Updated 7-2024: IQ tests are intelligence tests derived from a set of standardized tests in order to assess human intelligence. IQ stands for intelligence quotient. An average IQ score falls around 100. Meanwhile, a high IQ score is 130 and above. Here are some of the highest IQ scores ever recorded (or estimated), from child prodigies throughout history:

In April 2024, YoungHoon Kim from South Korea recorded an IQ of 276, which is the highest known score for any living person. YoungHoon Kim is a member of several high-IQ societies and is president of the United Sigma Intelligence Association. YoungHoon Kim works and studies in psychology, neuroscience, and linguistics​.

Marnen has been composing music since he was three. He is now a professional composer and musician.

Ainan was a child genius who enrolled in third-year chemistry courses at Singapore Polytechnic when he was only eight. The next year, at age nine, he memorized 518 decimal places of pi.

Marilyn has an IQ of 228. She received that score on an IQ test when she was only ten years old. This landed her in the Guinness Book of World Records. Since 1986, she has answered philosophical and mathematical questions in a Parade Magazine column called Ask Marilyn.

Terence Tao is known as the Mozart of Math. He started high school when he was seven years old. He earned his PhD from Princeton University, then became a professor himself. Tao has one of the highest IQ scores ever recorded.

Goethe was a famous philosopher. However,  he was also an accomplished scientist and poet. Although he never took an IQ test, electrochemical engineer Libb Thims estimated that Goethe had the highest IQ in history.

Shakespeare was a poet, actor, and playwright. He wrote thirty-eight plays, 154 sonnets, and two narrative poems. Some of the most well-known are Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet, and A Midsummer Night’s Dream. 

It shouldn’t be surprising that Albert Einstein has one of the highest IQ scores ever. Einstein was a theoretical physicist and philosopher of science born in Germany. He is best known for the formula E = mc2. This is the world’s most famous equation.

Edith was a child prodigy who began college at age twelve. She became vice president for research and development at IBM. She has one of the highest IQ scores of any woman in history.

Michael began college at Michigan State University when he was only ten years old. He went on to earn his undergraduate and Masters’s degrees from MSU. He also has a PhD in mathematics from the University of Michigan

At age ten, Michael earned a bachelor’s degree in anthropology from the University of South Alabama. He went on to earn another bachelor’s degree in computer science, as well as one in geology and chemistry.

Kim could solve complex mathematical equations when he was only four. At eight, he was invited to work for NASA. However, he quit to return to South Korea at age sixteen to earn a doctorate in civil engineering.

Sho Yano started composing music when he was a four-year-old, then started college when he was a nine-year-old. He is now an American physician specializing in child neurology.

Nathan could speak nine different languages. However, he used his intelligence in a disappointing way. He was arrested for murder in 1924 and spent 33 years in prison. He died in 1971.

The famous movie, Good Will Hunting, was inspired by this man. He was a genius with one of the highest IQ scores recorded. Unfortunately, he passed away in 1944 from a stroke.

Katsioulis is another man with one of the highest IQ scores in history. Evangelos is a Greek psychiatrist. He also has philosophy and medical research technology degrees. 

Rosner has had multiple jobs throughout his lifetime. He has worked as a bouncer, stripper, nude model, and TV writer. He famously sued ABC after losing Who Wants To Be A Millionaire. However, he lost the case.

Newton was a famous physicist who came up with the universal principles of gravity. He was also a writer, mathematician, and astronomer.

Rudolf was a German physicist and mathematician. He formulated the second law of thermodynamics. He also created the term “entropy,” and developed the kinetic theory of gases.

Gary became the youngest chess champion in the world back in 1985. He kept his title as the best chess player for twenty years.

At thirteen, Philip was in the Nigerian-Biafran war. He went on to earn three graduate degrees in math, environmental engineering, and marine engineering. He is most famous for developing microprocessor technology that has sped up computer speed.

James Maxwell was a Scottish mathematical physicist. He formulated the classical theory of electromagnetic radiation.

Thomas was an English physician and physicist. He contributed to the fields of vision, light, physiology, and language. He also helped decipher the Rosetta Stone.

Srinivasa, who was born in India, is one of the most influential mathematicians of all time. He contributed to the analytical theory of numbers. He also influenced elliptic functions, continued fractions, and infinite series.

When Adragon was only eleven, he graduated from the University of California in Santa Cruz. He earned a degree in computational mathematics and grew up to become a high-tech worker. He has one of the highest IQ scores in history.

Gottfried, who was born in Germany, was a philosopher and logician. He invented differential and integral calculus. He also founded a new formulation of the laws of motion known as dynamics.

Leonardo created many popular inventions, like the flying machine, the telescope, and the submarine. He was skilled in art, music, science, and literature, which is why it is estimated his IQ was so high.

Netanyahu was the prime minister of Israel from 1996 to 1999. He was reelected again in 2009.

Cleopatra was more than a pretty face. She knew a lot of information about astronomy, mathematics, and philosophy. She could even speak twelve different languages.

Marie Curie was the first woman to win the Nobel Prize — and she won it twice. Her work was focused on X-rays and radioactivity. In World War I, she even served on the front lines. She acted as the head of radiological service for the international Red Cross.

John, who was born in Havana, Cuba, went to school at MIT. He earned a PhD in mechanical engineering, then became the 75th governor of New Hampshire in 1983. He kept his position until 1989, when President George H. W. Bush appointed him as his chief of staff.

Langan is a cowboy, a horse rancher, an independent researcher, and a reality theorist. He worked on the Cognition-Theoretic Model of the Universe, which is also referred to as the CTMU.

Ophelia is still young, but she has an extensive vocabulary. She took the Stanford-Binet test as a child, which confirmed her IQ is around 171.

Hypatia created the astrolabe for ship navigation and a device for measuring the density of fluids. However, she is most famous for being a 4th-century philosopher, astronomer, and mathematician. Throughout her life, she lived in Egypt and the Eastern Roman Empire.

Judit is a Hungarian chess master. She became an International Grandmaster in 1991, making her the youngest grandmaster of all time. She is still known as the best female chess player of all time.

Jacob is an American child prodigy. When he was two years old, he was diagnosed with moderate to severe autism. He grew up to graduate college at age ten and was a published physicist at age thirteen.

Ramarni could read and write in preschool. When he was ten, he won a prize from Oxford University for his paper on justice theory.

Fabiola is a medical student at Imperial College London. Although she wants to become a surgeon, she also enjoys playing chess.

Adhara, who was diagnosed with Asperger’s syndrome, finished elementary school when she was five. She went on to finish high school at age eight. Then she was offered a place at the International Air and Space Program.

Copernicus was a genius. He came up with the idea of the heliocentric model of the universe. This was the idea that the sun was at the center of the solar system, not the earth.

Tesla created the first alternating current motor. He’s also responsible for developing AC generation and transmission technology. He was Thomas Edison’s greatest rival. Unfortunately, he died in a New York city hotel room in 1943.

Sidis was one of the most gifted children in his town. He was able to read English by two and write in French by four. At five, he created a formula that allowed him to name the day of the week for any historical date he was given.

At a young age, Edison created a wide range of technologies, including the lightbulb, phonograph, and motion picture camera. He also made improvements to the telephone and telegraph. He has an estimated IQ that falls between 160 and 310.

Christopher became the youngest American to win a gold medal at the International Physics Olympics. He won at thirteen years old. At sixteen, he was involved with NASA projects and graduated from Princeton University.

Allen is a billionaire who is friends with Bill Gates. Together, they founded Microsoft in New Mexico. However, he tries to do good with his money. He has made many donations to science, education, conservation, the arts, and technology.

Predavec is a Croatian mathematics professor. They claim their mental abilities were present from a young age. They never had any trouble solving problems in school and were always finished faster than their classmates. In 2012, they were named the third smartest person in the world.