2-Year-Old Becomes Youngest Mensa Member Ever

Most toddlers are working on colors and snack negotiations. Joseph Harris-Birtill is working on the Greek alphabet and casually picking up Morse code. He’s two years old.

At 2 years and 182 days, Joseph is now the youngest person ever admitted to Mensa, the world’s oldest high IQ society. To qualify, you need to be in the top 2% of the population. Joseph qualified before most kids can form a full sentence.

“He first rolled over at five weeks, said his first word at seven months, and read his first book out loud from cover to cover at one-and-three-quarter years,” his mom, Rose Harris-Birtill, told Guinness World Records. By two-and-a-quarter, he could fluently read for ten minutes straight and count well over 100—both forwards and backwards.

He also already knows how to count to ten in five different languages. Now he’s learning Morse code and working his way through the periodic table for fun. I took four years of French in high school and the only thing I remember is how to politely ask to use the bathroom. Joseph would probably conjugate it in Latin by snack time.

2-Year-Old Boy With ‘Formidable Intellect’ Becomes the Youngest-Ever Member of Mensa

His parents, both academics, reached out to UK Mensa after realizing their son wasn’t just ahead—he was somewhere else entirely. “I searched online for any further support available,” Rose said. “We hope that this accomplishment can give him a sense of pride when he is older—it’s a very unusual accolade and the credit is all his!”

Mensa typically requires an official IQ test or proof of intelligence that ranks in the top 2%. Since toddlers aren’t exactly test-taking machines, Joseph’s history of wild developmental milestones was enough.

He may be a prodigy, but Joseph’s still a kid. His parents say he’s gentle, loves hugs, and shares his toys. He’s also lucky to attend a nursery that supports his pace and has a music teacher who challenges him.

“Gifted kids need support too,” Rose added. “Everyone needs appropriate stimulation and understanding.”

Joseph isn’t trying to be exceptional. He just is. While most of us were cramming crayons up our noses at his age, he was decoding the universe—one alphabet at a time.