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124 free How I Met Your Mother trivia questions with answers — entertainment quiz, new questions added Aug 2026.
Legen... wait for it... this HIMYM trivia quiz runs 124 free questions with answers across all nine seasons of How I Met Your Mother, from MacLaren's and the blue French horn to Robin Sparkles, the slap bet, the pineapple incident, Barney's real job and the finale that split the fandom. Easy questions cover the cast and catchphrases; the harder ones dig into Robin Daggers, Marvin's middle name, guest stars and the show's production history. It works for a rewatch night, a themed pub quiz or settling arguments in the group chat. Every answer has been checked against a published reference, so the trivia holds up even for people who have seen every episode twice.
30 of 124 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01When How I Met Your Mother opens in September 2005, what is 27-year-old Ted Mosby's profession in New York?
Architect
Ted was a 27-year-old architect when the story opens in September 2005, and by the end he is teaching architecture instead.
Q 02What is the name of the main bar where the gang frequently hangs out?
MacLaren's Pub
MacLaren's is loosely based on four of the creators' favorite New York bars, including McGee's, a Midtown tavern near the Ed Sullivan Theater where they worked on the Late Show.
Q 03On How I Met Your Mother, which blue instrument does Ted steal from a restaurant for Robin on their first date?
French Horn
Ted's blue French horn bookends the show: stolen from a restaurant in the pilot, it is back in his hands outside Robin's window in the series' final scene.
Q 04Which country is Robin Scherbatsky originally from?
Canada
Robin moved south for a news job, and her past as a teenage pop star becomes a running joke for the gang.
Q 05What was Lily Aldrin's day job for most of the series?
Kindergarten Teacher
Lily Aldrin was a kindergarten teacher who painted on the side until season eight, when she became art consultant to a millionaire known as The Captain.
Q 06Which band performs 'Hey Beautiful', the theme of How I Met Your Mother, the sitcom created by Carter Bays and Craig Thomas?
The Solids
The Solids count the show's creators, Carter Bays and Craig Thomas, among their members, so the 'Hey Beautiful' theme was written in-house.
Q 07On How I Met Your Mother, which Canadian kids' show had Robin Sparkles and Jessica Glitter solving mysteries with math?
Space Teens
Space Teens starred Robin Sparkles and Jessica Glitter, played by Nicole Scherzinger, as two girls solving mysteries with math in a curling-stone-shaped spaceship; Alan Thicke co-starred.
Q 08What is the first name of Barney Stinson's mother?
Loretta
Loretta Stinson, played by Frances Conroy, is Barney's mother; Virginia, Judy and Genevieve are the mothers of Ted, Marshall and Robin.
Q 09Which network broadcast the series?
CBS
CBS was home to How I Met Your Mother for all nine seasons, from creators Craig Thomas and Carter Bays, through the 2014 finale.
Q 10Which actor provided the uncredited voice of the older Ted narrating the whole story to his children?
Bob Saget
The frame story has him telling it to Luke and Penny on a couch in the year 2030, twenty-five years after the events.
Q 11Which actor plays Ted Mosby?
Josh Radnor
Radnor later wrote and directed his own films, including Liberal Arts, while the show was still on the air.
Q 12Who plays the suit-loving Barney Stinson?
Neil Patrick Harris
Neil Patrick Harris played Barney Stinson, earning four consecutive Emmy nominations for the role from 2007 to 2010 and hosting the 2009 Emmy ceremony himself.
Q 13How many seasons of the show were made?
9
It ran from September 2005 to March 2014, with the entire final season set over one wedding weekend.
How many episodes aired in total over the run of the series?
Q 21Ted, Marshall and Lily all met as freshmen at which university?
Wesleyan
Both creators went there too, and Ted's sandwich-eating college flashbacks are set on its campus.
Q 22What was Robin's teen-pop stage name, "Robin ___"?
Sparkles
Touring malls to sing her one hit left her with a lasting phobia of shopping malls.
Q 23What was the title of Robin's one Canadian pop hit?
Let's Go to the Mall
'Let's Go to the Mall' and its 1980s-style video are unveiled in the episode 'Slap Bet', often ranked among the show's best.
208
Nine seasons in the same bar booth: it outlasted most sitcoms of its era by a wide margin.
Q 15What is the title of the one-hour series finale that aired on March 31, 2014?
Last Forever
Fan backlash to its ending was strong enough that an alternative ending was cut together for the season 9 DVD.
Q 16Where was the alternative ending to the series released?
A DVD box set
The alternate cut simply stops before the epilogue, leaving Ted's story with the Mother intact.
Q 17In what year is future Ted sitting his kids down on the couch to tell them the story?
2030
The kids' reaction scene for the finale was actually filmed back in 2006 so the actors would not age out of it.
Q 18Ted grew up in which Ohio suburb?
Shaker Heights
Co-creator Carter Bays is himself from Shaker Heights, one of many autobiographical touches in the show.
Q 19Marshall Eriksen was born and raised in which Minnesota city?
St. Cloud
Marshall Eriksen grew up in St. Cloud, Minnesota, where his towering family's competitive Thanksgiving basketball games are a recurring gag.
Q 20Robin Scherbatsky was born in which Canadian city?
Vancouver
Fittingly, she is a Vancouver Canucks fan, and actress Cobie Smulders is a Vancouver native too.
Q 24What stage surname did Robin adopt for her angry grunge phase, 'Robin ___'?
Daggers
As Robin Daggers she screamed the grunge anthem 'P.S. I Love You'; the persona surfaces in season eight's 'P.S. I Love You' through a mock rock documentary of Canadian celebrities.
Q 25What is the middle name of Marshall and Lily's son Marvin?
Waitforit
Barney earned naming rights, so the boy is Marvin Waitforit Eriksen on his birth certificate.
Q 26Barney's job title 'P.L.E.A.S.E.' finally turns out to stand for what?
Provide Legal Exculpation and Sign Everything
P.L.E.A.S.E. means Provide Legal Exculpation and Sign Everything: Barney was the fall guy for his company's misdeeds while secretly feeding the FBI evidence, revenge on the man who stole his first girlfriend.
Q 27Which actor plays James, Barney's half-brother?
Wayne Brady
James's own wedding in season 2 is what first rattles Barney's faith in the single life.
Q 28Robin's teenage sister Katie is played by which actress?
Lucy Hale
Lucy Hale played Robin's younger sister Katie in the 2007 episode 'First Time in New York', three years before Pretty Little Liars made her a star.
Q 29What does Barney call the book of elaborate schemes he uses to pick up women?
The Playbook
He eventually burns it as a grand gesture, though a real tie-in version was published and sold in stores.
Q 30Which of Ted's fiancees left him at the altar for her ex-boyfriend Tony?
Stella
Stella Zinman, the dermatologist played by Sarah Chalke, left Ted at the altar for her ex Tony, who later turned it into the movie The Wedding Bride.