The Most Famous Female in the World?
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I am writing this hub in response to the request posted by Compu-smart on who is the most famous female of the world. Well, many would have their own logics and methods to determine that. I have tried to do it with the help of statistics and technology - that little thing called Google - which, for me, is next to God.
I compared some 30 most famous women on a Google tool, which shows the number of searches for a particular search string over the years. Women in the original 30 list were most likely to make it to the top rank according to me and a couple of hubs, which responded to the original question. I am not claiming that this method is 100% correct, it just provides results in a different light and reveals the women who are being chased the most by the educated world.
I started with a list of around 30 women and majority of them were celebrities/actresses. I intentionally picked more candidates from the celebrity world because theirs is the most searched about fraternity on internet. Call me biased. Other female were from politics, social life, history and even mythology. Sample the list of women I compared:
History/society/mythology: Mother Mary, Mother Teresa, Diana, Mary Magdalene
Celebrity artists: Britney Spears, Paris hilton, Madonna, Shakira, Shania Twain, Kylie Minogue, Mariah Carey, Janet Jackson, Celine Dion, Tina Turner
Actresses: Angelina Jolie, Julia Roberts, Cameron Diaz, Nicole Kidman, Renee Zellweger, Sandra Bullock, Drew Barrymore, Jodie Foster, Halle Berry, Marilyn Monroe, Aishwarya Rai
Politics: Condoleezza Rice, Queen Elizabeth, Oprah Winfrey, Hilary Clinton, Margaret Thatcher
I hope this list sounds fair. To my knowledge, I have not left out any big names. Still, if anybody feels I have made some slip up, please point out to me. I had so much fun doing this entire exercise that I am finding excuses to do it again.
Now, it is the time to spill the beans. Does religion win over punk? Does intelligence looses out to glamour? You will see that in the following list of 5 most popular women in world (again disclaimer: purely based on who is being searched the most on Google).
5 MOST POPULAR WOMEN IN WORLD
# 5. The 5th rank goes to an enigma. Someone who has been embedded in our conscience as the ultimate seductress and the epitome of beauty. She also gets credit for one of the most popular photograph pose ever. I give you Marilyn Monroe at the 5th rank of this list.
# 4. She is one of the most beautiful, 'sexy' and yet graceful actresses of our time. She forms arguably the most glamorous couple of contemporary world. She also has a big heart and is known for her participation in social causes, specially related to children. Angelina Jolie is at the 4th position on my list.
# 3. If she was alive today, probably the politics and social glitterati life of United Kingdom would be way different. The most controversial and yet, the most loved female of this generation left the world at a tender age, leaving behind a sea of controversies we are still diving in. Princess Diana finds the 3rd place on the list.
# 2. The runner-up to the list is a glamorous celebrity - barely out of teens, who earned fame and money too early in life. I must add that she has also suffered too much of pain too early in life. Drug habits, accusations of being lesbian and a bad mother, two time divorcee, suicidal tendencies, troubled child of the glamour world and a case study in what fame can do to your sanity. Britney Spears is the troublemaker at No. 2.
# 1. I am too small to say anything about the lady who is at the top - for she is the symbol of peace, love and all things good about this world. A virgin mother who is creator of the creator and mother of this entire world, Mother Mary is the most popular female of this world, even in our times.
I hope the list makes sense according to what is going on in the popular culture. Sadly, the Google tool I used does not understand the difference between being famous and infamous. Else, we would have a more sane and intelligent list.
I invite debates and am ready to face any kind of ridicule for making Britney Spears a competitor of Mother Mary. I was helpless because stats do not lie. See the attached Google graph. One thing is commendable, though, about Mother Mary. She is consistent enough and nothing really changes her popularity. Britney's popularity shows blips and dips just as her life did. Stats may indicate that both are almost on the same platform, but in your heart, you know who the actual winner is.
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Stooge,
I must make a point to say that Mary (Mother Mary) from a religious stand point is not the creator of the creator---She would have had to have given birth to God to be the mother of the creator as God created the world and all that is in it. She also didn't create Jesus--God gets the credit for that one too. "For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son". She was, however, the all important vessel in bringing Jesus to life via God's wishes, and for that, you are correct, she deserves the number one spot. Since this was a POPULARITY poll I will let you slide on the other women you listed. I'd be curious to know who the world thinks are the top 5 most POSITIVE INFLUENCEs on the world, or something more of merit. So, if you get bored and want to research that one for me, I will be sure to read your findings.
Slightly controversal - I like it. You do highlight that this is only related to google searches which is important. But I'd still suggest the Hub subtitle is a bit misleading - that maybe it's not so much that they are the most popular but the most popular google searches (which you mention in the article text). Browsing Google Trends and Keywords is fun though - I agree!
Stooge, I am quite happy with your pick, even though every individual probably have its own list.
Poor Hilary Clinton...She and Oprah will read this list and cry!
Very interesting! Nice job separating them out. I don't see me on your list. LOL... :-)
Quite interesting. You did your research and the result is two thumbs up. By the way, I'm ganna be showing in that list very soon so you might want to keep updating it.
Cheryl, thanks for your comments. I was not aware of that. Agreed, I have made a technical mistake, but hopefully, you would understand that intention was right. To your other point, in fact I did research a bit, but could not really find a meaningful list. There is one professor who has come up with a list of 800 odd famous women of all time based on some scientific research and statistics, but the names are very outdated and probably people would not relate to them. Also, I could not find a rankwise list from her research.
William, thanks for writing. I did think about Cleopatra and Helen of Troy but missed out on Eleanor Roosevelt, Martha Washington and Elizabeth Taylor. Anyway, if Marilyn Monroe was 5th, I dont think Elizabeth Taylor has much of a chance. Similarly, if the queen could not make it,Roosevely and Martha Washington would lag far behind in my opinion.
Dianado, I will change the hub subtitle. Now that you have pointed out, even I feel some might feel it misleading.
Solar, you are a mate. Thanks for standing up for me amid all the criticism (I am just kidding) lol :)
Dutch, I was more concerned for you. I hope you were not crying :-D
Aeman and Stephick, I will keep doing a fresh search to update this list every time you guys publish a new hub. Probably, you will end up getting #1 and #2 here. You guys decide among youselves how do you want to split that up :)
Hey Stephhicks, sweetheart, I can be the #1 and you can be #2. No harsh feelings!
Great hub, and with the corrections pointed out a fair accurate comment.
Nice hub. Technically, that picture(not the google one) is stretching beyond it's original width and looks pixelated and ugly. I wish you could resize it to half-width or simply replace it with a good quality, high-resolution image. (Many hubbers do this technical mistake about using pictures, I'm concerned with it as you know I publish lot of photo galleries within hubpages) Simple, one more easy way is to make the picture right aligned within the text, so that it shrinks the picture to half-width and make it look better :)
Weblog. Thanks for making me realize that. I am not a sucker for resolution of pics, so generally overlook this aspect. Glad that you notice these small but important things.
Have changed the positioning of pics as per your suggestion. Is it fine now?
Thanks, actually you should not forget pictures give the hub some good appearance. I have some experience in DTP, Photo editing and also in web designing. I always look at the design(alignment, format) of a page before I can read it. I hope you can understand well aligned page can make somebody look into the content even if it was not what they intended to read. Yes, as you said it is small but most important aspect. You may have quality writing, but I also feel you and people like you should concentrate in thinking on how to bring people to (visitors) your hub. For instance, you can add more relevant tags. (Tags help people to find hubs within hubpages and also these tags get you some rank in search results)
Excellent hub and i like how you have categorised and done your research very well and your right its all about popular culture!!
Thanks;)
I didn't mean to come off as a psychotic Christian Stooge--sorry, I just wanted to clear it up for the BIG GUY UPSTAIRS. MY conscience wouldn't let me rest if I didn't make that correction. =) In the end I have to answer to a higher authority and I don't want anything creaping up on me when I am trying to get that passport to Heaven stamped.
Well to think outside the box....what about the Mona Lisa? I would say she's right up there with Mother Mary. After all, how many millions of people from around the world have gone to Paris just to see her?
She has the most famous smile in the world and she was a real woman that Da Vinci painted.
So I vote for her! :D
(BTW: Thanks for the fan mail. I'm hoping to get back to Varanasi next year! :) )
This was really interesting! I like that you included the google trends data, so we can see how Mary is consistently searched, where as Ms. Spears is up and down, depending on what lunacy she is causing in the world. LOL, should have expected that. Thanks for the interesting reading. :)
Nice hub. I'd imagine, Google or otherwise, Mary, mother of Jesus of Nazereth, wins the competition hands down.
Personally, I'm a huge fan of crazy women who kick butt ... that's why, if asked in a poll, I'd choose Joan of Arc.
I can see why Mother Mary comes top because she symbolises all other goddesses like Isis and Semiramis and the female creative force in general and indeed, there are species such as stick insects and some lizards that are only female and that produce more daughters. However, there are no male species of life that create more males only the gods of religion! And of course we live on Mother Earth!
I can not debate your logic of choice, purely by emotion I would leave two of your fair ladies out. Still logic will always win over emotion.
CherylAnne Nelson says:
I must make a point to say that Mary (Mother Mary) from a religious stand point is not the creator of the creator---She would have had to have given birth to God to be the mother of the creator as God created the world and all that is in it. She also didn't create Jesus--God gets the credit for that one too. "For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son". She was, however, the all important vessel in bringing Jesus to life via God's wishes, and for that, you are correct, she deserves the number one spot.
I have to agree with this fair lady, she is right.
Thank you for the time and effort you put into this hub. Please do another one. I will forgive you for leaving me out of your next one.
Still a friend told me yesterday that he found me 10 pages back on google. I was shocked.
Why do you forget Goldwyn Myer, Indira Gandhi and Monalisa. Of course Cleopetra and Mery antonoitte.
i am perturbed that the greatest or most popular author of this era - JK Rowling who scored a phenomenal success with all ages alike inspite of the electronic media and internet is left out. that is upsetting because the hubpages should take pride to vot an author or atleast remember her.
secondly there is only one women in the whole world who lead and won the war. indra gandhi who had inspired quite a lot of women.
and though art form we forgot Monalisa who is the most famous to literate and illeterate alike.
just to give credit to a few. and agatha christie.
I thought I was the only one to wonder about Mona Lisa but we could all argue that its jsut a painting.
I most certainly agree that Mary is the most popular female and happy that she is.
Very original way of answering a question about the most famous woman. I like how you used google searches to show the most searched for women in from a wide range of topics. Good research and a great read.
Compu_Smart, thanks for appreciating. Half the credit goes to you because your request was the inspiration.
Cheryl, did not mean it that way. In fact I am happy that you corrected my mistake and saved me from a sin. Admire you for your devotion to the supreme authority.
RFox, Crash Jones, John Schmit, Tinyteddy - I did research Goldwyn, Indira Gandhi, Monalisa, Agatha Christie and Joan of Arc in Google Trend before finalizing the list of 30. Sadly, these were not very popular.
Teddy, honestly, I forgot JK Rowling. I compared her a couple of minutes back, and she could well be in the top 10 list - somewhere at #6 or #7. So thank you for adding a meaningful name to the list.
Amy Jane, thanks for you keep commenting on my hubs. Glad you liked the methodology. There will never be a correct answer to this question so it is always better to let statistics say something.
Bard of Ely, I am in sync with your point of view. Mother Earth was an interesting angle - and motivated me to search more. If we use just "earth", it wins hands down (even Mary could not match this mother). But we all know that earth can be searched in so many different context. If we compare "Mother Earth" against the list, it lags behind. Still, liked your imagination.
Mr Marmalade, I was actually thinking of doing another one on most popular males on the similar lines. May be you could help me prepare an initial list :) I am serious by the way.
SweetiePie, you are always so encouraging and everytime you force me to say "You are a sweetheart" :)
I would add Dr. Aung San Suu Kyi, elected president of Burma (Myanmar) held illegally in house arrest by the military junta that took over Burma because they were afraid she would institute Democracy in that beautiful but sad land.
You can see my hub on her story. http://hubpages.com/hub/Dr-Aung-San-Suu-Kyi
Never heard of her
Very Interesting information. Great job with all the research!
Chef, Aung San Su Ki is a personal fav of mine. I put her in the same class as Joan of Arc. Unfortunately, as you must have realized, she is no good for Google trends.
kpfingaz, I would encourage you to read a bit about her. She has been fighting the Myanmar set up for past many years and has faced many hardships. May sanity prevail in that country.
Secretstofatloss, glad you liked the hub. Thanks for visiting by and posting.
Stooge, great HUB, right up my alley. I would never have guessed Mother Mary as #1. I had done a similar writing prior to becoming a HUBBER, called The People's Stats ... also using Google.
I often understand that the written word sometimes comes across differently than intended, so when you say:
that little thing called Google - which, for me, is next to God.
Google's an incredible tool. Top of the line. BUT, like I tell my clients, you can't call Google. (Maybe you can but they don't want you to) and as you'll better understand from your known stance on sexy HUBS ... Google Adsense quickly links my HOT posts ... with the SEX sites. There's a lack of humanness that doesn't allow me yet to give it that Godly status.
BIG FAN!! - David
516Ads - whoever said God has "humanness"? :D
In any case, God is not without his shortcomings. Many have been debating on whether our God is PERFECT. My understanding is that he is not - we just classify all his mistakes as "something for a greater good."
Duh ! This discussion is getting serious. I dont want to put in a wrong comment about the almighty. Cheryl is very watchful and I would die with shame before she posts a second correction comment on this hub. I believe, I am already a sinner for calling Mother Mary the creator of the creator.
By the way, I have my own reasons to believe that Google is akin to God. I have actually written a hub which compares Google to God. Please go through it and let me know, how do you differ.
http://hubpages.com/hub/Google-is-God-8-proofs-for
P.S. - 1. I am not calling you an ignorant mortal
2. Even I have become a big fun of yours ever since I read your 'sexy' hub :0)
Well researched hub and enjoyed reading it while sipping a cup of coffee. :) Had no idea Mother Mary would be the most popular female, as there are so many diverse religions and spiritual paths, but interesting to know this, as she does represent peace and love.
This is wonderful job Stooge.Well! you could have added some top female hubbers to the list :D . You did full justice to your list.I wonder what made Compu-smart make this request.I must ask him.Thumbs UP!
Thanks Abhinaya, I was wondering how people will receive the list - but thankfully, nobody's sanity has been offended so far.
Guess Compu-Smart was on a look out for a date - someone lesser than the most famous female can't do justice to his charm ;-)
Great piece and well-researched. I loved reading the other famous females offered by fellow hubbers. Sniff. Sniff. Gives me hope for our gender. Google Rules!
Just pass this on to Compu-smart.He'll like it.
Cailin - thanks for visiting by. Dont cry .. there have been a lot of ladies of substance and grace in the world. Your world is nt empty :)
lol..Im a curious Kitty;) Hi Stooge, To give me half the credit is too much of an exaggeration!! its all your good work!! i just asked a simple question!:)
The reason i asked was that a lot of my hubs are about famous people and i was wondering who really is the most famous person in the world!!
Wouldent the most famous person be someone whos picture you could show to everyone in all corners of the world and be recognised? because by definition famous means " Well or widely known" and its a shame because i think the word "famous" has become very cheap these days and people are being given fame from being on TV for a a couple of months in a reality show for example, than someone who has spent there entire life working for humanitarian causes or invented something medical thats helped each and every one of us! etc etc ...these people should be more publicised so then become more "Well or widely" known and becoming more famous..
If i was a teacher, i would ask all the chuildren of all ages and ask them for there top 10 list of who they think are famous..It would be interesting!
Has no one mentioned Eve? I am not a Bible reader, but as a citizen of a profoundly Christian-based country, I think the "mother of us all" deserves some credit for being the first woman to bear children (biblically speaking, of course.) Besides, she was involved in the first sex scandal ever! That must count for something in a popularity contest.
What else can be expected from Stooge except only the best hubs.
I have become a great fan of your works on HP, my friend. The most famous female in the world is a work of yours that deserves appreciation. Excellent Hub!
Great Hub. my following comments are made with tongue firmly in cheek. Where woud Liberace, Freddy Mercury and Elton John rate in your research! Google of course may prove the point "Statistics, Lies and damn lies". Never the less. One should also bear in mind that Google only represents those who have internet. There are millions who may feel Indira Ghandi or Benazir Bhutto might rate a mention. Incidentally, how would you measure the most infamous women eg Lucrezia Borgia?
Compu-Smart, asking children do a top 10 list will be surely interesting. Probably, Mini Mouse will be featured there but it will be great to see who are the females who influence children the most. Let me see if I can find enough teachers on HP and ask them do this little but for us. I am completely in sync with famous getting too generalized and abused. Females like Aung San and Indira Gandhi should be featured far ahead than Angelina Jolie but then, that is how it goes.
Taynoel, great suggestion. I forgot Eve. I checked again but her name itself is not friendly to the strategy I have adopted for the list. Sure she compares good to Mary and others, but it is mostly because Google gets a lot of queries on "New year eve" or "Christmas Eve" where the word "Eve" is used in a different context. My guess is, Eve in the context you are talking will not make it to the top 5 - at least not the Google way.
Mdtabish, thanks a lot for your encouragement. I just answered a simple question from Compu-smart and tried not to be biased. Let statistics speak, who am I to judge these great ladies.
Sixtyorso, great points - we have had a discussion on the same. Surely, the ranking represents the opinions of internet savvy people, but if they represent even 20% of the world population, I think I have taken a very large pool of respondents. We all know that we cant do a survey involving 6 billion people. The next best option is 1 Billion people, and that is what I have taken here. Google does not differentiate between famous or infamous, old or new - if someone is being sought after, he/she will pop up in the top list. Elton John or Hitler - he will be featured in the top 5 list, if 20% of the world is interested in him.
I am confused about Paris Hilton. My oppinion on her is, The only reason she is famous is because of her rich dad. Good hub though. Like it was already stated every one's oppinions would differ a bit.
Brian, Paris is a celebrity - love her or hate her but you cant ignore her. Papers worth thousands of trees go in explaining her stories every year. Probably, she would better fit in the infamous category :)
Thanks for encouragement.
Great hub, Stooge! I certainly agree that if you showed a picture of Mother Mary to anyone in this country (as well as several others), most would know who she is. I am glad she came in first! Great job!
Bonnie
Everything looks great but i still see a problem that's too big to ignore - Where the hell is Mona Lisa???
Who is Mother Mary?
Bonnie, thanks so much for writing back. Do you want to take up the question posted by L_Tests just above this comment of mine? :-)
Maegnas, If you go through the comments made above, you will find that you are not the only one who asked about Monalisa. I clarified in the comments above that I searched for her as well but she could not make it to the top 10.
Im surprised that Mona Lisa did not make it to top 10 also!!! Well, what about Cleopatra (history)? That was a great idea, Compu-smart, to ask school kids! Dora (the cartoon character) i guess would be on the list of school kids, i know my niece would vote for her!! Very entertaining hub Stooge.
Come on!? MADONNA. Seriously, Angelina Jolie???? Yeah she's been cool for a few years but people down in the swamps of Brazil know the name Madonna.
BRITNEY SPEARS is certainly the most famous female on earth.
Interesting list. I feel sorry for Spears because she is pretty, and talented, but messed up. Just goes to show we all have the proverbial skeletons in our closets - some closets are just more publicly visible than others.
Cheers!
Chef Jeff T.
I love u hug
Madonna is yesterday's news. The most famous female in the world alive is Britney Spear, however in history the most popular is Maria Magdalene
Mother Mary, huh? Not bad for being a myth.
Madonna!!!!!!!! Come on! Hands down no question its Madonna, not only one of the most famous women but one of the most famous people of the land 100 year!! lol, so MADONNA. Think thats a stretch? then you underestemate the womens fame, it transends popularity like Elvis
very entertaining and Interesting List.
Good Job Stooge.
But i think you forgot Mona lisa ;)
At least thanks For your great Hub.
First of all i wanna thank you for this article it s reallu very intersting ,
dis article was so cute. its likely to be more interesting that i could knw some of the famous women who possesses different typ of beauties. beauty within and outside...
cute learning article
how about joan of arc, jane austen, emeline pankhurst, marie curie, mother theresa, rosa parks, anne frank and benazir bhutto???
of course ! this is a popularity test but if it were the greatest/most influential women then...
Thanks all for your comments. I have clarified again and again that I completely understand Google is not 100% correct, but certainly I cant survey the 6-7 Billion population of world myself and have to resort to some sort of a data oriented tool. Google search data was the closest enough to represent the thinking of maximum world population.
Elliebellie, I did research the names you mentioned and believe me, was heartbroken when Mother Teresa and Joan of Arc did not feature in the list. But so is life - controversies and glamour earns of fame far quicker than any number of good deeds you do in your entire life.
ur ignorance is appalling stooge!pls brush up ur GK.
Wow nice job really. I think people tend to forget, especially in the US, how famous is Madonna.She is obviously the world most famous in the world...So tonight here are the number of page in google
for Lady Diana: 9.6 Millions
Madonna : 53.4 Millions
Mother teresa : 2.5 M
Britney Spears : 51.5 M
Angélina Jolie : 29.7 M
Queen Elizabeth: 21.9M
Marilyn Monroe: 11.6 M
Lady gaga : 8.8 M...
Maybe we should make a diferent list for dead peole...I don't know.
i think that lady gaga is the most famous female alive, she is just everywhere
and there was a recent poll which said that lady gaga is known to be the most famous women in the whole world today
MARILYN MONROE, HANDS DOWN!!!!
Then everyone else!
who r the most prominent women of the world
Diana, Princess of Wales without a doubt. No woman, and likely no person, was more photographed or well known than she was.
ur missing megan fox
How can can people say britney stupid spears when there are people like WHITNEY HOUSTON!
How can can people say britney stupid spears when there are people like WHITNEY HOUSTON!
-The Queen (Elizabeth)
-Queen Victoria!!!
-Princess Di
-Whitney Houston :D
-Maybe Tina Turner
-Maggy Thatcher....... and so on ....
LADY GAGA is now the most famous female on internet and on planet!
I am happy that Aishwarya Rai is listed as one of the most famous actresses in the world. Many people in america don't know who she is when in fact she's up there with Madonna and Angelina Jolie.
she is the pretties one there
you are absolutly wrong the social arabic doesn't know mother mary i even don't know who is she
thts my aishwarya rai..here u go baby...#Missworld1994
I really vote for my favourite Mother Mary. She is the mother for the god. She was the reason for jesus to be a creator in the world. i think if she was alive today then she would be the proudest mother.
i agree with putting britney spears on number 2 everybody knows her
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William F. Torpey Level 2 Commenter 3 years ago
Can't argue with Google, Stooge, but if you were to ask me I'd say (from off the top of my head) Cleopatra, Helen of Troy, Eleanor Roosevelt, Martha Washington, Elizabeth Taylor and Queen Elizabeth.