual search volumes. Gender adds another layer of contrast as women may dominate certain fields of interest, yet men make up 56% of the top 100 overall.
The Most Searched Public Figure by Sector
Ranking based on monthly global search volume on Google for the last 12 months
Data Sources: Ahrefs, IMDb, meeglimpse.com, Google Trends
Alongside the usual headline figures, global search interest in 2025 reveals how fame increasingly radiates beyond single individuals to entire cultural ecosystems. Kim Kardashian (3.63М) remains one of the most searched Social media figures after successfully expanding her public profile from reality television into business, fashion, and high-profile criminal justice reform advocacy. Searches also extend to Kylie Jenner (3.54М), whose billionaire brand narrative continues to attract attention, and to Barron Trump (2.90M), whose visibility is driven less by public activity and more by intense media curiosity surrounding the private lives of powerful political families.
In Business, Elon Musk (10.97M) dominates outright, but sustained interest in Jeff Bezos (2.29M) and Melania Trump (3.49M) highlights how wealth, politics, and celebrity increasingly intersect in shaping global attention. Together, these figures illustrate that in today’s attention economy, fame is rarely isolated; rather, it spreads through families, platforms, and narratives that keep certain names persistently in the public eye.
Fame in the Age of Virality
In 2025, fame is less about longevity and more about visibility in a hyper-connected world. Global attention now flows to those who spark curiosity, create viral moments, or tap into cultural conversations, whether they are longtime icons or recent sensations. As digital culture fragments the world’s gaze, influence becomes fluid rather than fixed. In this attention economy, searches, clicks, and streams act as the new measures of success, allowing viral relevance to rival, and sometimes surpass, decades of established fame.
Methodology
The analysis combines multiple authoritative sources to provide a comprehensive view of global celebrity popularity in 2025. Initial identification of high-profile personalities was conducted using IMDb, Google Trends, and MeetGlimpse.com, capturing individuals across sectors including Politics, Business, Sports, Music, Film & TV, Fashion, Adult entertainment, and the Royal Family. These preliminary lists were then cross-referenced and verified using Ahrefs’ keyword search tool to quantify global search volume and ensure that the most searched figures were accurately represented.
To assess sectoral and geographic patterns, we categorised celebrities by field, gender, and nationality. Global and national search trends were analysed to determine both overall prominence and country-specific interest, highlighting how fame operates differently across regions.