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
Jules Vallès1832–1885 · 🇫🇷 France · Journalists16 decades - 2
Jules Guesde1845–1922 · 🇫🇷 France · Journalists14 decades - 3
Jean-Baptiste Henri Lacordaire1802–1861 · 🇫🇷 France · Journalists14 decades - 4
Édouard Drumont1844–1917 · 🇫🇷 France · Journalists14 decades - 5
Jean-Baptiste Alphonse Karr1808–1890 · 🇫🇷 France · Journalists19 decades - 6
Victor Noir1848–1870 · 🇫🇷 France · Journalistsnot measured— - 7
Jean-Lambert Tallien1767–1820 · 🇫🇷 France · Journalists0 decades
- 8
Louis Charles Delescluze1809–1871 · 🇫🇷 France · Journalistsnot measured— - 9
Marguerite Durand1864–1936 · 🇫🇷 France · Journalists13 decades - 10
Henri Rochefort1831–1913 · 🇫🇷 France · Journalists17 decades - 11
Félix Fénéon1861–1944 · 🇫🇷 France · Journalists13 decades - 12
Maria Deraismes1828–1894 · 🇫🇷 France · Journalists9 decades - 13
Maurice Joly1829–1878 · 🇫🇷 France · Journalistsnot measured— - 14
Louis Veuillot1813–1883 · 🇫🇷 France · Journalistsnot measured— - 15
Charles-Louis Havas1783–1858 · 🇫🇷 France · Journalistsnot measured— - 16
François Mignet1796–1884 · 🇫🇷 France · Journalists0 decades - 17
Conrad Malte-Brun1775–1826 · 🇫🇷 France · Journalists4 decades - 18
Théophile Thoré-Bürger1807–1869 · 🇫🇷 France · Journalistsnot measured— - 19
Petrus Borel1809–1859 · 🇫🇷 France · Journalistsnot measured— - 20
Jeanne Deroin1805–1894 · 🇫🇷 France · Journalistsnot measured— - 21
Arsène Arnaud Claretie1840–1913 · 🇫🇷 France · Journalists16 decades - 22
Prosper-Olivier Lissagaray1838–1901 · 🇫🇷 France · Journalistsnot measured— - 23
Gustave Geffroy1855–1926 · 🇫🇷 France · Journalistsnot measured— - 24
Émile Pouget1860–1931 · 🇫🇷 France · Journalistsnot measured— - 25
Émile Souvestre1806–1854 · 🇫🇷 France · Journalistsnot measured— - 26
Jean Grave1854–1939 · 🇫🇷 France · Journalistsnot measured— - 27
Armand Carrel1800–1836 · 🇫🇷 France · Journalistsnot measured— - 28
Édouard Pailleron1834–1899 · 🇫🇷 France · Journalists4 decades - 29
Antonin Proust1832–1905 · 🇫🇷 France · Journalistsnot measured— - 30
Alfred Capus1857–1922 · 🇫🇷 France · Journalists13 decades - 31
Jules Guérin1860–1910 · 🇫🇷 France · Journalistsnot measured— - 32
Zo d'Axa1864–1930 · 🇫🇷 France · Journalistsnot measured— - 33
Joseph Reinach1856–1921 · 🇫🇷 France · Journalistsnot measured— - 34
Joseph Méry1797–1866 · 🇫🇷 France · Journalistsnot measured— - 35
Anselme Bellegarrigue1813–1890 · 🇫🇷 France · Journalistsnot measured— - 36
Claire Démar1799–1833 · 🇫🇷 France · Journalistsnot measured— - 37
Élie Reclus1827–1904 · 🇫🇷 France · Journalistsnot measured— - 38
Paul Alexis1847–1901 · 🇫🇷 France · Journalistsnot measured— - 39
Paule Mink1839–1901 · 🇫🇷 France · Journalistsnot measured— - 40
Gustave Flourens1838–1871 · 🇫🇷 France · Journalistsnot measured— - 41
Suzanne Voilquin1799–1876 · 🇫🇷 France · Journalistsnot measured— - 42
Abel Hugo1798–1855 · 🇫🇷 France · Journalistsnot measured— - 43
Marc-André Raffalovich1864–1934 · 🇫🇷 France · Journalistsnot measured— - 44
Théodore Duret1838–1927 · 🇫🇷 France · Journalistsnot measured— - 45
Gaston Calmette1858–1914 · 🇫🇷 France · Journalistsnot measured— - 46
Francisque Sarcey1827–1899 · 🇫🇷 France · Journalistsnot measured— - 47
Octave Uzanne1851–1931 · 🇫🇷 France · Journalistsnot measured— - 48
Jules-Antoine Castagnary1830–1888 · 🇫🇷 France · Journalistsnot measured— - 49
Raoul Rigault1846–1871 · 🇫🇷 France · Journalistsnot measured— - 50
Fortuné du Boisgobey1821–1891 · 🇫🇷 France · Journalistsnot measured— - 51
René Doumic1860–1937 · 🇫🇷 France · Journalistsnot measured— - 52
Eugène Brieux1858–1932 · 🇫🇷 France · Journalistsnot measured— - 53
Charles Yriarte1832–1898 · 🇫🇷 France · Journalistsnot measured— - 54
Arthur Meyer1844–1924 · 🇫🇷 France · Journalistsnot measured— - 55
Hippolyte de Villemessant1810–1879 · 🇫🇷 France · Journalistsnot measured— - 56
Léon Halévy1802–1883 · 🇫🇷 France · Journalistsnot measured— - 57PRPauline Roland1805–1852 · 🇫🇷 France · Journalistsnot measured—
- 58
Jean Théophile Victor Leclerc1771–1820 · 🇫🇷 France · Journalistsnot measured— - 59
Lucien-Anatole Prévost-Paradol1829–1870 · 🇫🇷 France · Journalistsnot measured— - 60
Ernest Daudet1837–1921 · 🇫🇷 France · Journalistsnot measured— - 61
Philarète Chasles1798–1873 · 🇫🇷 France · Journalistsnot measured— - 62
Georges Charpentier1847–1905 · 🇫🇷 France · Journalistsnot measured— - 63
Marie-Jean-Lucien Lacaze1860–1955 · 🇫🇷 France · Journalistsnot measured— - 64
Henri Blowitz1825–1903 · 🇫🇷 France · Journalistsnot measured— - 65
Louis-François Bertin1766–1841 · 🇫🇷 France · Journalistsnot measured— - 66
Paul Hervieu1857–1915 · 🇫🇷 France · Journalistsnot measured— - 67
Arthur Arnould1833–1895 · 🇫🇷 France · Journalistsnot measured— - 68
Marc-Antoine Jullien de Paris1775–1848 · 🇫🇷 France · Journalistsnot measured— - 69
Paul d'Ivoi1856–1915 · 🇫🇷 France · Journalistsnot measured— - 70
Amédée Thierry1797–1873 · 🇫🇷 France · Journalistsnot measured— - 71
Prince Bojidar Karageorgevitch1862–1908 · 🇫🇷 France · Journalistsnot measured— - 72
Gaston de Raousset-Boulbon1817–1854 · 🇫🇷 France · Journalistsnot measured— - 73
Émile Eudes1843–1888 · 🇫🇷 France · Journalistsnot measured— - 74
Joseph Fiévée1767–1839 · 🇫🇷 France · Journalistsnot measured— - 75
Amand Bazard1791–1832 · 🇫🇷 France · Journalistsnot measured— - 76
Eugène de Mirecourt1812–1880 · 🇫🇷 France · Journalistsnot measured—
- 77
Jules Lermina1839–1915 · 🇫🇷 France · Journalistsnot measured— - 78DGDesirée Gay1810–1890 · 🇫🇷 France · Journalistsnot measured—
- 79
Philippe Gille1830–1901 · 🇫🇷 France · Journalistsnot measured— - 80
Louis Ulbach1822–1889 · 🇫🇷 France · Journalistsnot measured— - 81
Éléonore-Louis Godefroi Cavaignac1801–1845 · 🇫🇷 France · Journalistsnot measured— - 82
Charles Monselet1825–1888 · 🇫🇷 France · Journalistsnot measured— - 83
Alphonse Toussenel1803–1885 · 🇫🇷 France · Journalistsnot measured— - 84
Léon Richer1824–1911 · 🇫🇷 France · Journalistsnot measured— - 85
Amédée Guillemin1826–1893 · 🇫🇷 France · Journalistsnot measured— - 86ARAlphonse Rabbe1784–1829 · 🇫🇷 France · Journalistsnot measured—
- 87
Victorine Brocher1839–1921 · 🇫🇷 France · Journalistsnot measured— - 88
Moïse Polydore Millaud1813–1871 · 🇫🇷 France · Journalistsnot measured— - 89
Édouard Charton1807–1890 · 🇫🇷 France · Journalistsnot measured— - 90TDThéodore Dézamy1808–1850 · 🇫🇷 France · Journalistsnot measured—
- 91
Paul Foucher1810–1875 · 🇫🇷 France · Journalistsnot measured— - 92
Adolphe Joanne1813–1881 · 🇫🇷 France · Journalistsnot measured— - 93
Auguste-Jean-Marie Vermorel1841–1871 · 🇫🇷 France · Journalistsnot measured— - 94
Maria Pognon1844–1925 · 🇫🇷 France · Journalistsnot measured— - 95
Baptiste Capefigue1798–1872 · 🇫🇷 France · Journalistsnot measured— - 96
Urbain Gohier1862–1951 · 🇫🇷 France · Journalistsnot measured— - 97
Prosper Duvergier de Hauranne1798–1881 · 🇫🇷 France · Journalistsnot measured— - 98
Aurélien Scholl1833–1902 · 🇫🇷 France · Journalistsnot measured— - 99
Edmund Chojecki1822–1899 · 🇫🇷 France · Journalistsnot measured— - 100
Pierre-Michel-François Chevalier1812–1863 · 🇫🇷 France · Journalistsnot measured—
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.