215,950 profiles ranked

← Fame through time1800-1899

The 19th century

Whose names filled the books of the 19th century - anyone at all, however long dead - counted as mentions per million words printed, so a period that simply published more does not inflate anyone.

Talked about then

Whose names appeared most in German books during the 19th century, whenever they lived.

  1. 1Maria Theresa1717-1780 · 18th century · Austria · Historical Figures3.8
  2. 2Jean Paul1763-1825 · 18th century · Germany · Writers1.8
  3. 3Paracelsus1493-1541 · 16th century · Switzerland · Doctors1.4
  4. 4Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor1741-1790 · 18th century · Austria · Historical Figures1.3
  5. 5Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperor1316-1378 · 14th century · Historical Figures1.3
  6. 6Gustav Adolph, Duke of Mecklenburg-Güstrow1633-1695 · 17th century · Germany · Writers1.2
  7. 7Hans Sachs1494-1576 · 16th century · Germany · Writers0.99
  8. 8William IV, Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel1532-1592 · 16th century · Germany · Scientists0.85
  9. 9Charles VI, Holy Roman Emperor1685-1740 · 18th century · Austria · Historical Figures0.85
  10. 10Charles Augustus, Grand Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach1757-1828 · 18th century · Politicians0.84
  11. 11George Frederick of Waldeck-Eisenberg1620-1692 · 17th century · Models0.84
  12. 12Władysław of Głogów1420-1460 · 15th century · Germany0.78
  13. 13Martin Luther1483-1546 · 16th century · Germany · Religious Figures0.78
  14. 14Novalis1772-1801 · 19th century · Germany · Writers0.77
  15. 15Louis Philip, Count Palatine of Simmern-Kaiserslautern1602-1655 · 17th century · Germany0.75
  16. 16Henry VI, Holy Roman Emperor1165-1197 · 12th century · Germany · Historical Figures0.72
  17. 17Frederick Charles, Duke of Württemberg-Winnental1652-1698 · 17th century · Politicians0.71
  18. 18Francis II, Holy Roman Emperor1768-1835 · 19th century0.65
  19. 19Albrecht Dürer1471-1528 · 16th century · Germany · Artists0.64
  20. 20Frederick William IV of Prussia1795-1861 · 19th century · Politicians0.59
  21. 21Conradin1252-1268 · 13th century · Germany · Musicians0.58
  22. 22Ernest Augustus, Elector of Brunswick-Lüneburg1629-1698 · 17th century · Germany · Historical Figures0.55
  23. 23Catherine the Great1729-1796 · 18th century · Russia · Historical Figures0.55
  24. 24Richard Wagner1813-1883 · 19th century · Germany · Musicians0.55
  25. 25Francis Anthony, Count of Hohenzollern-Haigerloch1657-1702 · 17th century · Germany0.53
Show 75 more

Lived then

The most notable people whose working lives fell in the 19th century, ranked where coverage and readership agree.

  1. 1Fyodor Dostoevsky1821-1881 · Russia · Writers17 decades
  2. 2Leo Tolstoy1828-1910 · Russia · Writers18 decades
  3. 3Alexander Pushkin1799-1837 · Russia · Writers21 decades
  4. 4Jane Austen1775-1817 · United Kingdom · Writers19 decades
  5. 5Edgar Allan Poe1809-1849 · United States · Writers17 decades
  6. 6Oscar Wilde1854-1900 · Ireland · Writers14 decades
  7. 7Charles Dickens1812-1870 · United Kingdom · Writers20 decades
  8. 8Mark Twain1835-1910 · United States · Writers16 decades
  9. 9Victor Hugo1802-1885 · France · Writers22 decades
  10. 10Anton Chekhov1860-1904 · Russia · Writers15 decades
  11. 11Lord Byron1788-1824 · United Kingdom · Writers22 decades
  12. 12Rabindranath Tagore1861-1941 · India · Writers11 decades
  13. 13Alexandre Dumas1802-1870 · France · Writersnot measured-
  14. 14Hans Christian Andersen1805-1875 · Denmark · Writers18 decades
  15. 15Jules Verne1828-1905 · France · Writers16 decades
  16. 16Florence Nightingale1820-1910 · Writers17 decades
  17. 17Arthur Conan Doyle1859-1930 · United Kingdom · Writers12 decades
  18. 18Mary Shelley1797-1851 · United Kingdom · Writers16 decades
  19. 19Nikolai Gogol1809-1852 · Russia · Writers19 decades
  20. 20Émile Zola1840-1902 · France · Writers16 decades
  21. 21Lewis Carroll1832-1898 · United Kingdom · Writers16 decades
  22. 22George Sand1804-1876 · France · Writers20 decades
  23. 23George Bernard Shaw1856-1950 · United Kingdom · Writers13 decades
  24. 24Emily Brontë1818-1848 · United Kingdom · Writers14 decades
  25. 25Honoré de Balzac1799-1850 · France · Writers17 decades
Show 75 more

How to read these rankings

  • Attention, not reputation. A place on these lists reflects the attention a person still draws in the public record. It is not a judgement on the life.
  • Fame in print. The curves show how often a name appeared in the books of each decade from 1800 to 2019, drawn from the Google Books Ngram corpus.
  • Gaps are left as gaps. Where the record is too thin to be fair, we would rather show nothing than guess.