Top Searches on YouTube (January 2026)

This is a thorough list of the most searched keywords on YouTube.

We gathered US and global data from the Semrush Keyword Analytics for YouTube app.

It provides comprehensive data on trending video searches around the world. Our data was sourced in January 2026.

Top 100 Searches On YouTube In The US

The most searched keyword on YouTube in the United States is “asmr” with 38 million monthly searches.

The next most popular searches are “song" and “hytale.” 

#	YouTube Keyword	Search Volume	Competitive Rate
1	asmr	38 million	99
2	song	20 million	95
2	hytale	20 million	95
2	mrbeast	20 million	95
5	music	17 million	95
5	karaoke	17 million	95
5	ishowspeed	17 million	94
8	asmongold	14 million	94
8	minecraft	14 million	93
10	meri zindagi hai tu	13 million	93
10	songs	13 million	93
12	stranger things	12 million	93
12	avengers doomsday trailer	12 million	92
12	arc raiders	12 million	92
15	sourav joshi vlogs	11 million	92
15	phonk	11 million	92
15	dhurandhar song	11 million	92
18	venezuela	10 million	92
18	lofi	10 million	91
20	valorant	9.3 million	91
20	dream	9.3 million	91
20	coryxkenshin	9.3 million	91
23	iran	9 million	91
23	mr beast	9 million	91
25	sidemen	8.7 million	91
25	wwe	8.7 million	91
27	penguinz0	8.5 million	91
28	toxic trailer	8 million	90
28	trump	8 million	90
30	wemmbu	7.9 million	90
30	sml	7.9 million	90
32	tmkoc	7.8 million	90
33	caseoh	7.7 million	90
34	nba	7.6 million	90
35	roblox	7.5 million	90
36	movies	7.4 million	90
37	kai cenat	7.3 million	90
37	movie	7.3 million	90
39	podcast	7.2 million	90
39	m7	7.2 million	90
39	bruno mars	7.2 million	90
42	news	7 million	89
42	youtube	7 million	89
44	doomsday trailer	6.6 million	89
44	jynxzi	6.6 million	89
44	markiplier	6.5 million	89
44	avengers doomsday	6.5 million	89
48	marvel rivals	6.3 million	89
48	techno gamerz	6.3 million	89
48	speed	6.3 million	89
51	real madrid	6.2 million	89
51	bad bunny	6.2 million	89
53	cocomelon	6.1 million	89
53	nfl	6.1 million	89
55	musica	6 million	89
56	trailer	5.8 million	88
56	dhruv rathee	5.8 million	88
56	we are charlie kirk	5.8 million	88
56	eminem	5.8 million	88
56	4k	5.8 million	88
56	where winds meet	5.8 million	88
62	arknights endfield	5.7 million	88
63	marvel	5.6 million	88
63	golden	5.6 million	88
65	end of beginning	5.5 million	88
65	rajab family	5.5 million	88
67	genshin impact	5.4 million	88
67	stand up comedy	5.4 million	88
67	taylor swift	5.4 million	88
70	sanwal yaar piya	5.3 million	88
71	linkin park	5.2 million	88
71	react to	5.2 million	88
71	4k video	5.2 million	88
74	doraemon	5.1 million	88
74	michael jackson	5.1 million	88
74	cartoon	5.1 million	88
74	ducky bhai	5.1 million	88
74	maduro	5.1 million	88
79	moist critical	5 million	88
79	asap rocky	5 million	88
79	type beat	5 million	88
79	my mix	5 million	88
83	drake	4.9 million	88
83	funk	4.9 million	88
83	fortnite	4.9 million	87
83	mukbang	4.9 million	87
87	bts	4.8 million	87
87	mpl	4.8 million	87
87	movie reaction	4.8 million	87
87	cnn	4.8 million	87
87	ashish chanchlani	4.8 million	87
92	hindi song	4.7 million	87
92	stranger things season 5	4.7 million	87
92	toxic	4.7 million	87
95	dj	4.6 million	87
95	windah basudara	4.6 million	87
95	wuthering waves	4.6 million	87
98	c	4.5 million	87
98	joe bartolozzi	4.5 million	87
98	nick shirley	4.5 million	87

The "Competitive Rate" metric in Keyword Analytics for YouTube is similar to the "Keyword Competition" metric in SEO.

All of our top 100 terms are in the most competitive category. 

Semrush estimates that a channel would need 1+ million subscribers to rank on YouTube for these terms.

In Keyword Analytics for YouTube, we also gathered data on:

• Fast-growing keywords that may be easier to rank for
• Most popular videos that appear for each search term
• Most viewed YouTube videos over the previous day, week, or month

Keyword Analytics for YouTube is free for 7 days. After that, it costs just $10 a month. You can also check out the Rank Tracker for YouTube app. 

Sign up for a free Semrush account to try it. For more details, have a look at our review of the 6 top YouTube keyword tools.

What Is The Most Searched Keyword on YouTube Globally?

Globally, the top searches on YouTube in January 2026 are similar to the top 100 in the US.

The global chart is perhaps a little less susceptible to trends and news topics: "ASMR" has been at the top for a long time, and "song" also features in the top 3.

Many of the top YouTube searches are for famous YouTube channels or musical artists.

Top 100 Searches On YouTube Globally

#	YouTube Keyword	Search Volume	Competitive Rate
1	asmr	68 million	99
2	karaoke	38 million	96
3	hytale	37 million	96
3	song	37 million	96
5	mrbeast	34 million	95
6	music	30 million	94
7	sourav joshi vlogs	29 million	94
8	dhurandhar song	28 million	94
9	ishowspeed	26 million	94
10	songs	25 million	94
10	stranger things	25 million	93
12	minecraft	24 million	93
13	avengers doomsday	22 million	93
13	asmongold	22 million	93
15	meri zingdagi hai tu	21 million	93
16	venezuela	20 million	92
16	toxic trailer	20 million	92
16	arc raiders	20 million	92
19	tmkoc	19 million	92
19	sidemen	19 million	92
19	m7	19 million	92
19	phonk	19 million	92
23	lofi	18 million	92
24	mr beast	17 million	92
24	valorant	17 million	92
26	iran	16 million	91
26	podcast	16 million	91
28	trump	16 million	91
29	dream	15 million	91
29	wwe	15 million	91
29	bruno mars	15 million	91
32	dhruv rathee	14 million	90
32	movie	14 million	90
32	stand up comedy	14 million	90
32	real madrid	14 million	90
36	wemmbu	13 million	90
36	musica	13 million	90
36	avengers doomsday	13 million	90
36	doomsday trailer	13 million	90
36	mpl	13 million	90
36	techno gamerz	13 million	90
36	nba	13 million	90
36	roblox	13 million	90
44	penguinz0	12 million	90
44	windah basudara	12 million	90
44	hanuman chalisa	12 million	90
44	trailer	12 million	90
44	bad bunny	12 million	90
44	bhojpuri song	12 million	89
44	tv en vivo	12 million	89
44	end of beginning	12 million	89
44	caseoh	12 million	89
44	eminem	12 million	89
54	news	11 million	89
54	linkin park	11 million	89
54	golden	11 million	89
54	coryxkenshin	11 million	89
54	marvel	11 million	89
54	movies	11 million	89
54	taylor swift	11 million	89
54	cocomelon	11 million	89
54	ashish chanclani	11 million	89
54	toxic	11 million	89
54	maduro	11 million	89
54	jana nayagan trailer	11 million	89
54	dj	11 million	89
54	sedia aku sebelum hujan	11 million	89
68	michael jackson	10 million	89
68	we are charlie kirk	10 million	89
68	where winds meet	10 million	89
68	speed	10 million	89
68	ekaki	10 million	89
68	bts	10 million	89
74	ksi	9.9 million	88
75	genshin impact	9.7 million	88
75	react to	9.7 million	88
77	markiplier	9.6 million	88
77	arknights endfield	9.6 million	88
79	funk	9.5 million	88
79	career247	9.5 million	88
81	jynxzi	9.4 million	88
81	taşacak bu deniz	9.4 million	88
83	marvel rivals	9.3 million	88
83	hindi song	9.3 million	88
85	sml	9.1 million	88
86	mukbang	9 million	88
86	new song	9 million	88
88	study with me	8.9 million	88
89	c	8.8 million	88
89	nfl	8.8 million	88
91	asap rocky	8.7 million	88
91	peliculas completas en español latino	8.7 million	88
91	stranger things season 5	8.7 million	88
91	justin bieber	8.7 million	88
95	batang quiapo	8.4 million	88
95	4k	8.4 million	88
95	league of legends	8.4 million	88
98	alanzoka	8.3 million	88
98	neon man	8.3 million	88
100	squeezie	8.2 million	88

As you can see, both lists of popular YouTube searches include lots of famous musicians, celebrities, and sports leagues. People spend time on YouTube listening to music, watching their favorite creators, or recapping the weekend with news and sports highlights.

Considering this is a list of YouTube’s top searches, many of these keywords are mainstream. Let's look at how some recent trends are doing now. 

1. Lofi

5-year search growth ("Lofi Music"): 23%

Search growth status: Peaked

YouTube Search Volume (Global): 18 million

Organic Search Volume (Global): 234.8k monthly searches

Description: Lofi is a subgenre of electronic music notoriously known for its chilled-out retro vibe. Lofi Girl is one of the most popular Lofi channels on YouTube with 15.2 million subscribers as of October 2025. The channel plays 24/7 on a loop to help listeners study, fall asleep, and relax.

2. MrBeast

5-year search growth: 172%

Search growth status: Regular

YouTube Search Volume (Global): 34 million

Organic Search Volume (Global): 1.2 million monthly searches

Description: MrBeast is a popular YouTuber with 445 million+ subscribers. He is best known for his extravagant stunts and philanthropic endeavors. MrBeast has multiple YouTube channels, including channels dedicated to gaming and philanthropy.

Searches hit an all-time high back in December last year. His big stunts still attract major interest. 

3. Roblox

5-year search growth: 39%

Search growth status: Regular

YouTube Search Volume (Global): 13 million

Organic Search Volume (Global): 81.7 million monthly searches

Description: Roblox is an online gaming platform that allows users to design, play, and share custom games. Many YouTubers create content centered around their Roblox experiences or tutorials for children and teenage players. There are 53 million videos and 6.5 million Roblox YouTube channels. For in-depth revenue and demographics details, check out our list of Roblox stats. 

4. F1

5-year search growth: 106%

Search growth status: Regular

YouTube Search Volume (Global): 5.2 million

Organic Search Volume (Global): 29.9 million

Description: F1 (Formula 1) is a global motorsport series. Its recent popularity on YouTube has been helped by F1 The Movie, which is no doubt exactly what the marketing execs who signed it off were hoping to achieve.

Even without the movie, F1 is massive in its own right. It has over 750 million fans, making it the world's most popular annual sporting series. 

5. Cocomelon

5-year search growth: -46%

Search growth status: Peaked

YouTube Search Volume (Global): 11 million

Organic Search Volume (Global): 1.9 million monthly searches

Description: Cocomelon is a children's educational YouTube channel known for animated videos and nursery rhymes. The channel has 198 million subscribers.

Organic search volume has been on a steady decline, but it deserves a mention here (at least for now) thanks to its status as a continued YouTube powerhouse. 

6. UFC

5-year search growth: 55%

Search growth status: Regular

YouTube Search Volume (Global): 7.8 million

Organic Search Volume (Global): 25.8 million monthly searches

Description: The UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship) is a mixed martial arts sports league. Searchers turn to YouTube to watch fight highlights and expert analysis. The organization has experienced rapid growth with more than 625 million fans and over 155 million social media followers.

A fight on the White House lawn is scheduled for June 2026.

7. ASMR

5-year search growth: 42%

Search growth status: Exploding

YouTube Search Volume (Global): 68 million

Organic Search Volume (Global): 1.1 million monthly searches

Description: ASMR, or autonomous sensory meridian response, is a positive subconscious feeling that can be evoked by certain stimuli. ASMR has also become shorthand for the content designed to trigger this response.

The largest YouTube search in the US and around the world, ASMR actually has a significantly lower (but still high) organic search volume. That's because it is quintessential YouTube content: an inherently audio-visual experience.

Conclusion

This concludes our detailed list of the top 100 searches on YouTube globally and in the US.

Many of the top searches are popular YouTubers and musicians. 

Video game-related videos (Minecraft, Roblox, etc.) also rank near the top of the most searched list.

Sign up for a free Semrush account to find more valuable data in the Keyword Analytics for YouTube app.

And check out this YouTube trends post to find more under-the-radar YouTube topics.