← 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
Jesus94 - 2
Homer15 - 3
Cicero13 - 4
Augustus13 - 5
Plato10 - 6
Virgil9.6 - 7
Aristotle9.4 - 8
Socrates6.4 - 9
Herodotus6.2 - 10
Plutarch5.6 - 11
Ovid4.2 - 12
Strabo4.1 - 13
Charlemagne3.9 - 14
Demosthenes3.8 - 15
Lord Byron3.6 - 16
Livy3.4 - 17
Origen3.1 - 18
Cleopatra3.0 - 19
Xenophon3.0 - 20
Walter Scott3.0 - 21
Tertullian2.7 - 22
James II, Count of Urgell2.6 - 23
Robert Peel2.6 - 24
Henry VII, Holy Roman Emperor2.6 - 25
Pericles2.5
Lived then
The most notable people whose working lives fell in the 19th century, ranked where coverage and readership agree.
- 1
Henry Ford16 decades - 2
John D. Rockefeller14 decades - 3
Andrew Carnegie14 decades - 4
J. P. Morgan16 decades - 5
John Brownnot measured- - 6
Cornelius Vanderbilt18 decades - 7
Levi Strauss11 decades - 8
Jamsetji Tata0 decades - 9
Henry Dunant13 decades - 10
Robert Owen22 decades - 11
J. Bruce Ismay1 decades - 12
Henri Nestlé0 decades - 13
Thomas Cooknot measured- - 14
King C. Gillette0 decades - 15
James Buchanan Duke0 decades - 16
Pavel Tretyakov9 decades - 17
Henry J. Heinz0 decades - 18
Elisha Otis0 decades - 19
Paul Reuter0 decades - 20
Johns Hopkins21 decades - 21
Adam Opel12 decades - 22
Jay Gould17 decades - 23Fusajirō Yamauchinot measured-
- 24
George Eastmannot measured- - 25
Jean Lafitte12 decades - 26
William Crapo Durant0 decades - 27
Milton S. Hershey6 decades - 28
Solomon R. Guggenheim8 decades - 29
Iwasaki Yatarō0 decades - 30
Cäsar Johann Ritz2 decades - 31
Émile Gallé7 decades - 32
Charles Boycott0 decades - 33
Alfred Krupp15 decades - 34
George Peabody19 decades - 35
Will Keith Kelloggnot measured- - 36
Ransom E. Olds0 decades - 37
Basil Zaharoff7 decades - 38
Emil Jellinek1 decades - 39
Cyrus West Field0 decades - 40
Henry Clay Fricknot measured- - 41
Maurice de Hirsch3 decades - 42
Emil Škoda0 decades - 43
Peter Cooper20 decades - 44
Shibusawa Eiichinot measured- - 45
Margarete Steiffnot measured- - 46
Marcus Goldmannot measured- - 47
William Henry Vanderbiltnot measured- - 48
Michael Thonet0 decades - 49
Torakusu Yamaha0 decades - 50
August Oetkernot measured- - 51
Harry Gordon Selfridgenot measured- - 52
Armand Peugeotnot measured- - 53
Eusebio Güellnot measured- - 54
Henry E. Steinwaynot measured- - 55
Fredrik Idestamnot measured- - 56
Madame Clicquot Ponsardinnot measured- - 57
Friedrich Kruppnot measured- - 58
John Philip Hollandnot measured- - 59
Charles Yerkesnot measured- - 60
Ludvig Nobelnot measured- - 61
Samuel P. Bushnot measured- - 62
Friedrich Alfred Kruppnot measured- - 63
Mikimoto Kōkichinot measured- - 64
Georgios Averoff0 decades - 65
Antoine Pateknot measured- - 66
Lucas Alamánnot measured- - 67
Savva Mamontovnot measured- - 68
Dwarkanath Tagorenot measured- - 69
Robert Nobelnot measured- - 70
Julius Magginot measured- - 71
Samuel Cunardnot measured- - 72
J. C. Jacobsennot measured- - 73
Daniel Peternot measured- - 74
Henry Colenot measured- - 75
Albert Ballinnot measured- - 76
David Sassoonnot measured- - 77
Sergei Shchukinnot measured- - 78
Friedrich Bayernot measured- - 79
William Pirrie, 1st Viscount Pirrienot measured- - 80
Rodolphe Lindtnot measured- - 81
John Francis Dodgenot measured- - 82
Haji Zeynal Abdin Taghiyevnot measured- - 83
Paul Mausernot measured- - 84
Emil Rathenaunot measured- - 85
Samuel Insullnot measured- - 86
Eliphalet Remingtonnot measured- - 87
Karl Wittgensteinnot measured- - 88
Joseph Aspdin1 decades - 89
William Wrigleynot measured- - 90
Gerard Adriaan Heinekennot measured- - 91
Charles Lewis Tiffanynot measured- - 92
Evangelos Zappas0 decades - 93
Julius Rosenwaldnot measured- - 94
William Colgatenot measured- - 95
John Cockerillnot measured- - 96
Savva Timofeyevich Morozovnot measured- - 97
Charles Francis Brushnot measured- - 98
Thomas Burberrynot measured- - 99
August Borsignot measured- - 100
Sir Henry Tatenot measured-
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.