The Most Famous People from New Zealand (Alive), August 2026Alive
Top 28 of 28 ranked · August 2026 · See today's live standing →
First issue under methodology v5.62. Movement begins with the next issue frozen under the same version.
New Zealand's living list is the full list, and it is a casting sheet
iFAMOUS Editorial Desk · 1 min read
Nobody measured for the August 2026 New Zealand list has died, so the Alive reading is a look at who among the living carries the country's name abroad.
The Alive reading of the New Zealand origin list is the standard reading with nothing removed, because all 28 people measured are living. Russell Crowe leads at 17.6, Peter Jackson follows at 15.8, and Rosé and Lorde make it two actors-and-filmmakers, two singers at the top.
What the living list shows is how many kinds of screen career New Zealand produces at once. Crowe and Karl Urban, fifth, are leading men. Jackson and Taika Waititi, sixth, are directors, one of epic fantasy, the other of comedy. Antony Starr, ninth, is a streaming-era villain. Lucy Lawless, twelfth, is a 1990s television lead. Melanie Lynskey, thirteenth, works mostly in independent film and prestige television. Cliff Curtis, fourteenth, and Jemaine Clement, fifteenth, are character actor and comedian respectively. Anna Sawai, eleventh, is a Japanese actress who happens to have been born in Wellington.
The non-screen names are a driver, a striker and a former prime minister. Liam Lawson races in Formula One for Racing Bulls, seventh. Chris Wood captains the national football team from Nottingham Forest, eighth. Jacinda Ardern, tenth at 9.7, left office in 2023 and remains the only politician the world places from New Zealand.
With no absences to note, the useful observation for August 2026 is one of range. Twenty-eight living people, ten of them in film and television, two in pop, two in sport, one in politics, and not a single name from the sport the country is known for at home.
| Rank | Name | Score | Live |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Russell Crowe celebrity | 17.6 | iFANN → |
| 2 |  Peter Jackson celebrity | 15.8 | iFANN → |
| 3 |  Rosé celebrity | 15.3 | iFANN → |
| 4 |  Lorde celebrity | 14.9 | iFANN → |
| 5 |  Karl Urban celebrity | 12.4 | iFANN → |
| 6 |  Taika Waititi celebrity | 11.9 | iFANN → |
| 7 |  Liam Lawson celebrity | 10.6 | iFANN → |
| 8 |  Chris Wood celebrity | 10.5 | iFANN → |
| 9 |  Antony Starr celebrity | 10.3 | iFANN → |
| 10 |  Jacinda Ardern politician | 9.7 | iFANN → |
| 11 |  Anna Sawai celebrity | 9.5 | iFANN → |
| 12 |  Lucy Lawless celebrity | 9.4 | iFANN → |
| 13 |  Melanie Lynskey celebrity | 9.0 | iFANN → |
| 14 |  Cliff Curtis celebrity | 8.7 | iFANN → |
| 15 |  Jemaine Clement celebrity | 8.5 | iFANN → |
| 16 |  Thomasin McKenzie celebrity | 8.4 | iFANN → |
| 17 |  KJ Apa celebrity | 7.6 | iFANN → |
| 18 |  Dan Hooker celebrity | 7.3 | iFANN → |
| 19 |  Temuera Morrison celebrity | 7.0 | iFANN → |
| 20 |  Marton Csokas celebrity | 6.4 | iFANN → |
| 21 |  Graham McTavish celebrity | 6.3 | iFANN → |
| 22 |  Elijah Just celebrity | 6.2 | iFANN → |
| 23 |  Martin Henderson celebrity | 6.2 | iFANN → |
| 24 |  Rose McIver celebrity | 5.8 | iFANN → |
| 25 |  Rena Owen celebrity | 4.8 | iFANN → |
| 26 |  Tim Payne celebrity | 4.7 | iFANN → |
| 27 |  Muttiah Muralitharan celebrity | 4.3 | iFANN → |
| 28 |  Navajo Stirling celebrity | 4.0 | iFANN → |
About this list
This list ranks people from New Zealand by their overall worldwide fame rather than local attention, as assessed for August 2026: the top 28 of 28 names, frozen as the permanent record of that edition. This is the Alive reading: living people only. The standard reading ranks everyone, living or dead, on one scale, and is one click away.
Russell Crowe is No. 1 on this list for August 2026. Behind Russell Crowe come Peter Jackson and Rosé.
What famous means here
Fame, in iFAMOUS, is how widely the world knows a name: how recognisable a person's name, face or work is, and how well people know who they are. It is assessed from extensive historical and current public data, some of it reaching back more than twenty years, and it is not merit, talent, importance or popularity on iFANN. The rankings model real-world global fame, not internet fame; the data is the instrument, not the subject. Activity on iFANN itself is excluded.
The month in the title is the date of this edition, not the period measured. The list is a snapshot of overall fame as it stood when the issue was frozen: a name does not lose its place because one month was quiet, and a trending moment alone does not put a name here. Trending attention is published separately on ifann.net.
How the list was ranked
The iFANN Global Fame Rankings combine worldwide Wikipedia readership across languages, worldwide news coverage and search interest anchored against stable reference names, with search history reaching back to 2004. A twelve-month baseline sits behind the current reading and short-lived surges are capped, so the list reflects durable recognition rather than one week of headlines. Rankings are computed daily on ifann.net and frozen on the second day of the following month as that month's issue; a published issue never changes.
About New Zealand
New Zealand is one of the countries and regions the journal ranks every month. Country lists use the same rankings and the same scale as The 100, so a name can be compared with its neighbours and against the world.
Powered by iFANN
iFAMOUS is published by iFANN and powered by the iFANN Global Fame Rankings v5.62. Today's live standing for this list is on ifann.net; the journal freezes it once a month so it can be cited permanently.
Related searches: most famous people in New Zealand 2026, top celebrities in New Zealand August 2026, New Zealand fame ranking, most famous person in New Zealand.
"Russell Crowe, No. 1 on The Most Famous People from New Zealand (Alive), August 2026", iFAMOUS No. 1 (August 2026), ifamous.org