What's the average number of Presidents Americans can name?

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

I don't know if there's been a formal study on this ever...but here's my guesses.

For ones the vast majority would get you have obvious due to recency:

Biden
Trump
Obama

And then the most famous historical ones:

Washington
Lincoln
Jefferson
FDR
JFK
Nixon

Probably a safe bet these 9 are at near universal recognition (even if Nixon is for bad reasons.) We can also throw in other relatively recent ones:

Bush 41 and 43
Clinton
Reagan
Carter
Ford

Ford is probably the least well known of those but still high because so many were alive under his Presidency. Carter is still a well known public figure so he'd be quite high. You'd then have other historic ones who are pretty well known still:

LBJ
Eisenhower
Truman
Teddy Roosevelt
Jackson (this is probably boosted by the $20 bill)
Hoover (like Nixon, not positively remembered)
Wilson

I think after these, you'd only get Presidents with <50% recognition. So that would equal 22 which is just under half.

The question of the most cited person who was not President is an interesting one, but I think it has an obvious answer: Alexander Hamilton. In fact he might be the only non-President who a majority would answer. And also the most well known Vice-President who never became President, with the obvious exceptions of Kamala Harris and Mike Pence. Al Gore would probably win due to his continued activism and infamy of the 2000 election. If you limit it to non-living ones then it becomes trickier...maybe Mondale actually.

[GeorgiaModerate]

I'd bet it's less than 10: Washington and Lincoln are universally known, then I agree that Obama, Trump, and Biden would be named for recency bias.  The average person probably also knows at least a couple out of JFK and the Roosevelts, and throw in one more random one.

Franklin might be a good choice for the most famous not to be actually President.

[Aurelius]

Washington, Jefferson, Jackson, Lincoln, Teddy Roosevelt, FDR, all since then except maybe Ford. Most will also incorrectly name Franklin and/or Hamilton.

[Ferguson97]

Washington, Lincoln, FDR, JFK, and the most of the ones within their lifetime.

[GeorgiaModerate]

According to this 2014 survey, the answer was eight.

[Del Tachi]

Definitely less than 10. 

I agree Biden, Trump and Obama get named due to recency bias.  Then you're going to be very lucky to get Washington and Lincoln + one other, maybe

[beaver2.0]

Obama, Biden, Trump, Clinton, Bush, Jeb Bush. Pelosi, etc.

[GeneralMacArthur]

I played this game with my girlfriend once and IIRC she could name:

Washington
Adams
Jefferson
Lincoln
Teddy Roosevelt
FDR
Eisenhower
JFK
LBJ
Reagan
HW Bush
Clinton
W Bush
Obama
Trump
Biden

which is 16.  But she also thought Hamilton was a president even though Hamilton has a song whose entire chorus is "never gonna be president now" and then he dies at the end having not become president.

This feels like about what I'd expect from the average American.  The first few presidents, the most recent ten or so, and a few really famous ones like Lincoln/Teddy, plus a few founding fathers who weren't actually presidents.

[Satoress]

Recent:
1. Biden
2. Trump
3. Obama

Extreme Fame:
4. Washington
5. Lincoln
6. T. Roosevelt
7. FDR
8. JFK
9. Reagan
10. Clinton
11. Bush Jr.
12. maybe Jefferson

#10 and #11 might belong in the "Recent" category.

So probably 12 or so.

[courts]

throw taft into maybe tier

[Reaganfan Democrat]

<10. The average American is very, very stupid.

[All Along The Watchtower]

Definitely less than 10. 

I agree Biden, Trump and Obama get named due to recency bias.  Then you're going to be very lucky to get Washington and Lincoln + one other, maybe

Yeah it’s quite rare for people to have heard of Jefferson, JFK, Nixon, Reagan, Clinton, the Bushes. Only a minority of Americans have heard of these guys.

[All Along The Watchtower]

The median age in the US is 38.5 btw. You think most Americans have never heard of Ronald Reagan? Or even more implausibly, Bill Clinton? Did his wife not literally run for President a mere six years ago? To say nothing of George W,. Bush’s name recognition or his father’s (again, median age of Americans!)…

Some of you folks need to stop trolling. Presidents are quite well-known, unlike most members of Congress or justices on the Supreme Court.

[Reaganfan Democrat]

The median age in the US is 38.5 btw. You think most Americans have never heard of Ronald Reagan? Or even more implausibly, Bill Clinton? Did his wife not literally run for President a mere six years ago? To say nothing of George W,. Bush’s name recognition…

Some of you folks need to stop trolling.

Most Zoomers and even Millennials are probably able to name more TikTok stars than Presidents.

You can never underestimate the stupidity of the average American. No matter how low you set the bar, they manage to surprise you.

[All Along The Watchtower]

The median age in the US is 38.5 btw. You think most Americans have never heard of Ronald Reagan? Or even more implausibly, Bill Clinton? Did his wife not literally run for President a mere six years ago? To say nothing of George W,. Bush’s name recognition…

Some of you folks need to stop trolling.

Most Zoomers and even Millennials are probably able to name more TikTok stars than Presidents.

That’s because there are more TikTok stars than Presidents.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

Recent:
1. Biden
2. Trump
3. Obama

Extreme Fame:
4. Washington
5. Lincoln
6. T. Roosevelt
7. FDR
8. JFK
9. Reagan
10. Clinton
11. Bush Jr.
12. maybe Jefferson

#10 and #11 might belong in the "Recent" category.

So probably 12 or so.

Not Nixon?

[GP270watch]

The question of the most cited person who was not President is an interesting one, but I think it has an obvious answer: Alexander Hamilton.

 I disagree and think the most famous non-president is Benjamin Franklin, he's on the $100 Bill and it's all about the Benjamins.

[Reaganfan Democrat]

Recent:
1. Biden
2. Trump
3. Obama

Extreme Fame:
4. Washington
5. Lincoln
6. T. Roosevelt
7. FDR
8. JFK
9. Reagan
10. Clinton
11. Bush Jr.
12. maybe Jefferson

#10 and #11 might belong in the "Recent" category.

So probably 12 or so.

Not Nixon?

Nixon would be widely-known in the ~50+ bracket with a steep decline down from there.

[All Along The Watchtower]

Recent:
1. Biden
2. Trump
3. Obama

Extreme Fame:
4. Washington
5. Lincoln
6. T. Roosevelt
7. FDR
8. JFK
9. Reagan
10. Clinton
11. Bush Jr.
12. maybe Jefferson

#10 and #11 might belong in the "Recent" category.

So probably 12 or so.

Not Nixon?

Nixon would be widely-known in the ~50+ bracket with a steep decline down from there.

Idk, Futurama was a pretty popular show.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

Recent:
1. Biden
2. Trump
3. Obama

Extreme Fame:
4. Washington
5. Lincoln
6. T. Roosevelt
7. FDR
8. JFK
9. Reagan
10. Clinton
11. Bush Jr.
12. maybe Jefferson

#10 and #11 might belong in the "Recent" category.

So probably 12 or so.

Not Nixon?

Nixon would be widely-known in the ~50+ bracket with a steep decline down from there.

Nixon is basically a pop culture figure and everyone knows of the "-gate" suffix, as annoying and stupid as it is.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

For the record this "LOLZ people are stupid" excuse for why Clinton, Reagan, Nixon, Roosevelts, etc. wouldn't be recognizable is basically the exact same excuse people used for things like predicting that Kanye West would be a spoiler pulling a massive number, that millions of Democrats would wait until the last week to vote absentee despite the postal service slowdown being big news, for why Hunter Biden was going to be a huge deal, etc.

[Del Tachi]

Definitely less than 10. 

I agree Biden, Trump and Obama get named due to recency bias.  Then you're going to be very lucky to get Washington and Lincoln + one other, maybe

Yeah it’s quite rare for people to have heard of Jefferson, JFK, Nixon, Reagan, Clinton, the Bushes. Only a minority of Americans have heard of these guys.

Atlas (and pundit types more broadly) vastly overestimate the amount of bandwidth the typical American has devoted to politics.

I mean, sure, I think most Americans know of Reagan, JFK, Roosevelt, Jefferson, etc. and wouldn't have a problem remembering them as a president when given the name, but that isn't the same as being able to freely recall them when randomly prompted. 

[GeorgiaModerate]

Just for fun, I asked my wife, who is not at all politically engaged.  After a little thought, she was able to name all from Nixon to the present, all of which she would be familiar with during her lifetime -- although Nixon took her a couple minutes; at first it was "you know, the Watergate guy!"  She also got Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln, FDR, Wilson, and Taft.  I have no idea where she remembered the last two from.

[DaleCooper]

Americans know very little and almost certainly are not able to name 10 presidents off the top of their head. If you think they can then you're out of touch with the average American.

[All Along The Watchtower]

Definitely less than 10. 

I agree Biden, Trump and Obama get named due to recency bias.  Then you're going to be very lucky to get Washington and Lincoln + one other, maybe

Yeah it’s quite rare for people to have heard of Jefferson, JFK, Nixon, Reagan, Clinton, the Bushes. Only a minority of Americans have heard of these guys.

Atlas (and pundit types more broadly) vastly overestimate the amount of bandwidth the typical American has devoted to politics.

I mean, sure, I think most Americans know of Reagan, JFK, Roosevelt, Jefferson, etc. and wouldn't have a problem remembering them as a president when given the name, but that isn't the same as being able to freely recall them when randomly prompted. 

Well most Americans know about JFK because “they” killed him, as explained in the Oliver Stone documentary.