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 English books during the 19th century, whenever they lived.

  1. 1Jesus5 BC-30 · 1st century · Religious Figures94
  2. 2Homer900 BC-800 BC · 1st millennium BC · Writers15
  3. 3Cicero106 BC-43 BC · 1st millennium BC · Italy · Politicians13
  4. 4Augustus63 BC-14 · 1st millennium BC · Italy · Politicians13
  5. 5Plato428 BC-348 BC · 1st millennium BC · Academics10
  6. 6Virgil70 BC-19 BC · 1st millennium BC · Italy · Writers9.6
  7. 7Aristotle384 BC-322 BC · 1st millennium BC · Academics9.4
  8. 8Socrates470 BC-399 BC · 1st millennium BC · Brazil · Academics6.4
  9. 9Herodotus484 BC-425 BC · 1st millennium BC · Turkey · Writers6.2
  10. 10Plutarch40-120 · 1st century · Academics5.6
  11. 11Ovid43 BC-17 · 1st millennium BC · Italy · Writers4.2
  12. 12Strabo63 BC-23 · 1st millennium BC · Academics4.1
  13. 13Charlemagne748-814 · 8th century · Historical Figures3.9
  14. 14Demosthenes384 BC-322 BC · 1st millennium BC · Politicians3.8
  15. 15Lord Byron1788-1824 · 19th century · United Kingdom · Writers3.6
  16. 16Livy59 BC-17 · 1st millennium BC · Italy · Writers3.4
  17. 17Origen185-254 · 3rd century · Egypt · Academics3.1
  18. 18Cleopatra69 BC-30 BC · 1st millennium BC · Egypt · Historical Figures3.0
  19. 19Xenophon430 BC-354 BC · 1st millennium BC · Academics3.0
  20. 20Walter Scott1771-1832 · 19th century · United Kingdom · Writers3.0
  21. 21Tertullian160-240 · 2nd century · Academics2.7
  22. 22James II, Count of Urgell1388-1433 · 15th century2.6
  23. 23Robert Peel1788-1850 · 19th century · United Kingdom · Politicians2.6
  24. 24Henry VII, Holy Roman Emperor1275-1313 · 14th century · France2.6
  25. 25Pericles494 BC-429 BC · 1st millennium BC · Politicians2.5
Show 75 more

Lived then

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

  1. 1Wilhelm II, German Emperor1859-1941 · Germany · Historical Figuresnot measured-
  2. 2Empress Elisabeth of Austria1837-1898 · Germany · Historical Figures0 decades
  3. 3William I, German Emperor1797-1888 · Germany · Historical Figuresnot measured-
  4. 4Ludwig II of Bavaria1845-1886 · Germany · Historical Figuresnot measured-
  5. 5Leopold I of Belgium1790-1865 · Germany · Historical Figuresnot measured-
  6. 6Albert, Prince Consort1819-1861 · Germany · Historical Figuresnot measured-
  7. 7Frederick William III of Prussia1770-1840 · Germany · Historical Figuresnot measured-
  8. 8Christian IX of Denmark1818-1906 · Germany · Historical Figures16 decades
  9. 9August von Mackensen1849-1945 · Germany · Historical Figures2 decades
  10. 10Carol I of Romania1839-1914 · Germany · Historical Figuresnot measured-
  11. 11Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld1786-1861 · Germany · Historical Figuresnot measured-
  12. 12Princess Victoria of Hesse and by Rhine1863-1950 · Germany · Historical Figuresnot measured-
  13. 13Louise of Mecklenburg-Strelitz1776-1810 · Germany · Historical Figures0 decades
  14. 14Helmuth von Moltke the Younger1848-1916 · Germany · Historical Figures0 decades
  15. 15Princess Elisabeth of Hesse and by Rhine1864-1918 · Germany · Historical Figuresnot measured-
  16. 16Louise of Hesse-Kassel1817-1898 · Germany · Historical Figures0 decades
  17. 17Luitpold, Prince Regent of Bavaria1821-1912 · Germany · Historical Figures19 decades
  18. 18Victoria of Baden1862-1930 · Germany · Historical Figures0 decades
  19. 19Maria Sophie of Bavaria1841-1925 · Germany · Historical Figures0 decades
  20. 20Princess Ludovika of Bavaria1808-1892 · Germany · Historical Figuresnot measured-
  21. 21Prince Louis of Battenberg1854-1921 · Germany · Historical Figures0 decades
  22. 22Ernest II, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha1818-1893 · Germany · Historical Figuresnot measured-
  23. 23Adolphe, Grand Duke of Luxembourg1817-1905 · Germany · Historical Figuresnot measured-
  24. 24Princess Mary Adelaide of Cambridge1833-1897 · Germany · Historical Figures0 decades
  25. 25Augusta of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach1811-1890 · Germany · Historical Figuresnot measured-
Show 65 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.