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 Russian books during the 19th century — whenever they lived.
In books written inEnglish18,114German3,599French3,347Italian1,787Spanish1,162Russian325Hebrew105Chinese9
#PersonIn print, 1800–2019Per million words
- 1
Patriarch Nikon of Moscow1605–1681 · 17th century · Religious Figures6.7 - 2
Macarius, Metropolitan of Moscow1482–1563 · 16th century · Writers3.1 - 3
Nikolai Rezanov1764–1807 · 18th century · Historical Figures1.3 - 4
Boris Godunov1552–1605 · 16th century · Politicians0.99 - 5
Grand Duke Nicholas Mikhailovich of Russia1859–1919 · 19th century · Historical Figures0.94 - 6
Patriarch Joachim1621–1690 · 17th century0.86 - 7
Vasili IV of Russia1552–1612 · 16th century · Historical Figures0.86 - 8
Nikolay Karamzin1766–1826 · 19th century · Writers0.85 - 9
Nicholas Alexandrovich, Tsesarevich of Russia1843–1865 · 19th century · Historical Figures0.83 - 10
Anna of Russia1693–1740 · 18th century · Politicians0.82 - 11
Nikolay Semyonov1896–1986 · 20th century · Scientists0.75 - 12
Ivan I of Tver1357–1425 · 14th century · Historical Figures0.66 - 13
Avraamy Palitsyn1550–1626 · 16th century · Writers0.64 - 14
Ivan I Aleksandrovich, Prince of Smolenskdied 1359 · 14th century0.62 - 15
Grand Duke Konstantin Pavlovich of Russia1779–1831 · 19th century · Politicians0.62 - 16
Elizabeth of Russia1709–1761 · 18th century · Historical Figures0.58 - 17
Alexandra Velyaminova1301–1364 · 14th century0.57 - 18
Peter the Great1672–1725 · 18th century · Politicians0.53 - 19
Maximus the Greek1475–1556 · 16th century · Writers0.53 - 20
Grand Duchess Alexandra Pavlovna of Russia1783–1801 · 19th century · Historical Figures0.43 - 21
Grand Duke Peter Nikolaevich of Russia1864–1931 · 19th century · Historical Figures0.42 - 22
Grand Duke Michael Nikolaevich of Russia1832–1909 · 19th century · Politicians0.42 - 23
Grand Duchess Olga Nikolaevna of Russia1895–1918 · 20th century · Historical Figures0.39 - 24
Grand Duke Konstantin Nikolayevich of Russia1827–1892 · 19th century · Historical Figures0.39 - 25
Grigory Orlov1734–1783 · 18th century · Historical Figures0.38 - 26
Alexander I of Russia1777–1825 · 19th century · Historical Figures0.36 - 27
Leo Tolstoy1828–1910 · 19th century · Writers0.35 - 28
Alexander Bestuzhev1797–1837 · 19th century · Writers0.34 - 29
Ivan the Terrible1530–1584 · 16th century · Politicians0.33 - 30
Pyotr Panin1721–1789 · 18th century0.33 - 31
Ippolit Bogdanovich1743–1803 · 18th century · Writers0.33 - 32
Peter III of Russia1728–1762 · 18th century · 🇩🇪 Germany · Historical Figures0.31
- 33
Stefan Yavorsky1658–1722 · 17th century · Academics0.30 - 34
Grigory Potemkin1739–1791 · 18th century · Politicians0.30 - 35
Boris of Tver1400–1461 · 15th century0.29 - 36
Ivan Mazepa1639–1709 · 17th century · Politicians0.29 - 37
Grand Duchess Maria Nikolaevna of Russia1899–1918 · 20th century · Historical Figures0.29 - 38
Grand Duke Alexei Alexandrovich of Russia1850–1908 · 19th century · Historical Figures0.29 - 39
Vasily Vasilyevich Golitsyn1643–1714 · 17th century · Politicians0.28 - 40
Paul I of Russia1754–1801 · 18th century · Historical Figures0.28 - 41
Grand Duke Paul Alexandrovich of Russia1860–1919 · 19th century · Politicians0.28 - 42
Ivan Ivanovich Shuvalov1727–1797 · 18th century · Writers0.28 - 43
Alexei Petrovich, Tsarevich of Russia1690–1718 · 18th century · Politicians0.27 - 44
Nicholas I of Russia1796–1855 · 19th century · Models0.26 - 45
Alexander Pushkin1799–1837 · 19th century · Writers0.26 - 46
Dimitry of Rostov1651–1709 · 17th century · Writers0.26 - 47
Alexander Griboyedov1795–1829 · 19th century · Politicians0.25 - 48
Alexander Herzen1812–1870 · 19th century · 🇨🇭 Switzerland · Writers0.24 - 49
Vissarion Belinsky1811–1848 · 19th century · Academics0.23 - 50
Konstantin Aksakov1817–1860 · 19th century · Writers0.23 - 51
Nikita Panin1718–1783 · 18th century · Politicians0.22
- 52
Symeon of Polotsk1629–1680 · 17th century · Writers0.21 - 53
Aleksei Musin-Pushkin1744–1817 · 18th century · Writers0.21 - 54
Alexis of Russia1629–1676 · 17th century · Historical Figures0.21 - 55
Xenia Shestova1560–1631 · 16th century0.20 - 56
Mikhail Lermontov1814–1841 · 19th century · Writers0.19 - 57
Olga Nikolaevna of Russia1822–1892 · 19th century · Historical Figures0.19 - 58
Pavel Fedotov1815–1852 · 19th century · Artists0.19 - 59
Grand Duke Konstantin Konstantinovich of Russia1858–1915 · 19th century · Writers0.19 - 60
Dmitry Shuisky1560–1612 · 16th century0.19 - 61
Nikolay Alexandrovich Lvov1753–1803 · 18th century · Academics0.18 - 62
Alexey Venetsianov1780–1847 · 19th century · Artists0.18 - 63
Catherine Pavlovna of Russia1788–1819 · 19th century · Historical Figures0.18 - 64
Fyodor Alekseyev1755–1824 · 18th century · Artists0.18 - 65
Grand Duchess Alexandra Nikolaevna of Russia1825–1844 · 19th century · Historical Figures0.17 - 66
Konstantin Batyushkov1787–1855 · 19th century · Writers0.15 - 67
Mykhailo Maksymovych1804–1873 · 19th century · Writers0.15 - 68
Nicholas Repnin1734–1801 · 18th century · Writers0.15 - 69
Kirill Razumovsky1728–1803 · 18th century · Politicians0.14 - 70
Natalya Alexeevna of Russia1673–1716 · 18th century · Writers0.14 - 71
Grand Duchess Natalya Alexeyevna of Russia1714–1728 · 18th century0.14 - 72
Nikolai Leskov1831–1895 · 19th century · Writers0.13 - 73
Aleksei Fedorovich Adashev1510–1561 · 16th century · Politicians0.13 - 74
Alexander Shishkov1754–1841 · 18th century · Writers0.13 - 75
Joseph Volotsky1440–1515 · 15th century · Writers0.12 - 76
Alexander Menshikov1673–1729 · 18th century · Politicians0.12 - 77
Nikolay Dobrolyubov1836–1861 · 19th century · Academics0.11 - 78
Ivan the Young1458–1490 · 15th century · Historical Figures0.11 - 79
Konstantin of Uglich1389–1434 · 15th century0.11 - 80
Dmitry Pozharsky1577–1642 · 17th century · Politicians0.11 - 81
Gleb Uspensky1843–1902 · 19th century · Writers0.10
- 82
Pyotr Andreyevich Tolstoy1645–1729 · 17th century · Writers0.10 - 83
Alexander Suvorov1730–1800 · 18th century0.10
- 84
Grand Duke George Alexandrovich of Russia1871–1899 · 19th century · Historical Figures0.10 - 85
Alexander Ivanov1806–1858 · 19th century · Artists0.10 - 86
Ivan Krylov1769–1844 · 19th century · Writers0.09 - 87
Ivan Dmitriev1760–1837 · 18th century · Writers0.09 - 88
Alexander Sergeyevich Menshikov1787–1869 · 19th century · Politicians0.09 - 89
Mikhail of Tver1271–1318 · 14th century · Politicians0.08 - 90
Peter Ivanovich Shuvalov1711–1762 · 18th century · Politicians0.08 - 91
Maxim Gorky1868–1936 · 20th century · Writers0.08 - 92
Vladimir Odoevsky1803–1869 · 19th century · Writers0.08 - 93
Oleg I of Chernigov1052–1115 · 11th century · Historical Figures0.08 - 94
Mikhail Vorontsov1782–1856 · 19th century · Politicians0.08 - 95
Faddey Bulgarin1789–1859 · 19th century · Writers0.08 - 96
Tikhon of Zadonsk1724–1783 · 18th century · Religious Figures0.08
- 97
Konstantin of Rostov1185–1218 · 13th century · Politicians0.08 - 98
Peter II of Russia1715–1730 · 18th century · Politicians0.08 - 99
Kirill II of Kyiv1250–1280 · 13th century0.08 - 100
Alexander II of Russia1818–1881 · 19th century · Historical Figures0.08
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
Napoleon1769–1821 · 🇫🇷 France · Historical Figures22 decades - 2
Leo Tolstoy1828–1910 · Writers18 decades - 3
Alexander Pushkin1799–1837 · Writers21 decades - 4
Victor Hugo1802–1885 · 🇫🇷 France · Writers22 decades - 5
Fyodor Dostoevsky1821–1881 · Writers17 decades - 6
Karl Marx1818–1883 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Academics17 decades - 7
Vincent van Gogh1853–1890 · 🇳🇱 Netherlands · Artists12 decades - 8
Ludwig van Beethoven1770–1827 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Musicians21 decades - 9
Abraham Lincoln1809–1865 · 🇺🇸 United States · Politicians22 decades - 10
Nikola Tesla1856–1943 · Scientists13 decades - 11
Anton Chekhov1860–1904 · Writers15 decades - 12
Friedrich Nietzsche1844–1900 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Academics15 decades - 13
Sigmund Freud1856–1939 · 🇦🇹 Austria · Writers12 decades - 14
Simón Bolívar1783–1830 · 🇪🇸 Spain · Politicians21 decades - 15
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky1840–1893 · Musicians10 decades - 16
Queen Victoria1819–1901 · 🇬🇧 United Kingdom · Historical Figuresnot measured— - 17
Jane Austen1775–1817 · 🇬🇧 United Kingdom · Writers19 decades - 18
Otto von Bismarck1815–1898 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Politicians16 decades - 19
Alexandre Dumas1802–1870 · 🇫🇷 France · Writers22 decades - 20
Charles Darwin1809–1882 · 🇬🇧 United Kingdom · Scientists21 decades - 21
Richard Wagner1813–1883 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Musicians19 decades - 22
Jules Verne1828–1905 · 🇫🇷 France · Writers16 decades - 23
Frédéric Chopin1810–1849 · 🇫🇷 France · Musicians16 decades - 24
Oscar Wilde1854–1900 · 🇬🇧 United Kingdom · Writers14 decades - 25
Nikolai Gogol1809–1852 · Writers19 decades - 26
Edgar Allan Poe1809–1849 · 🇺🇸 United States · Writers17 decades - 27
Émile Zola1840–1902 · 🇫🇷 France · Writers16 decades - 28
Sarah Bernhardt1844–1923 · 🇫🇷 France · Actors15 decades - 29
Honoré de Balzac1799–1850 · 🇫🇷 France · Writers17 decades - 30
Thomas Edison1847–1931 · 🇺🇸 United States · Scientists13 decades - 31
Dmitri Mendeleev1834–1907 · Scientists11 decades - 32
Theodore Roosevelt1858–1919 · 🇺🇸 United States · Politicians16 decades - 33
Charles Dickens1812–1870 · 🇬🇧 United Kingdom · Writers20 decades - 34
Claude Monet1840–1926 · 🇫🇷 France · Artists14 decades - 35
George Sand1804–1876 · 🇫🇷 France · Writers20 decades
- 36
Giuseppe Verdi1813–1901 · 🇮🇹 Italy · Musicians18 decades - 37
Guy de Maupassant1850–1893 · 🇫🇷 France · Writers14 decades - 38
Arthur Schopenhauer1788–1860 · Academics20 decades - 39
Louis Pasteur1822–1895 · 🇫🇷 France · Scientists14 decades - 40
Arthur Rimbaud1854–1891 · 🇫🇷 France · Writers14 decades
- 41
Mark Twain1835–1910 · 🇺🇸 United States · Writers16 decades - 42
Charles Baudelaire1821–1867 · 🇫🇷 France · Writers17 decades - 43
Heinrich Heine1797–1856 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Writers21 decades
- 44
Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel1770–1831 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Academics21 decades - 45
Napoleon III1808–1873 · 🇫🇷 France · Politicians21 decades - 46
Franz Schubert1797–1828 · 🇦🇹 Austria · Musicians22 decades - 47
Mikhail Lermontov1814–1841 · Writers15 decades - 48
James A. Garfield1831–1881 · 🇺🇸 United States · Politicians16 decades - 49
Antoni Gaudí1852–1926 · 🇪🇸 Spain · Architects5 decades - 50
Hans Christian Andersen1805–1875 · Writers18 decades - 51
Wilhelm II, German Emperor1859–1941 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Historical Figures17 decades - 52
Carl Friedrich Gauss1777–1855 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Academics11 decades - 53
Pope Leo XIII1810–1903 · 🇮🇹 Italy · Religious Figures15 decades - 54
Alfred Nobel1833–1896 · 🇸🇪 Sweden · Scientists13 decades - 55
Alexander I of Russia1777–1825 · Historical Figures21 decades - 56
Gustav Mahler1860–1911 · Musicians13 decades - 57
Paul Cézanne1839–1906 · 🇫🇷 France · Artists12 decades - 58
Giacomo Puccini1858–1924 · 🇮🇹 Italy · Musicians15 decades - 59
Giuseppe Garibaldi1807–1882 · 🇫🇷 France · Politicians11 decades - 60
Giacomo Leopardi1798–1837 · 🇮🇹 Italy · Writers22 decades - 61
Johannes Brahms1833–1897 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Musicians17 decades - 62
Taras Shevchenko1814–1861 · Writers13 decades - 63
Lord Byron1788–1824 · 🇬🇧 United Kingdom · Writers22 decades - 64
Arthur Conan Doyle1859–1930 · 🇬🇧 United Kingdom · Writers12 decades - 65
Nicholas I of Russia1796–1855 · Models19 decades - 66
Ada Lovelace1815–1852 · Academics3 decades - 67
Alexander von Humboldt1769–1859 · Historical Figures8 decades - 68
Henry Ford1863–1947 · 🇺🇸 United States · Founders16 decades - 69
Alexander II of Russia1818–1881 · Historical Figures17 decades - 70
Pope Pius XI1857–1939 · 🇮🇹 Italy · Religious Figures10 decades - 71
Gabriele D'Annunzio1863–1938 · 🇮🇹 Italy · Writers14 decades - 72
Robert Louis Stevenson1850–1894 · 🇬🇧 United Kingdom · Writers15 decades - 73
Pope Pius IX1792–1878 · 🇮🇹 Italy · Religious Figures18 decades - 74
Max Weber1864–1920 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Academics15 decades - 75
Edward VII1841–1910 · 🇬🇧 United Kingdom · Historical Figures13 decades - 76
Mary Shelley1797–1851 · 🇬🇧 United Kingdom · Writers16 decades - 77
Friedrich Engels1820–1895 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Academics17 decades - 78
Gustave Flaubert1821–1880 · 🇫🇷 France · Writers17 decades - 79
Paul von Hindenburg1847–1934 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Politicians10 decades - 80
Pope Pius X1835–1914 · 🇮🇹 Italy · Religious Figures12 decades - 81
Paul Gauguin1848–1903 · 🇫🇷 France · Artists13 decades - 82
William McKinley1843–1901 · 🇺🇸 United States · Politicians16 decades - 83
Max Planck1858–1947 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Scientists14 decades - 84
Florence Nightingale1820–1910 · Writers17 decades - 85
Alexander III of Russia1845–1894 · Historical Figures16 decades - 86
Franz Joseph I of Austria1830–1916 · 🇦🇹 Austria · Historical Figures18 decades - 87
Gustav Klimt1862–1918 · 🇦🇹 Austria · Artists12 decades - 88
Franz Liszt1811–1886 · 🇦🇹 Austria · Musicians19 decades - 89
Woodrow Wilson1856–1924 · 🇺🇸 United States · Politicians14 decades - 90
Felix Mendelssohn1809–1847 · Musicians18 decades - 91
Stendhal1783–1842 · 🇫🇷 France · Writers22 decades - 92
Emily Brontë1818–1848 · 🇬🇧 United Kingdom · Writers14 decades - 93
Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria1863–1914 · 🇦🇹 Austria · Politiciansnot measured— - 94
Robert Schumann1810–1856 · 🇩🇪 Germany · Musicians19 decades - 95
Philippe Pétain1856–1951 · 🇫🇷 France · Politicians8 decades - 96
Ulysses S. Grant1822–1885 · 🇺🇸 United States · Politicians16 decades - 97
Søren Kierkegaard1813–1855 · Academics3 decades - 98
Pope Benedict XV1854–1922 · 🇮🇹 Italy · Religious Figures11 decades - 99
Gustave Eiffel1832–1923 · 🇫🇷 France · Scientists10 decades - 100
Empress Dowager Cixi1835–1908 · 🇨🇳 China · Historical Figures5 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.