How long does someone remain the world's oldest person?

The title sounds permanent. The timeline shows how quickly it can change.

63completed titleholders, 1950–2022

42held the title for less than one year

252 daysmedian tenure

419 daysmean tenure

Why do the mean and median differ? See H001 — The Average BBQ Restaurant.

Tenure as the world's oldest person

Chronological order, 1950 → 2022

1 year

3 years

5 years

7 years

9 years

Each bar is one titleholder · chronological order, 1950 → 2022

under 1 year 1 year or more shortest tenure longest tenure

The present is only one frame in a much longer story. Most titleholders since 1950 held the distinction for less than a year.

What looks permanent only because you’re seeing a snapshot?

See all 63 titleholders

Shortest: Emma Tillman — 4 days Longest: Jeanne Calment — 9 yrs, 208 days

Name	Age while titleholder	Title start	Title end	Tenure
Nancy Merriman	108–112	01/01/1950	14/01/1954	4 yrs, 14 days
Betsy Baker	111–113	14/01/1954	24/10/1955	1 yr, 283 days
Jennie Howell	110–111	24/10/1955	16/12/1956	1 yr, 54 days
Catherine Waller	108–110	16/12/1956	04/01/1959	2 yrs, 19 days
Chrissemeuje Karnebeek-Backs	109–110	04/01/1959	07/10/1959	276 days
Robert Early	109–111	07/10/1959	09/10/1960	1 yr, 3 days
Mary Kelly	109–113	09/10/1960	30/12/1964	4 yrs, 83 days
Ferdinise Nébolle	109–110	30/12/1964	10/12/1965	345 days
Narcissa Rickman	110–113	10/12/1965	21/10/1968	2 yrs, 316 days
Marie Bernátková	110–111	21/10/1968	04/05/1969	195 days
Ada Roe	111	04/05/1969	11/01/1970	252 days
Kitty Harvey	109–112	11/01/1970	10/07/1972	2 yrs, 181 days
Josefa Salas Mateo	111–112	10/07/1972	27/02/1973	232 days
Alice Stevenson	111–112	27/02/1973	18/08/1973	172 days
Ettie Crist	111	18/08/1973	10/01/1974	145 days
Laurence Entiope	111	10/01/1974	07/04/1974	87 days
Mito Umeda	110–112	07/04/1974	31/05/1975	1 yr, 54 days
Niwa Kawamoto	111–113	31/05/1975	16/11/1976	1 yr, 170 days
Alice Coles	111–113	16/11/1976	05/11/1978	1 yr, 354 days
Eliza Underwood	111–113	05/11/1978	27/01/1981	2 yrs, 84 days
Augustine Teissier	112	27/01/1981	08/03/1981	40 days
Nellie Spencer	111–113	08/03/1981	13/11/1982	1 yr, 250 days
Emma Wilson	112–113	13/11/1982	13/10/1983	334 days
Augusta Holtz	112–115	13/10/1983	21/10/1986	3 yrs, 9 days
Mary McKinney	113	21/10/1986	02/02/1987	104 days
Anna Eliza Williams	113–114	02/02/1987	27/12/1987	328 days
Florence Knapp	114	27/12/1987	11/01/1988	15 days
Jeanne Calment	112–122	11/01/1988	04/08/1997	9 yrs, 208 days
Marie-Louise Meilleur	116–117	04/08/1997	16/04/1998	255 days
Sarah Knauss	117–119	16/04/1998	30/12/1999	1 yr, 258 days
Eva Morris	114	30/12/1999	02/11/2000	308 days
Marie Brémont	114–115	02/11/2000	06/06/2001	216 days
Maud Farris-Luse	114–115	06/06/2001	18/03/2002	285 days
Grace Clawson	114	18/03/2002	28/05/2002	71 days
Adelina Domingues	114	28/05/2002	21/08/2002	85 days
Mae Harrington	113	21/08/2002	29/12/2002	130 days
Yūkichi Chūganji	113–114	29/12/2002	28/09/2003	273 days
Mitoyo Kawate	114	28/09/2003	13/11/2003	46 days
Ramona Trinidad Iglesias Jordan	114	13/11/2003	29/05/2004	198 days
María Esther Heredia de Capovilla	114–116	29/05/2004	27/08/2006	2 yrs, 90 days
Elizabeth Bolden	116	27/08/2006	11/12/2006	106 days
Emiliano Mercado del Toro	115	11/12/2006	24/01/2007	44 days
Emma Tillman	114	24/01/2007	28/01/2007	4 days
Yone Minagawa	114	28/01/2007	13/08/2007	197 days
Edna Parker	114–115	13/08/2007	26/11/2008	1 yr, 106 days
Maria de Jesus	115	26/11/2008	02/01/2009	37 days
Gertrude Baines	114–115	02/01/2009	11/09/2009	252 days
Kama Chinen	114	11/09/2009	02/05/2010	233 days
Eugénie Blanchard	114	02/05/2010	04/11/2010	186 days
Ana Nogueira de Lucas	114	04/11/2010	18/11/2010	14 days
Maria Gomes Valentim	114	18/11/2010	21/06/2011	215 days
Besse Cooper	114–116	21/06/2011	04/12/2012	1 yr, 167 days
Dina Manfredini	115	04/12/2012	17/12/2012	13 days
Jiroemon Kimura	115–116	17/12/2012	12/06/2013	177 days
Misao Okawa	115–117	12/06/2013	01/04/2015	1 yr, 293 days
Gertrude Weaver	116	01/04/2015	06/04/2015	5 days
Jeralean Talley	115–116	06/04/2015	17/06/2015	72 days
Susannah Mushatt Jones	115–116	17/06/2015	12/05/2016	330 days
Emma Morano	116–117	12/05/2016	15/04/2017	338 days
Violet Brown	117	15/04/2017	15/09/2017	153 days
Nabi Tajima	117	15/09/2017	21/04/2018	218 days
Chiyo Miyako	116–117	21/04/2018	22/07/2018	92 days
Kane Tanaka	115–119	22/07/2018	19/04/2022	3 yrs, 272 days

Source: LongeviQuest — World's Oldest Person Titleholders. This exhibit uses completed titleholder tenures from January 1, 1950 through Kane Tanaka’s tenure ending April 19, 2022.