1800–1899
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 Italian books during the 19th century — whenever they lived.
In books written inEnglish18,114German3,599French3,347Italian1,787Spanish1,162Russian325Hebrew105Chinese9
#PersonIn print, 1800–2019Per million words
- 1
Giotto1267–1337 · 14th century · 🇮🇹 Italy · Artists5.5 - 2
Antonio da Correggio1489–1534 · 16th century · 🇮🇹 Italy · Artists5.0 - 3
Lorenzo de' Medici1449–1492 · 15th century · Politicians3.0 - 4
Dante Alighieri1265–1321 · 14th century · Writers2.9 - 5
Pietro Perugino1448–1523 · 15th century · 🇮🇹 Italy · Artists2.9 - 6
Donato Bramante1444–1514 · 15th century · 🇮🇹 Italy · Architects2.6 - 7
Torquato Tasso1544–1595 · 16th century · 🇮🇹 Italy · Writers2.6 - 8
Caravaggio1571–1610 · 17th century · 🇮🇹 Italy · Artists2.1 - 9
Apostolo Zeno1668–1750 · 18th century · Writers2.1 - 10
Cimabue1240–1302 · 13th century · Artists2.1 - 11
Tintoretto1519–1594 · 16th century · 🇮🇹 Italy · Artists1.9 - 12
Charles Borromeo1538–1584 · 16th century · 🇮🇹 Italy · Religious Figures1.8 - 13
Donatello1386–1466 · 15th century · Artists1.8 - 14
Paul the Deacon720–799 · 8th century · Writers1.8 - 15
Leonardo da Vinci1452–1519 · 15th century · 🇮🇹 Italy · Artists1.7 - 16
Philip Neri1515–1595 · 16th century · Religious Figures1.7 - 17
Marco Polo1254–1324 · 13th century · 🇮🇹 Italy · Politicians1.7 - 18
Cosimo de' Medici1389–1464 · 15th century · Politicians1.7 - 19
Galileo Galilei1564–1642 · 16th century · 🇮🇹 Italy · Scientists1.7 - 20
Andrea Doria1466–1560 · 16th century · 🇮🇹 Italy · Politicians1.6 - 21
Giulio Romano1499–1546 · 16th century · 🇮🇹 Italy · Artists1.6 - 22
Guercino1591–1666 · 17th century · 🇮🇹 Italy · Artists1.5 - 23
Domenichino1581–1641 · 17th century · Artists1.5 - 24
Ugo Foscolo1778–1827 · 19th century · Writers1.4 - 25
Petrarch1304–1374 · 14th century · 🇮🇹 Italy · Academics1.4 - 26
Andrea del Sarto1486–1530 · 16th century · Artists1.2 - 27
Pietro Aretino1492–1556 · 16th century · 🇮🇹 Italy · Writers1.2 - 28
Alessandro Manzoni1785–1873 · 19th century · 🇮🇹 Italy · Writers1.2 - 29
Giorgio Vasari1511–1574 · 16th century · 🇮🇹 Italy · Artists1.2 - 30
Masaccio1401–1428 · 15th century · 🇮🇹 Italy · Artists1.1 - 31
Baldassare Franceschini1611–1690 · 17th century · Artists1.1 - 32
Francis of Assisi1182–1226 · 13th century · 🇮🇹 Italy · Writers1.1 - 33
Cesare Borgia1475–1507 · 16th century · 🇮🇹 Italy · Historical Figures1.1 - 34
Paolo Veronese1528–1588 · 16th century · 🇮🇹 Italy · Artists1.1 - 35
Guido Reni1575–1642 · 17th century · 🇮🇹 Italy · Artists1.0 - 36
Dino Compagni1255–1324 · 13th century · Writers1.0 - 37
Pietro Bembo1470–1547 · 16th century · 🇮🇹 Italy · Religious Figures1.00 - 38
Guido Cavalcanti1258–1300 · 13th century · Writers0.99 - 39
Niccolò Machiavelli1469–1527 · 16th century · Politicians0.99 - 40
Filippo Maria Visconti1392–1447 · 15th century · Politicians0.97 - 41
Cesare Balbo1789–1853 · 19th century · Politicians0.97 - 42
Giuseppe Mazzini1805–1872 · 19th century · 🇮🇹 Italy · Activists0.93 - 43
Prospero Colonna1452–1523 · 15th century0.90 - 44
Benvenuto Cellini1500–1571 · 16th century · Artists0.90 - 45
Benedetto Varchi1503–1565 · 16th century · 🇮🇹 Italy · Writers0.88 - 46
Francesco Guicciardini1483–1540 · 16th century · Writers0.88 - 47
Aloysius Gonzaga1568–1591 · 16th century · 🇮🇹 Italy · Religious Figures0.88 - 48
Vittorio Alfieri1749–1803 · 18th century · 🇮🇹 Italy · Historical Figures0.87 - 49
Silvio Pellico1789–1854 · 19th century · Writers0.87 - 50
Cesare Cantù1804–1895 · 19th century · Writers0.87 - 51
Giacomo Leopardi1798–1837 · 19th century · 🇮🇹 Italy · Writers0.85 - 52
Vincenzo Gioberti1801–1852 · 19th century · 🇮🇹 Italy · Academics0.85 - 53
Giovanni Boccaccio1313–1375 · 14th century · 🇮🇹 Italy · Writers0.85 - 54
Francesco Redi1626–1697 · 17th century · Doctors0.85 - 55
Francesco Gonzaga1444–1483 · 15th century0.84 - 56
Franco Sacchetti1332–1400 · 14th century · Writers0.82 - 57
Teodato Ipato750–800 · 8th century · Politicians0.80 - 58
Salvator Rosa1615–1673 · 17th century · 🇮🇹 Italy · Artists0.76 - 59
Giordano Bruno1548–1600 · 16th century · 🇮🇹 Italy · Academics0.75 - 60
Girolamo Savonarola1452–1498 · 15th century · 🇮🇹 Italy · Politicians0.74 - 61
Domenico Passignano1559–1638 · 16th century · Artists0.74 - 62
Paolo Sarpi1552–1623 · 16th century · Academics0.73 - 63
Parmigianino1503–1540 · 16th century · 🇮🇹 Italy · Artists0.72 - 64
Paolo Giovio1483–1552 · 16th century · Writers0.71 - 65
Massimo d'Azeglio1798–1866 · 19th century · 🇮🇹 Italy · Politicians0.71 - 66AMAldus Manutius the Younger1547–1597 · 16th century0.71
- 67
Aldus Manutius1449–1515 · 15th century · 🇮🇹 Italy0.71 - 68
Bernardo Tasso1493–1569 · 16th century · Writers0.71 - 69
Lucrezia Borgia1480–1519 · 16th century · 🇮🇹 Italy · Historical Figures0.69 - 70
Pietro da Cortona1596–1669 · 17th century · 🇮🇹 Italy · Artists0.69
- 71MVMatteo Villani1283–1363 · 14th century · Writers0.68
- 72
Francesco Scipione, marchese di Maffei1675–1755 · 18th century · Writers0.66 - 73
Luigi Alamanni1495–1556 · 16th century · Writers0.65 - 74
Vittoria Colonna1492–1547 · 16th century · 🇮🇹 Italy · Writers0.64 - 75
Pietro Verri1728–1797 · 18th century · Academics0.64 - 76
Pinturicchio1454–1513 · 15th century · 🇮🇹 Italy · Artists0.64 - 77
Giuliano de' Medici1453–1478 · 15th century · Politicians0.62 - 78
Marsilio Ficino1433–1499 · 15th century · 🇮🇹 Italy · Academics0.62 - 79
Filippo Villani1325–1407 · 14th century · 🇮🇹 Italy · Writers0.62 - 80
Paulus Manutius1512–1574 · 16th century · Writers0.61 - 81
Catherine de' Medici1519–1589 · 16th century · 🇫🇷 France · Historical Figures0.60 - 82
Scipione Ammirato1531–1601 · 16th century · Writers0.58 - 83
Bernardino of Siena1380–1444 · 15th century · 🇮🇹 Italy · Academics0.58 - 84
Francesco Filelfo1398–1481 · 15th century · Academics0.56 - 85
Andrea Gritti1455–1538 · 15th century · Politicians0.56 - 86
Pontormo1494–1556 · 16th century · 🇮🇹 Italy · Artists0.52 - 87
Antonio Rosmini1797–1855 · 19th century · Academics0.51 - 88
Leon Battista Alberti1404–1472 · 15th century · 🇮🇹 Italy · Architects0.49 - 89
Francesco Foscari1373–1457 · 15th century · 🇮🇹 Italy · Politicians0.47 - 90
Giosuè Carducci1835–1907 · 19th century · 🇮🇹 Italy · Writers0.47 - 91
Andrea Dandolo1306–1354 · 14th century · Politicians0.45 - 92
Alessandro Cagliostro1743–1795 · 18th century · 🇫🇷 France · Doctors0.45 - 93
Francesco Vettori1474–1540 · 16th century · Writers0.45 - 94
Leandro Alberti1479–1552 · 16th century · Writers0.45 - 95
Amerigo Vespucci1454–1512 · 15th century · Historical Figures0.44 - 96
Erasmo of Narni1370–1443 · 15th century · 🇮🇹 Italy0.44 - 97
Anton Maria Salvini1653–1729 · 17th century · Writers0.43 - 98
Michelangelo1475–1564 · 16th century · 🇮🇹 Italy · Artists0.43 - 99
Francesca da Rimini1259–1285 · 13th century · 🇮🇹 Italy · Writers0.42 - 100
Antonio Canova1757–1822 · 18th century · 🇮🇹 Italy · Artists0.42
Lived then
The most notable people whose working lives fell in the 19th century, ranked where Wikipedia coverage and readership agree.
#PersonIn print, 1800–2019Echoed
- 1
Abraham Lincoln1809–1865 · 🇺🇸 United States · Politicians22 decades - 2
Edgar Allan Poe1809–1849 · 🇺🇸 United States · Writers17 decades - 3
Thomas Edison1847–1931 · 🇺🇸 United States · Scientists13 decades - 4
Theodore Roosevelt1858–1919 · 🇺🇸 United States · Politicians16 decades - 5
Mark Twain1835–1910 · 🇺🇸 United States · Writers16 decades - 6
James A. Garfield1831–1881 · 🇺🇸 United States · Politicians16 decades - 7
Henry Ford1863–1947 · 🇺🇸 United States · Founders16 decades - 8
William McKinley1843–1901 · 🇺🇸 United States · Politicians16 decades - 9
Woodrow Wilson1856–1924 · 🇺🇸 United States · Politicians14 decades - 10
Ulysses S. Grant1822–1885 · 🇺🇸 United States · Politicians16 decades - 11
Henry David Thoreau1817–1862 · 🇺🇸 United States · Writers13 decades - 12
John D. Rockefeller1839–1937 · 🇺🇸 United States · Founders14 decades - 13
James Buchanan1791–1868 · 🇺🇸 United States · Politicians22 decades - 14
Alexander Graham Bell1847–1922 · 🇺🇸 United States · Scientists15 decades - 15
Harriet Tubman1821–1913 · 🇺🇸 United States · Writers9 decades - 16
Grover Cleveland1837–1908 · 🇺🇸 United States · Politicians14 decades - 17
Andrew Jackson1767–1845 · 🇺🇸 United States · Politicians22 decades - 18
Emily Dickinson1830–1886 · 🇺🇸 United States · Writers13 decades - 19
Joseph Smith1805–1844 · 🇺🇸 United States · Politicians22 decades - 20
Robert E. Lee1807–1870 · 🇺🇸 United States · Scientists16 decades - 21
Ralph Waldo Emerson1803–1882 · 🇺🇸 United States · Academics19 decades - 22
Chester A. Arthur1829–1886 · 🇺🇸 United States · Politicians15 decades - 23
Walt Whitman1819–1892 · 🇺🇸 United States · Writers17 decades - 24
Sitting Bull1831–1890 · 🇺🇸 United States15 decades - 25
John Quincy Adams1767–1848 · 🇺🇸 United States · Politicians22 decades - 26
Herman Melville1819–1891 · 🇺🇸 United States · Writers18 decades - 27
Andrew Carnegie1835–1919 · 🇺🇸 United States · Academics14 decades - 28
P. T. Barnum1810–1891 · 🇺🇸 United States · Politicians17 decades - 29
Andrew Johnson1808–1875 · 🇺🇸 United States · Politicians22 decades - 30
William Howard Taft1857–1930 · 🇺🇸 United States · Politicians12 decades - 31
Martin Van Buren1782–1862 · 🇺🇸 United States · Politicians21 decades - 32
J. P. Morgan1837–1913 · 🇺🇸 United States · Founders16 decades - 33
William Henry Harrison1773–1841 · 🇺🇸 United States · Politicians22 decades - 34
Billy the Kid1859–1881 · 🇺🇸 United States12 decades - 35
Franklin Pierce1804–1869 · 🇺🇸 United States · Politicians20 decades - 36
Geronimo1829–1909 · 🇺🇸 United States · Actorsnot measured— - 37
John Dewey1859–1952 · 🇺🇸 United States · Academics14 decades
- 38
Henry James1843–1916 · 🇺🇸 United States · Writers18 decades - 39
Jefferson Davis1808–1889 · 🇺🇸 United States · Politicians20 decades - 40
James K. Polk1795–1849 · 🇺🇸 United States · Politicians20 decades - 41
William James1842–1910 · 🇺🇸 United States · Academics18 decades - 42
Zachary Taylor1784–1850 · 🇺🇸 United States · Politicians18 decades - 43
John Tyler1790–1862 · 🇺🇸 United States · Politicians22 decades - 44
Rutherford B. Hayes1822–1893 · 🇺🇸 United States · Politicians16 decades - 45
Louisa May Alcott1832–1888 · 🇺🇸 United States · Writers14 decades - 46
Frederick Douglass1818–1895 · 🇺🇸 United States · Writers18 decades - 47
Nathaniel Hawthorne1804–1864 · 🇺🇸 United States · Writers19 decades - 48
Benjamin Harrison1833–1901 · 🇺🇸 United States · Politicians19 decades - 49
Harriet Beecher Stowe1811–1896 · 🇺🇸 United States · Writers17 decades - 50
Millard Fillmore1800–1874 · 🇺🇸 United States · Politicians19 decades - 51
Samuel Morse1791–1872 · 🇺🇸 United States · Scientists0 decades - 52
John Brown1800–1859 · 🇺🇸 United States · Founders22 decades - 53
George Armstrong Custer1839–1876 · 🇺🇸 United States · Historical Figures7 decades - 54
James Fenimore Cooper1789–1851 · 🇺🇸 United States · Writers18 decades - 55
Mary Cassatt1844–1926 · 🇺🇸 United States · Artists12 decades - 56
Edith Wharton1862–1937 · 🇺🇸 United States · Writers13 decades - 57
Nellie Bly1864–1922 · 🇺🇸 United States · Journalists13 decades - 58
Levi Strauss1829–1902 · 🇺🇸 United States · Founders11 decades - 59
Jesse James1847–1882 · 🇺🇸 United States14 decades - 60
Washington Irving1783–1859 · 🇺🇸 United States · Writers22 decades - 61
John Wilkes Booth1838–1865 · 🇺🇸 United States · Actors16 decades - 62
Brigham Young1801–1877 · 🇺🇸 United States · Academics19 decades - 63
John Singer Sargent1856–1925 · 🇺🇸 United States · Artists11 decades - 64
Ambrose Bierce1842–1914 · 🇺🇸 United States · Journalists13 decades - 65
Charles Sanders Peirce1839–1914 · 🇺🇸 United States · Academics9 decades - 66
Joseph Pulitzer1847–1911 · 🇺🇸 United States · Politicians14 decades - 67
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow1807–1882 · 🇺🇸 United States · Writers18 decades - 68
Buffalo Bill1846–1917 · 🇺🇸 United States · Writers15 decades - 69
Crazy Horse1849–1877 · 🇺🇸 United States · Politicians15 decades
- 70
Susan B. Anthony1820–1906 · 🇺🇸 United States · Writers16 decades - 71
L. Frank Baum1856–1919 · 🇺🇸 United States · Writers8 decades - 72
Sojourner Truth1797–1883 · 🇺🇸 United States · Writers13 decades - 73
William Tecumseh Sherman1820–1891 · 🇺🇸 United States · Writers14 decades - 74
Jane Addams1860–1935 · 🇺🇸 United States · Academics14 decades - 75
Davy Crockett1786–1836 · 🇺🇸 United States · Politicians19 decades - 76
John Muir1838–1914 · 🇺🇸 United States · Scientists19 decades - 77
Wilhelm Steinitz1836–1900 · 🇺🇸 United States · Athletes0 decades - 78
John J. Pershing1860–1948 · 🇺🇸 United States · Lawyers12 decades - 79
William Randolph Hearst1863–1951 · 🇺🇸 United States · Politicians12 decades - 80
James Abbott McNeill Whistler1834–1903 · 🇺🇸 United States · Artists12 decades - 81
Samuel Colt1814–1862 · 🇺🇸 United States · Scientists18 decades - 82
Liliʻuokalani1838–1917 · 🇺🇸 United States · Historical Figuresnot measured— - 83
Frances Hodgson Burnett1849–1924 · 🇺🇸 United States · Writers15 decades - 84
Cornelius Vanderbilt1794–1877 · 🇺🇸 United States · Founders18 decades - 85
Stonewall Jackson1824–1863 · 🇺🇸 United States16 decades - 86
Robert Peary1856–1920 · 🇺🇸 United States · Historical Figures3 decades - 87
George Washington Carver1864–1943 · 🇺🇸 United States · Scientists9 decades - 88
Wyatt Earp1848–1929 · 🇺🇸 United States · Politicians10 decades - 89
Franz Boas1858–1942 · 🇺🇸 United States · Academics14 decades - 90
Frederick Winslow Taylor1856–1915 · 🇺🇸 United States · Scientists8 decades
- 91
John James Audubon1785–1851 · 🇺🇸 United States · Artists19 decades - 92
Sacagawea1788–1812 · 🇺🇸 United States · Historical Figures9 decades - 93
Antonio Meucci1808–1889 · 🇺🇸 United States · Scientists14 decades - 94
Tecumseh1768–1813 · 🇺🇸 United Statesnot measured— - 95
Paul Morphy1837–1884 · 🇺🇸 United States7 decades - 96
John Stith Pemberton1831–1888 · 🇺🇸 United States · Scientists19 decades - 97
Kamehameha I1800–1819 · 🇺🇸 United States · Historical Figures13 decades - 98
Sam Houston1793–1863 · 🇺🇸 United States · Politicians20 decades - 99
Thorstein Veblen1857–1929 · 🇺🇸 United States · Academics11 decades - 100
Robert Fulton1765–1815 · 🇺🇸 United States · Scientists22 decades
How this is measured
- Placing people in time. Each person belongs to the century in which they were most active — around age 35, and never after their death.
- Who ranks highest. Within a century, people are ranked where two independent signals agree: how many of the world’s Wikipedia language editions cover them, and how many people actually read about them. Article counts alone can be lifted by a person’s own circle; readers cannot.
- Fame in print. The curves count how often a name appears in Google Books from 1800 to 2019, as a share of all the words printed each year, in the person’s own language wherever that corpus exists. Those decades are over, so each measurement is made once and kept.
- What is left out. A lifetime is measured only from 1820, when there is enough print to judge; the five years after a death are skipped as obituaries; and a name shared with someone equally notable is credited to neither.