Iowa Showdown: Is Caitlin Clark Now More Popular Than Ashton Kutcher?

Iowans are proud of all of the celebrities that hail from the Hawkeye State.

However, there is definitely a special place in their hearts for the actor and activist Ashton Kutcher. For a long time, it was a fair assumption to claim that he was the most popular star from Iowa.

Kutcher is originally from Cedar Rapids.

However, over the past two years another Iowan has become a big name all across the country.

Not only has Caitlin Clark smashed through records, but it looks like she might be making a case for being one of the biggest names to come out of the Hawkeye State.

Who Is More Popular? Ashton Kutcher or Caitlin Clark?

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Kutcher began his acting career in 1998. Clark was not born until a few years later in 2002, so obviously the actor had a bit of a head start when it comes to being in the public eye.

By the time the former Iowa Hawkeye was born, Kutcher had been on several seasons of 'That '70s Show' as well as 'Dude, Where's My Car?'.

According to the Google Trends analytics over the past five years, the Cedar Rapids native's Google search entries were pretty consistent.

Not radically high, but not pitifully low. Clark wasn't even in the picture until a few years ago.

However, everything changing in March and April of 2023. 

During this time the University of Iowa women's basketball team was absolutely killing in the NCAA tournament. They made it all the way to the championship game where they took on LSU in a match that cemented both Clark and Angel Reese as stars in the sports world.

While Iowa lost 85 to 102, Clark finally began to get some nationwide recognition.

There was a major spike in searches for Caitlin Clark after this game. Between April 2nd and April 8th, there were nineteen times more Google searches for Clark than Kutcher.

The numbers remained pretty low and equal for both of these Iowa natives for a few months.

Kutcher had a bit of an internet surge in September of 2023 when he stepped down as the chairman of Thorn, the anti-child sex abuse organization.

He ended up stepping down after he and his wife Mila Kunis addressed letters that they wrote in support of their old co-star Danny Masterson.

Masterson had been sentenced to 30 years to life in prison for the rapes of two women, according to reports.

In 2024, Things Shifted

People all across the country were recognizing Clark's exceptional skills. Everyone cheered Caitlin on as she broke the all-time NCAA scoring record in her senior year.

In the beginning of 2024, Clark's popularity steadily climbs as Kutcher's remained steady. She continued to outshine the actor in Google searches all throughout the tail end of her senior college season and well into her rookie year at the WNBA.

Her popularity picked during the final few matches in the 2024 March Madness tournament, according to the Google Trends data. It has remained consistently higher than Kutcher's ever since!

So, as of the summer of 2024, it is clear that Caitlin Clark is the most popular Iowa star.

No Hard Feelings Though!

Ashton Kutcher clearly isn't threatened by Clark coming for his title of most beloved Iowa celebrity. The two seem to actually be kind of close.

Caitlin was spotted hanging out with Kutcher and his family, after Clark's first win with the Indiana Fever during the regular season.

The baller and the actor embraced after the Fever beat the Los Angeles Sparks at an away game in California.

Want to see that cool moment? You can check it out here!

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