Who are today’s YouTube stars?

These YouTubers saw their video view numbers go from hundreds to millions, and in some cases, to billions. Meet some of YouTube’s famous stars, and learn what makes them stand out from the crowd. Statistics are as of April 18. (Warning: Some of these YouTube channels have profane content.)

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Michelle Phan

Makeup maven Michelle Phan is the second-most popular female personality on YouTube as her makeup tutorials have attracted a huge following. Phan’s “MichellePhan” channel has more than 1.9 million subscribers and about 567 million video views. Phan, who started her YouTube career in 2006, says in her YouTube profile that her dream is “to help women empower themselves with this art, makeup.” In 2010, Phan became a spokeswoman for Lancome thanks to the success of her online videos. She, like many of the YouTube stars, now lives off the six-figure income generated from ads on her channel, The Post’s Hayley Tsuakayama says.

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Kevin Wu

In just a few years, Kevin Wu went from a teenager "who felt he didn’t belong anywhere" to a man who gets stopped for his autograph, The Post’s Hayley Tsukayama reports. Wu, or “Kevjumba” as his fans know him, started his YouTube career in 2006. The 21-year-old is known for his comedic videos that have garnered more than 277 million views. Wu tries to make it a point to “address awkward issues like dating, Asian stereotypes and, prominently, the generational clash between Asian-American kids and their parents” in his videos, Tsukayama reports. In 2010, Wu appeared on the reality show “The Amazing Race” with his father, whom you often see adding to the comedic fun in his YouTube videos. Wu’s channel has 2.3 million subscribers.

Screen grab from YouTube

Shay Butler

Before Shay Butler’s YouTube career really took off, the comedian "had almost every job under the sun,” he told Forbes in 2011. At the suggestion of his friend, Butler turned to YouTube in 2006 to showcase his comedic talent. Since then, things never were the same. Butler’s "shaycarl" channel has more than 1 million subscribers and more than 102.9 million video views. He has expanded his YouTube empire with his other popular channel “SHAYTARDS,” which captures his family’s adventures, and “ShayLoss,” which tracks his efforts in losing weight. Producing content for his channels is now Butler’s full-time job. Interesting fact: Former NBA player Charles Barkley made a recent appearance in one of Butler's videos.

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Natalie Tran

Video blogger Natalie Tran is another person making waves on YouTube. The 25-year-old joined the video-sharing site in 2006 and has been posting comedic skits about life ever since. With more than 1.1 million subscribers, Tran’s “communitychannel” is the most-subscribed-to channel in Australia. Her videos have received about 424 million views. Here’s one of Tran’s videos from 2009.

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Ryan Higa

Ryan Higa launched his YouTube channel “nigahiga” in 2006 when he was in high school. Higa explained in a video that his channel's name is made up of his last name and the Japanese word for rant, which is "niga." Higa's channel, which features a lot of humorous videos, has more than 5.2 million subscribers and about 1.2 billion video views, making it the second-most subscribed to channel on YouTube.

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Felicia Day

Felicia Day is the brains behind and the tar of “The Guild,” an online series whose episodes have scored 150 million views since its 2007 inception, The Post's Monica Hesse reports. Day has won two “Streamys” for best actress, and the Hollywood Reporter named her “one of the industry’s top 50 digital power players,” Hesse reports. The 32-year-old took her online video success to YouTube when she launched her channel “Geek & Sundry” last summer. It already has about 170,000 subscribers and 4 million video views.

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Dan Savage

Dan Savage's "itgetsbetterproject" is the 11th-most subscribed to nonprofit channel on YouTube. The channel reminds LGBT teens "that they are not alone -- and it WILL get better," the profile says. Savage started the channel in 2004. It has more than 43,000 subscribers and about 3.5 million video views.

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Anthony Padilla and Ian Hecox

Anthony Padilla and Ian Hecox’s are the third-most popular personalities on YouTube with 4.6 million subscribers and almost 1.4 billion video views for their “smosh” channel. The comedic duo launched their channel in 2005.

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Jenna Mourey

Jenna Mourey's "JennaMarbles" is the second-most subscribed to channel in the comedian category this month. The 25-year-old blogger launched her YouTube channel in February 2010, and it already has 2.8 million subscribers and more than 474 million video views. Mourey is the top female YouTube star, according to The Post's Tsukayama.

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Ray William Johnson

The most-subscribed-to YouTube channel belongs to no one other than Ray William Johnson. The Oklahoma City native has more than 5.4 million subscribers. Johnson started his “RayWilliamJohnson” channel in 2008 when he was “about to study law,” his YouTube profile says. Since then, Johnson’s videos have received more than 1.7 billion views. In his regularly scheduled and humorous “Equals Three” video series, Johnson showcases some of the viral videos that have come across his radar.

/ Screen grab from YouTube

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