Claim profile
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 Chinese books during the 19th century — whenever they lived.

In books written inEnglish18,114German3,599French3,347Italian1,787Spanish1,162Russian325Hebrew105Chinese9
  1. 1Zhu XiZhu Xi1130–1200 · 12th century · 🇨🇳 China · Writers870
  2. 2Li HongzhangLi Hongzhang1823–1901 · 19th century · 🇨🇳 China · Politicians149
  3. 3Zhang ZhidongZhang Zhidong1837–1909 · 19th century · Politicians86
  4. 4Zuo ZongtangZuo Zongtang1812–1885 · 19th century · 🇨🇳 China · Politicians43
  5. 5Ban GuBan Gu32–92 · 1st century · Writers40
  6. 6Ge HongGe Hong284–364 · 4th century · Academics40
  7. 7CSChen Shou233–297 · 3rd century · Writers14
  8. 8Mao ZedongMao Zedong1893–1976 · 20th century · 🇨🇳 China · Politicians12
  9. 9Lu XunLu Xun1881–1936 · 20th century · 🇨🇳 China · Writers11

Lived then

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

CountryAll🇺🇸 United States🇫🇷 France🇩🇪 Germany🇬🇧 United Kingdom🇮🇹 Italy🇪🇸 Spain🇯🇵 Japan🇦🇹 Austria🇹🇷 Turkey🇸🇪 Sweden
FieldAllPoliticiansWritersHistorical FiguresScientistsAcademicsArtistsMusiciansDoctorsFoundersJournalists
  1. 1Ludwig BoltzmannLudwig Boltzmann1844–1906 · 🇦🇹 Austria · Scientists15 decades
  2. 2Ferdinand I of BulgariaFerdinand I of Bulgaria1861–1948 · 🇦🇹 Austria · Scientists0 decades
  3. 3Georg LugerGeorg Luger1849–1923 · 🇦🇹 Austria · Scientists0 decades
  4. 4Carl Auer von WelsbachCarl Auer von Welsbach1858–1929 · 🇦🇹 Austria · Scientists0 decades
  5. 5Josef StefanJosef Stefan1835–1893 · 🇦🇹 Austria · Scientists4 decades
  6. 6Daniel SwarovskiDaniel Swarovski1862–1956 · 🇦🇹 Austria · Scientists0 decades
  7. 7Johann PalisaJohann Palisa1848–1925 · 🇦🇹 Austria · Scientists0 decades
  8. 8Gottlieb HaberlandtGottlieb Haberlandt1854–1945 · 🇦🇹 Austria · Scientistsnot measured—
  9. 9Franz S. ExnerFranz S. Exner1849–1926 · 🇦🇹 Austria · Scientistsnot measured—
  10. 10Friedrich ReinitzerFriedrich Reinitzer1857–1927 · 🇦🇹 Austria · Scientistsnot measured—
  11. 11Julius von HannJulius von Hann1839–1921 · 🇦🇹 Austria · Scientistsnot measured—
  12. 12Otto StapfOtto Stapf1857–1933 · 🇦🇹 Austria · Scientistsnot measured—
  13. 13Franz UngerFranz Unger1800–1870 · 🇦🇹 Austria · Scientistsnot measured—
  14. 14Richard WettsteinRichard Wettstein1863–1931 · 🇦🇹 Austria · Scientistsnot measured—
  15. 15Josef Maria EderJosef Maria Eder1855–1944 · 🇦🇹 Austria · Scientistsnot measured—
  16. 16Oskar LenzOskar Lenz1848–1925 · 🇦🇹 Austria · Scientistsnot measured—
  17. 17GBGünther Beck von Mannagetta und Lerchenau1856–1931 · 🇦🇹 Austria · Scientistsnot measured—
  18. 18Ludwig von HöhnelLudwig von Höhnel1857–1942 · 🇦🇹 Austria · Scientistsnot measured—
  19. 19Hans MolischHans Molisch1856–1937 · 🇦🇹 Austria · Scientistsnot measured—
  20. 20Ernst LecherErnst Lecher1856–1926 · 🇦🇹 Austria · Scientistsnot measured—
  21. 21Rudolf SchrödingerRudolf Schrödinger1857–1919 · 🇦🇹 Austria · Scientistsnot measured—
  22. 22Max von GruberMax von Gruber1853–1927 · 🇦🇹 Austria · Scientistsnot measured—
  23. 23Viktor von LangViktor von Lang1838–1921 · 🇦🇹 Austria · Scientistsnot measured—
  24. 24Karl FritschKarl Fritsch1864–1934 · 🇦🇹 Austria · Scientistsnot measured—
  25. 25KWKarl Wilhelm von Dalla Torre1850–1928 · 🇦🇹 Austria · Scientistsnot measured—
  26. 26Eduard HackelEduard Hackel1850–1926 · 🇦🇹 Austria · Scientistsnot measured—
  27. 27SOSamuel Oppenheim1857–1928 · 🇦🇹 Austria · Scientistsnot measured—
  28. 28LALeopold Adametz1861–1941 · 🇦🇹 Austria · Scientistsnot measured—
  29. 29Othmar ReiserOthmar Reiser1861–1936 · 🇦🇹 Austria · Scientistsnot measured—
  30. 30LPLeopold Pfaundler1839–1920 · 🇦🇹 Austria · Scientistsnot measured—
  31. 31FKFriedrich Karl Ginzel1850–1926 · 🇦🇹 Austria · Scientistsnot measured—
  32. 32Albert von EttingshausenAlbert von Ettingshausen1850–1932 · 🇦🇹 Austria · Scientistsnot measured—
  33. 33Rudolf Ferdinand SpitalerRudolf Ferdinand Spitaler1859–1946 · 🇦🇹 Austria · Scientistsnot measured—
  34. 34Josef HerzigJosef Herzig1853–1924 · 🇦🇹 Austria · Scientistsnot measured—
  35. 35MAMarie Andree-Eysn1847–1929 · 🇦🇹 Austria · Scientistsnot measured—
  36. 36Franz Xaver Rudolf von HöhnelFranz Xaver Rudolf von Höhnel1852–1920 · 🇦🇹 Austria · Scientistsnot measured—
  37. 37Gabriel StroblGabriel Strobl1846–1925 · 🇦🇹 Austria · Scientistsnot measured—
  38. 38Leander CzernyLeander Czerny1859–1944 · 🇦🇹 Austria · Scientistsnot measured—
  39. 39Peter SalcherPeter Salcher1848–1928 · 🇦🇹 Austria · Scientistsnot measured—
  40. 40JHJohann Holetschek1846–1923 · 🇦🇹 Austria · Scientistsnot measured—
  41. 41Richard PribramRichard Pribram1847–1928 · 🇦🇹 Austria · Scientistsnot measured—
  42. 42Emil Johann Lambert HeinricherEmil Johann Lambert Heinricher1856–1934 · 🇦🇹 Austria · Scientistsnot measured—
  43. 43Rudolf WegscheiderRudolf Wegscheider1859–1935 · 🇦🇹 Austria · Scientistsnot measured—
  44. 44AHAnton Heimerl1857–1943 · 🇦🇹 Austria · Scientistsnot measured—
  45. 45Anton HartingerAnton Hartinger1806–1890 · 🇦🇹 Austria · Scientistsnot measured—
  46. 46Friedrich EmichFriedrich Emich1860–1940 · 🇦🇹 Austria · Scientistsnot measured—
  47. 47Franz ToulaFranz Toula1845–1920 · 🇦🇹 Austria · Scientistsnot measured—
  48. 48Richard LorenzRichard Lorenz1863–1929 · 🇦🇹 Austria · Scientistsnot measured—
  49. 49GNGustav Niessl von Mayendorf1839–1919 · 🇦🇹 Austria · Scientistsnot measured—
  50. 50JBJohann Brotan1843–1918 · 🇦🇹 Austria · Scientistsnot measured—
  51. 51Emil TietzeEmil Tietze1845–1931 · 🇦🇹 Austria · Scientistsnot measured—
  52. 52VSVictor Schiffner1862–1944 · 🇦🇹 Austria · Scientistsnot measured—
  53. 53Franz ThonnerFranz Thonner1863–1928 · 🇦🇹 Austria · Scientistsnot measured—
  54. 54Karl Alfons PeneckeKarl Alfons Penecke1858–1944 · 🇦🇹 Austria · Scientistsnot 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.