Technology

Mandela, Wendy Davis top trends on Google

Nelson Mandela and Texas state lawmaker Wendy Davis were the top tending male and female politicians on Google this year.

The search engine released its 2013 Zeitgeist list, which examined the biggest trends and most searched for names for the past year.

Entertainment figures were the most searched for people on Google — actress Miley Cyrus came in at No. 1 — but the company also broke down the searches by category.

{mosads}Topping the political list was Mandela, the South African leader who died earlier this month, and Davis, who became a Twitter sensation when she held an 11-hour filibuster to block anti-abortion legislation in the Texas Senate. She is running for governor next year.

Sens. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) and Ted Cruz (R-Texas) were in the No. 2 spots. They were followed by Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and President Obama.

Google complied the list from popular and trending searches in 72 countries.

Other prominent political names on the list include: former Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, the late Venezuelan dictator Hugo Chavez, controversial Toronto Mayor Rob Ford, German leader Angela Merkel, Secretary of State John Kerry, Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), Vice President Biden, and Sens. Kay Hagan (D-N.C.), Rand Paul (R-Ky.), and Mary Landrieu (D-La.).

The late actor Paul Walker was the most trending figure on the search engine, followed by the Boston Marathon bombing and Mandela.

The Boston Marathon Bombing was the biggest trending event, followed by the government shutdown.