ESPN has been calculating the world's most popular ('famous') athletes since 2016.

The Most Famous Female Athletes

Here is the most famous female sports people for 2016, taken from the top 100 list. Only eight women made the top-100 of the most famous sports people of the world.

  Name Sport Nationality Winnings Endorsements Facebook Twitter overall ranking
1. Maria Sharapova Tennis Russia 8 23 15.5 2.1 18
2. Ronda Rousey MMA USA 3 4 10.9 2.3 23
3 Serena Williams Tennis USa 13 13 4.3 6.1 25
4 Sania Miraz Tennis India 2 5 10.8 3.6 41
5 Alex Morgan Soccer USA 1 1 2.7 2.2 55
6 Dania Patrick Auto Racing USA 12 6 1.4 1.4 63
7 Venus Williams Tennis USA 2 2 2.2 1.4 74
8 Lydia Ko Golf New Zealand 3 4 0.21 0.40 81

Source: the female athlete data is extracted from the 2016 ESPN World Fame 100