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IQ Facts and IQ of Famous People

An intelligence quotient, or IQ, is a score derived from one of several standardized tests designed to assess intelligence. The abbreviation “IQ” comes from the German term Intelligenz-Quotient, originally coined by psychologist William Stern.

IQ scores are used as predictors of educational achievement, special needs, job performance and income.

IQ Reference Chart:

IQ ScoreClassification
145 and overGenius
120–144Exceptional
110–119High Average
90–109Average or Normal
80–89Dull Normal
70–79Mild disability
50–69Moderate disability
20–49Severe disability
Below 20Profound disability

IQ of Famous People:

PictureName & IQ
Albert-EinsteinAlbert Einstein

IQ Score: 160

sir-issac-newtonSir Issac Newton

IQ Score: 190

thomas-edisonThomas Edison

IQ Score: 145

copernicusCopernicus

IQ Score: 160

charles-darwinCharles Darwin

IQ Score: 165

leonardo-da-vinciLeonardo Da Vinci

IQ Score: 220

george-washingtonGeorge Washington

IQ Score: 118

Paul-AllenPaul Allen

IQ Score: 160

Muhammad-AliMuhammad Ali

IQ Score: 78

George-W-BushGeorge W. Bush

IQ Score: 125

Barack-ObamaBarack Obama

IQ Score: 130

Jimmy-CarterJimmy Carter

IQ Score: 156

Bill-ClintonBill Clinton

IQ Score: 137

Hillary-ClintonHillary Clinton

IQ Score: 140

Dwight-EisenhowerDwight Eisenhower

IQ Score: 122

galileoGalileo

IQ Score: 185

Bill-GatesBill Gates

IQ Score: 160

Stephen-HawkingStephen Hawking

IQ Score: 160

thomas-jeffersonThomas Jefferson

IQ Score: 160

Garry-KasparovGarry Kasparov

IQ Score: 190

John-f-KennedyJohn F. Kennedy

IQ Score: 119

Judy-HollidayJudy Holliday

IQ Score: 172

Lyndon-B-JohnsonLyndon B. Johnson

IQ Score: 126

Sofia-KovalevskayaSofia Kovalevskaya

IQ Score: 170

MadonnaMadonna

IQ Score: 140

NapoleonNapoleon

IQ Score: 145

richard-nixonRichard Nixon

IQ Score: 143

Judith-PolgarJudith Polgar

IQ Score: 170

Ronald-ReaganRonald Reagan

IQ Score: 105

Arnold-SchwarzeneggerArnold Schwarzenegger

IQ Score: 135

harry-trumanHarry Truman

IQ Score: 132

 

 

{ 53 comments… add one }
  • AllanT June 15, 2014, 12:01 pm

    Good read..

  • Angelo Niklis June 10, 2014, 9:08 pm

    I’m not surprised Arnold scored high.

    I score around 127-135 on tests on the computer, although today I just took a detailed online test and scored 101. >: (

    When I was a kid I scored 130 on a full, real IQ Test but I intentionally tried to score lower than normal. I’m figuring I was really about 140 as a kid, but that’s just a guess. I think I score lower these days because I’m dealing with Borderline Personality Disorder and a couple of other problems that make it difficult to read, concentrate and function. I read mental illness and being out of school results in lower IQ Test Scores.

    I wish I had an IQ of 140 again and properly functional mind.

  • J. Piersol June 10, 2014, 6:56 pm

    I read the highest IQ score in America was obtained by a little Black girl in the southern United States in 1956. Can you investigate this claim or something relevant to this statement?

  • Scott June 10, 2014, 10:58 am

    Jimmy Carter is in the genius scale? The accuracy of this whole list is now suspect with that!

  • Sean June 10, 2014, 10:10 am

    These comments are hilarious! ‘Had to print and keep, especially Louie’s…dwl lol

  • Rakych June 10, 2014, 9:18 am

    This is sooooo dumb. Explain to me why people are really considering this when IQ tests do not really tell a persons intelligence. Muhammad Ali comes in with a score of 78, yet if you ever heard him speak, you could tell the man was very intelligent. Also, how do you assess the IQ of someone who is dead, and not only dead, but dead for centuries. LOL, such a joke.

  • Gordo June 10, 2014, 2:27 am

    I’m pretty sure they got Ali and Bush’s numbers mixed up.

  • chess5 June 8, 2014, 9:15 pm

    IQ is not an accurate measurement of intelligence as it measures logic and that is only part of intelligence.

  • Leif Rotkirch May 11, 2014, 6:17 am

    Would appreciate having a scientifically valid explanation of how people, dead several centuries ago, like Newton, Goethe, Darwin or Kepler, can have been evaluated as to their precise IQ. Or is this IQ evaluation matter complete hogwash?

  • Max Nocerino May 3, 2014, 7:04 pm

    Grrreeeeattt!! My IQ is 104, so I guess I can’t hope to amount to anything……

  • Zebracake April 21, 2014, 6:52 am

    Cool! My IQ is higher than 4-5 presidents!!!! Did anyone notice the resemblence between Hawking and Gates?

  • Deep April 12, 2014, 4:24 pm

    Mine is 148

  • loll April 11, 2014, 1:03 pm

    Are you afraid to mention Hitler ,hu has close to Napoleon, an same like R. Nixon -143 …

  • ronald April 8, 2014, 10:07 am

    How is about Sir Froyd?

  • Elizabeth March 13, 2014, 10:10 pm

    DaVinci..he was far more brilliant and creative that anyone who had existed before, or that came after him.

    And i find it silly that people have to put down Bush because they do not like him. Not an intelligent comment, Gregory.

    I am assuming that those that were around before the invention of the i.q. tests are estimates.
    Intelligence has nothing to do with morality either, so why put down Obama, Bush, or the Clintons. They can be intelligent, but also not ethical.

    And why can’t movie stars be intelligent? Why put down Madonna, Arnie, or Holliday?
    Sometimes the comments on here do not reflect all that much intellect, but emotional “reasoning”.

  • Gregory March 5, 2014, 6:40 pm

    There is absolutely NO way Bush’s IQ is even close to Obama. And 220 for Da Vinci? I had heard the highest ever was about 201 which was a woman

  • Jerry March 3, 2014, 8:14 pm

    My IQ was 155 at age 9. I believe it has dropped with time.

  • Louie January 31, 2014, 2:10 pm

    If Madonna’s IQ is 140, my waist is 28, my biceps are 14 inches and other parts of me are close…….She is a damn Moron and the World knows it……

  • Christoper January 23, 2014, 4:59 pm

    Barack Obama’s IQ is more like 116 as Harvard test results were done. His highest possible, would be 119 on a very good day?!

  • Zombiegirl December 22, 2013, 1:23 am

    My IQ is 113

  • Tom Brown December 2, 2013, 11:29 am

    Are the IQs listed above for modern individuals based on administered tests or are they estimates?

  • Addiction314 December 1, 2013, 10:58 am

    Responding to the question about Henry VIII, I would assume he was pretty intelligent since he composed music, wrote poetry and prose, and was an accomplished athlete. He successfully ran a country, created the foundation of the Anglican Church, and in my opinion, created the society in which the Renaissance could take root in England. Without Henry VIII, we would have no Elizabeth or James (and no King James Version of the Bible). I’d definitely put him at well above average.

  • Angela Westgate October 28, 2013, 2:44 pm

    Hello,

    How is it possible to estimate the IQ of people such as Leonardo da Vinci when the IQ test wasn’t around prior to the early 1900’s? What measures are used to compare?

    Thanks,
    angela

  • Carol A. McGuire September 3, 2013, 4:59 am

    Do you have an estimate IQ on Henry viii?

    • Stephen September 3, 2013, 7:49 am

      Hi Carol! Unfortunately I don’t 🙁

      • Joseph E Fasciani September 3, 2013, 11:12 am

        Well, it’s obvious that he wasn’t smart enough to keep his wives…. More seriously, it’s my understanding that J W von Goethe had the highest estimated IQ, at 200. One cannot go past this point on the traditional scale, as it is the end. One could move the goal posts, of course, but that affects the same change at the lower end, to the same equilibrium as before, thus nothing is gained. So the estimate of da Vinci’s at 220 isn’t possible, currently.

        It was never meant to measure or indicate one’s prowess in politics or entertainment, so how war-mongers such as Obama, the Clintons, and Bush 43 made it here are murky, at best; ditto for Madonna, Holliday, and Schwarzenegger.

  • Joseph E Fasciani April 15, 2013, 10:17 am

    Good day! The scale usually associated w/IQ scores runs from 0 to 200, and 100 is deemed average. Another way to regard it is as a classic bell-shaped curve, w/half the testees in the 0-99 half and the second in the 100-200 half, w/all shades between.

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