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. 1Kikunae Ikeda1864-1936 · Japan · Scientists0 decades
  2. 2Tomitaro Makino1862-1957 · Japan · Scientistsnot measured-
  3. 3Tanaka Hisashige1799-1881 · Japan · Scientistsnot measured-
  4. 4Takamine Jōkichi1854-1922 · Japan · Scientistsnot measured-
  5. 5Arisaka Nariakira1852-1915 · Japan · Scientistsnot measured-
  6. 6Nagai Nagayoshi1844-1929 · Japan · Scientistsnot measured-
  7. 7Aikitu Tanakadate1856-1952 · Japan · Scientistsnot measured-
  8. 8Itō Keisuke1803-1901 · Japan · Scientistsnot measured-
  9. 9Kunitomo Ikkansai1778-1840 · Japan · Scientistsnot measured-
  10. 10Udagawa Yōan1798-1846 · Japan · Scientistsnot measured-
  11. 11Yamakawa Kenjirō1854-1931 · Japan · Scientistsnot measured-
  12. 12Tanaka Yoshio1838-1916 · Japan · Scientistsnot measured-
  13. 13Ryōkichi Yatabe1851-1899 · Japan · Scientistsnot measured-
  14. 14Kingo Miyabe1860-1951 · Japan · Scientistsnot measured-
  15. 15Iinuma Yokusai1782-1865 · Japan · Scientistsnot measured-
  16. 16Satori Kato1847-1902 · Japan · Scientistsnot measured-
  17. 17Hirase Sakugorō1856-1925 · Japan · Scientistsnot measured-
  18. 18Shohé Tanaka1862-1945 · Japan · Scientistsnot measured-
  19. 19Zeniya Gohei1774-1852 · Japan · Scientistsnot measured-
  20. 20Mitsutaro Shirai1863-1932 · Japan · Scientistsnot measured-
  21. 21Shimose Masachika1860-1911 · Japan · Scientistsnot measured-
  22. 22Hokkai Takashima1850-1931 · Japan · Scientistsnot measured-
  23. 23Kotō Bunjirō1856-1935 · Japan · Scientistsnot measured-
  24. 24Terao Hisashi1855-1923 · Japan · Scientistsnot measured-
  25. 25Miyoshi Manabu1862-1939 · Japan · Scientistsnot measured-
Show 2 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.