Have Clinton and Trump been household names longer than any other nominees?

[Nichlemn]

Assuming that each win their respective party's nomination. Has there been another Presidential election where both major party nominees were household names for as long as Clinton and Trump were? And even if not, when do you think each nominee in each election first became a household name?

Of course it depends on how you define "household name". I'd ballpark it at 50% national name recognition, but that may be a bit too stringent, considering polls have shown quite shockingly low knowledge about politics and current affairs among the general public.


Preliminary guesses of when each nominee became a household name, since 2000:

2016

Hillary Clinton: Definitely some time during the 1992 campaign
Donald Trump: Not sure how widespread his fame was in the '80s. Definitely would have been well-known among New York Times readers, but would a small-town Texan have ever heard of him? Definitely at least since The Apprentice debuted in 2004.

2012

Barack Obama: No earlier than his 2004 DNC speech, no later than the 2008 Iowa caucus.
Mitt Romney: Probably some time during the 2008 campaign.

2008

Barack Obama: See above
John McCain: It seems he had some minor celebrity status when he was rescued as a POW in 1973. Otherwise, probably during the 2000 campaign.

2004

George W. Bush: Was he all that well-known being one of HW's adult sons? If not, probably when was elected Governor (which probably stood out for being the son of a former President).
John Kerry: I don't think he was ever all that well-known before his Presidential run?

2000

George W. Bush: See above
Al Gore: Probably during his '88 campaign, if not, definitely once he was picked as VP in 1992.

[Nichlemn]

Hmm, Gallup does have quite a lot of information on numerous figures, going back a while (though often not far enough for my questions).

A lot of those name recognition numbers seem suspiciously high to me, I suspect a lot of people don't want to look ignorant, or feel obligated to give an opinion on everyone. Had a majority of Americans really heard of say, Ted Cruz in June 2013? I imagine a large amount of the "No Opinion"s are really "Never heard of", and a fair number of the approvals/disapprovals are just guesses on what they imagine a Senator from Texas to be like (generally, Republicans picking favourable, Democrats picking unfavourable).