Popular Opinion Famous Role Models We'd Like to Meet In Person  

Ranker Community
Originally by Ranker Community
454.4k votes 26.1k voters 813.7k views 550 items

List Rules Which public figure would you be most eager to meet in real life? Vote them up.

These are the famous folks it would be most exciting to meet in person, as ranked by the wisdom of the crowd. Some of the best people to ever live make great role models for people of all ages. Who doesn't love a good celebrity putting forth positive energy and only good in the world? Maybe you've dreamed of having tea with Mother Teresa, or just shaking the hand of Honest Abe. Maybe you just want to say "hey" to Taylor Swift. This list includes both modern day and historical role models, dead and alive - some of the most inspirational, creative, selfless, and intelligent people ever to have walked the earth. Throughout history, common people have sought to surround ourselves with popular folks who can inspire and influence others. Anyone can add their personal role models to this list, making it an accurate, real-time ranking of the most interesting and inspiring role models in the world. From idols to heroes, these are the people other people most aspire to meet. So, add your two cents and see how your personal heroes stack up against the crowd's.
list ordered by

1
10,251 3,195
Jesus Christ is listed (or ranked) 1 on the list Famous Role Models We'd Like to Meet In Person
kkk666 added
Jesus, also referred to as Jesus of Nazareth, is the central figure of Christianity, whom the teachings of most Christian denominations hold to be the Son of God. Christianity regards Jesus as ...more

2
6,454 2,540
Leonardo da Vinci is listed (or ranked) 2 on the list Famous Role Models We'd Like to Meet In Person
Dec. at 67 (1452-1519)
Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci was an Italian polymath, painter, sculptor, architect, musician, mathematician, engineer, inventor, anatomist, geologist, cartographer, botanist, and writer. He is ...more

3
3,416 1,921
Plato is listed (or ranked) 3 on the list Famous Role Models We'd Like to Meet In Person
AmandaForbes added
Plato was a philosopher, as well as mathematician, in Classical Greece. He is considered an essential figure in the development of philosophy, especially the Western tradition, and he founded ...more

4
3,193 1,644
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart is listed (or ranked) 4 on the list Famous Role Models We'd Like to Meet In Person
Dec. at 35 (1756-1791)
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, baptised as Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart, was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical era. Mozart showed prodigious ability from his ...more

5
3,734 1,974
William Shakespeare is listed (or ranked) 5 on the list Famous Role Models We'd Like to Meet In Person
Dec. at 52 (1564-1616)
William Shakespeare was an English poet, playwright, and actor, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's ...more

6
5,767 3,187
Albert Einstein is listed (or ranked) 6 on the list Famous Role Models We'd Like to Meet In Person
Dec. at 76 (1879-1955)
Albert Einstein was a German-born theoretical physicist. Einstein's work is also known for its influence on the philosophy of science. He developed the general theory of relativity, one of the ...more

7
4,318 2,728
Abraham Lincoln is listed (or ranked) 7 on the list Famous Role Models We'd Like to Meet In Person
Dec. at 56 (1809-1865)
Abraham Lincoln was the 16th President of the United States, serving from March 1861 until his life was taken in April 1865. Lincoln led the United States and its greatest moral, constitutional ...more

8
2,749 2,118
Alexander the Great is listed (or ranked) 8 on the list Famous Role Models We'd Like to Meet In Person
Dec. at 33 (355 BC-322 BC)
Alexander III of Macedon, commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a King of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Macedon and a member of the Argead dynasty. Born in Pella in 356 BC, Alexander ...more

9
2,021 1,400
Socrates is listed (or ranked) 9 on the list Famous Role Models We'd Like to Meet In Person
AmandaForbes added
Socrates was a classical Greek philosopher credited as one of the founders of Western philosophy. He is an enigmatic figure known chiefly through the accounts of classical writers, especially ...more

10
3,233 2,165
John F. Kennedy is listed (or ranked) 10 on the list Famous Role Models We'd Like to Meet In Person
Dec. at 46 (1917-1963)
John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), also referred to as John F. Kennedy, JFK, John Kennedy or Jack Kennedy, was the 35th President of the United States. He served from ...more

11
3,553 2,814
Mahatma Gandhi is listed (or ranked) 11 on the list Famous Role Models We'd Like to Meet In Person
Dec. at 79 (1869-1948)
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi was the preeminent leader of Indian independence movement in British-ruled India. Employing nonviolent civil disobedience, Gandhi led India to independence and ...more

12
2,273 1,291
Aristotle is listed (or ranked) 12 on the list Famous Role Models We'd Like to Meet In Person
Dec. at 62 (383 BC-321 BC)
Aristotle was a Greek philosopher and scientist born in the Macedonian city of Stagira, Chalkidice, on the northern periphery of Classical Greece. At eighteen, he joined Plato's Academy in ...more

13
1,596 1,062
Marie Curie is listed (or ranked) 13 on the list Famous Role Models We'd Like to Meet In Person
Dec. at 67 (1867-1934)
Marie Skłodowska-Curie was a Polish and naturalized-French physicist and chemist who conducted pioneering research on radioactivity. She was the first woman to win a Nobel Prize, the first ...more

14
2,074 1,257
Edgar Allan Poe is listed (or ranked) 14 on the list Famous Role Models We'd Like to Meet In Person
Dec. at 40 (1809-1849)
Edgar Allan Poe was an American author, poet, editor, and literary critic, considered part of the American Romantic Movement. Best known for his tales of mystery and the macabre, Poe was one of ...more

15
1,512 1,223
Homer is listed (or ranked) 15 on the list Famous Role Models We'd Like to Meet In Person
Homerus, best known as his anglicised name Homer, is the author of the Iliad and the Odyssey. He was believed by the ancient Greeks to have been the first and greatest of the epic poets. Author ...more

16
1,595 963
Isaac Newton is listed (or ranked) 16 on the list Famous Role Models We'd Like to Meet In Person
Polar Bear added Dec. at 84 (1643-1727)
Sir Isaac Newton PRS MP was an English physicist and mathematician who is widely recognised as one of the most influential scientists of all time and as a key figure in the scientific ...more

17
2,341 1,328
George Washington is listed (or ranked) 17 on the list Famous Role Models We'd Like to Meet In Person
Dec. at 67 (1732-1799)
George Washington was the first President of the United States, the Commander-in-Chief of the Continental Army, and one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. He presided over the ...more

18
2,304 1,595
Thomas Jefferson is listed (or ranked) 18 on the list Famous Role Models We'd Like to Meet In Person
Dec. at 83 (1743-1826)
Thomas Jefferson was an American Founding Father, the principal author of the Declaration of Independence, and the third President of the United States. He was a spokesman for democracy, and ...more

19
1,413 786
J. R. R. Tolkien is listed (or ranked) 19 on the list Famous Role Models We'd Like to Meet In Person
Polar Bear added Dec. at 81 (1892-1973)
John Ronald Reuel Tolkien, CBE FRSL was an English writer, poet, philologist, and university professor who is best known as the author of the classic high-fantasy works The Hobbit, The Lord of ...more

20
2,381 1,162
Benjamin Franklin is listed (or ranked) 20 on the list Famous Role Models We'd Like to Meet In Person
Dec. at 84 (1706-1790)
Benjamin Franklin FRS was one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. A renowned polymath, Franklin was a leading author, printer, political theorist, politician, postmaster, scientist, ...more

21
2,514 1,525
Anne Frank is listed (or ranked) 21 on the list Famous Role Models We'd Like to Meet In Person
Died at 16 (1929-1945)
Annelies Marie "Anne" Frank was a diarist and writer. She is one of the most discussed Jewish victims of the Holocaust. Her diary The Diary of a Young Girl has been the basis for ...more

22
1,085 955
Francis of Assisi is listed (or ranked) 22 on the list Famous Role Models We'd Like to Meet In Person
Saint Francis of Assisi was an Italian Catholic friar and preacher. He founded the men's Order of Friars Minor, the women’s Order of St. Clare, and the Third Order of Saint Francis for men and ...more

23
3,023 1,483
Martin Luther King, Jr. is listed (or ranked) 23 on the list Famous Role Models We'd Like to Meet In Person
Dec. at 39 (1929-1968)
Martin Luther King Jr. (born Michael King Jr., January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968) was an American Baptist minister and activist who was a leader in the Civil Rights Movement. He is best known for ...more

24
1,896 771
Robin Williams is listed (or ranked) 24 on the list Famous Role Models We'd Like to Meet In Person
Dec. at 63 (1951-2014)
Robin McLaurin Williams was an American actor and comedian. Starting as a stand-up comedian in San Francisco and Los Angeles in the mid-1970s, he is credited with leading San Francisco's comedy ...more

25
2,422 1,206
Nikola Tesla is listed (or ranked) 25 on the list Famous Role Models We'd Like to Meet In Person
Dec. at 87 (1856-1943)
Nikola Tesla was a Serbian American inventor, electrical engineer, mechanical engineer, physicist, and futurist best known for his contributions to the design of the modern alternating current ...more