The phenomenon goes by a few names: the rather clunky "famous for being famous" (generally credited to a British journalist in the 1960s), or the state of being "famesque" (a more elegant term coined by Washington Post writer Amy Argetsinger). Regardless, it's why we know who the Kardashians are. 

"The truly famesque possess the seeming gravitas that comes with a title and the suggestion of a job -- actor, singer, pro athlete," Argetsinger wrote in a 2009 column about the phenomenon. "It's just that ... you've never seen them act, or heard them sing, or watched them play. Instead: You read about them. A lot." (And yes, I'm aware of the irony here.)

The Kardashians' main qualification for stardom is that they're incredibly rich. They're the children (and ex-wife) of the hugely successful lawyer Robert Kardashian, who you may remember from O.J. Simpson's defense team. They grew up in Beverly Hills, where Kim, arguably the most famous one, became friends with Paris Hilton, another famesque celebrity. 

Of course, it's not just who you know. In February 2007, a tape was leaked that showed Kim having sex. Even this might not have been particularly noteworthy, were it not for the fact that a similar thing happened to Hilton a couple of years earlier. Regardless, it made headlines. 

The whole family joined Kim in the spotlight eight months later when their reality show, "Keeping Up With the Kardashians," debuted on E! 

That show was a huge hit and led to a number of reality-show spinoffs featuring smaller groupings of the clan, as well as a seemingly endless number of other business ventures, product lines, etc. 

The sisters married other famous entertainers, such as basketball player Lamar Odom and rap star Kanye West, so that the web of fame became still bigger and more tangled. 

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