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

  1. 1Voltaire1694-1778 · 18th century · France · Writers37
  2. 2Louis XIV of France1638-1715 · 17th century · France · Historical Figures32
  3. 3Louis XVI of France1754-1793 · 18th century · France · Historical Figures16
  4. 4Molière1622-1673 · 17th century · France · Writers15
  5. 5Louis XV of France1710-1774 · 18th century · France · Historical Figures10
  6. 6Montesquieu1689-1755 · 18th century · France · Academics7.7
  7. 7Louis XVIII of France1755-1824 · 18th century · France · Politicians5.7
  8. 8François Fénelon1651-1715 · 17th century · France · Religious Figures5.5
  9. 9Louis XII of France1462-1515 · 15th century · France · Historical Figures5.2
  10. 10Victor Hugo1802-1885 · 19th century · France · Writers3.3
  11. 11Charles X of France1757-1836 · 18th century · France · Politicians3.1
  12. 12Marie Antoinette1755-1793 · 18th century · France · Historical Figures2.4
  13. 13Joan of Arc1412-1431 · 15th century · France2.4
  14. 14Francis de Sales1567-1622 · 17th century · France · Religious Figures2.4
  15. 15Philip V of Spain1683-1746 · 18th century · France · Politicians2.2
  16. 16Francis II of France1544-1560 · 16th century · France · Politicians1.9
  17. 17Marie de' Medici1575-1642 · 17th century · France · Politicians1.9
  18. 18Napoleon III1808-1873 · 19th century · France · Politicians1.9
  19. 19Vincent de Paul1581-1660 · 17th century · France · Religious Figures1.9
  20. 20Pierre de Bourdeille, seigneur de Brantôme1540-1614 · 16th century · France · Writers1.8
  21. 21Louis Blanc1811-1882 · 19th century · Spain · Politicians1.6
  22. 22Benjamin Constant1767-1830 · 19th century · Switzerland · Politicians1.5
  23. 23Pope Julius II1443-1513 · 15th century · Italy · Religious Figures1.5
  24. 24Jules Favre1809-1880 · 19th century · France · Politicians1.4
  25. 25Jules Simon1814-1896 · 19th century · France · Politicians1.4
Show 75 more

Lived then

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

  1. 1George Santayana1863-1952 · Spain · Academics9 decades
  2. 2Marcelino Menéndez y Pelayo1856-1912 · Spain · Academics14 decades
  3. 3Jaime Balmes1810-1848 · Spain · Academics18 decades
  4. 4Nicolás Salmerón1838-1908 · Spain · Academics16 decades
  5. 5Marcelino Sanz de Sautuola1831-1888 · Spain · Academicsnot measured-
  6. 6Joaquín Costa1846-1911 · Spain · Academicsnot measured-
  7. 7Manuel Bartolomé Cossío1857-1935 · Spain · Academicsnot measured-
  8. 8Alberto Lista1775-1848 · Spain · Academicsnot measured-
  9. 9Álvaro Flórez Estrada1766-1853 · Spain · Academicsnot measured-
  10. 10Ignacio Bolívar1850-1944 · Spain · Academicsnot measured-
  11. 11Eduardo Toda y Güell1855-1941 · Spain · Academicsnot measured-
  12. 12Ricardo Velázquez Bosco1843-1923 · Spain · Academicsnot measured-
  13. 13Victoriano Guisasola y Menéndez1852-1920 · Spain · Academicsnot measured-
  14. 14Buenaventura Carlos Aribau1798-1862 · Spain · Academicsnot measured-
  15. 15Laureano Figuerola1816-1903 · Spain · Academicsnot measured-
  16. 16Julián Sanz del Río1814-1869 · Spain · Academicsnot measured-
  17. 17Mariano Pardo de Figueroa1828-1918 · Spain · Academicsnot measured-
  18. 18Fidel Fita y Colomé1835-1918 · Spain · Academicsnot measured-
  19. 19Miguel Villanueva y Gómez1852-1931 · Spain · Academicsnot measured-
  20. 20Zoel García de Galdeano1846-1924 · Spain · Academicsnot measured-
  21. 21Juan Güell1800-1872 · Spain · Academicsnot measured-
  22. 22Eduardo Torroja Caballe1847-1918 · Spain · Academicsnot measured-
  23. 23Gerónimo Boscana1776-1831 · Spain · Academicsnot measured-
  24. 24Telesforo Aranzadi1860-1945 · Spain · Academicsnot measured-
  25. 25Luis Octavio de Toledo y Zulueta1857-1934 · Spain · Academicsnot measured-
Show 9 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.