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
#PersonIn print, 1800–2019Per million words
- 1
Zhu Xi1130–1200 · 12th century · 🇨🇳 China · Writers870 - 2
Li Hongzhang1823–1901 · 19th century · 🇨🇳 China · Politicians149 - 3
Zhang Zhidong1837–1909 · 19th century · Politicians86 - 4
Zuo Zongtang1812–1885 · 19th century · 🇨🇳 China · Politicians43 - 5
Ban Gu32–92 · 1st century · Writers40 - 6
Ge Hong284–364 · 4th century · Academics40 - 7CSChen Shou233–297 · 3rd century · Writers14
- 8
Mao Zedong1893–1976 · 20th century · 🇨🇳 China · Politicians12 - 9
Lu 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.
#PersonIn print, 1800–2019Echoed
- 1
Frédéric Chopin1810–1849 · 🇫🇷 France · Musicians16 decades - 2
Claude Debussy1862–1918 · 🇫🇷 France · Musicians12 decades - 3
Hector Berlioz1803–1869 · 🇫🇷 France · Musicians19 decades - 4
Georges Bizet1838–1875 · 🇫🇷 France · Musicians15 decades - 5
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Jacques Offenbach1819–1880 · 🇫🇷 France · Musicians16 decades - 6
Camille Saint-Saëns1835–1921 · 🇫🇷 France · Musicians15 decades - 7
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Charles Gounod1818–1893 · 🇫🇷 France · Musicians17 decades - 8
Gabriel Fauré1845–1924 · 🇫🇷 France · Musicians14 decades - 9
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Jules Massenet1842–1912 · 🇫🇷 France · Musicians14 decades - 10
Léo Delibes1836–1891 · 🇫🇷 France · Musicians16 decades - 11
Hortense de Beauharnais1783–1837 · 🇫🇷 France · Musicians20 decades - 12
Charles-Valentin Alkan1813–1888 · 🇫🇷 France · Musicians0 decades - 13
Adolphe Adam1803–1856 · 🇫🇷 France · Musicians19 decades - 14
Pauline Viardot1821–1910 · 🇫🇷 France · Musicians18 decades - 15
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Charles-Marie Widor1844–1937 · 🇫🇷 France · Musicians8 decades - 16
Ernest Chausson1855–1899 · 🇫🇷 France · Musicians13 decades - 17
Édouard Lalo1823–1892 · 🇫🇷 France · Musicians1 decades - 18
Cécile Chaminade1857–1944 · 🇫🇷 France · Musicians1 decades - 19
Emmanuel Chabrier1841–1894 · 🇫🇷 France · Musicians14 decades - 20
Vincent d'Indy1851–1931 · 🇫🇷 France · Musicians14 decades - 21
Daniel Auber1782–1871 · 🇫🇷 France · Musicians0 decades - 22
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Maria Malibran1808–1836 · 🇫🇷 France · Musicians7 decades - 23
Mélanie Bonis1858–1937 · 🇫🇷 France · Musicians1 decades - 24
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Anton Reicha1770–1836 · 🇫🇷 France · Musicians0 decades - 25
Aristide Bruant1851–1925 · 🇫🇷 France · Musicians13 decades - 26
Émile Waldteufel1837–1915 · 🇫🇷 France · Musicians0 decades - 27
Fromental Halévy1799–1862 · 🇫🇷 France · Musicians4 decades - 28
Ambroise Thomas1811–1896 · 🇫🇷 France · Musicians19 decades - 29
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Gaspare Spontini1774–1851 · 🇫🇷 France · Musicians16 decades - 30
Louise Farrenc1804–1875 · 🇫🇷 France · Musiciansnot measured— - 31
Friedrich Burgmüller1806–1874 · 🇫🇷 France · Musiciansnot measured— - 32
François Adrien Boieldieu1775–1834 · 🇫🇷 France · Musicians0 decades - 33
Rodolphe Kreutzer1766–1831 · 🇫🇷 France · Musicians9 decades - 34
Augusta Holmès1847–1903 · 🇫🇷 France · Musiciansnot measured— - 35
Henri Duparc1848–1933 · 🇫🇷 France · Musicians12 decades - 36
Gabriel Pierné1863–1937 · 🇫🇷 France · Musicians13 decades - 37
André Messager1853–1929 · 🇫🇷 France · Musicians14 decades - 38
Théodore Dubois1837–1924 · 🇫🇷 France · Musicians15 decades - 39
Alexandre Guilmant1837–1911 · 🇫🇷 France · Musicians13 decades - 40
Gustave Charpentier1860–1956 · 🇫🇷 France · Musicians13 decades - 41
Emma Calvé1858–1942 · 🇫🇷 France · Musicians11 decades - 42
Léon Boëllmann1862–1897 · 🇫🇷 France · Musiciansnot measured— - 43
François Sudre1787–1862 · 🇫🇷 France · Musiciansnot measured— - 44
Benjamin Godard1849–1895 · 🇫🇷 France · Musiciansnot measured— - 45
George Onslow1784–1853 · 🇫🇷 France · Musiciansnot measured— - 46
Jules Perrot1810–1892 · 🇫🇷 France · Musicians2 decades - 47
Suzanne Manet1829–1906 · 🇫🇷 France · Musiciansnot measured— - 48
Ferdinand Hérold1791–1833 · 🇫🇷 France · Musiciansnot measured— - 49
Célestine Galli-Marié1837–1905 · 🇫🇷 France · Musiciansnot measured— - 50
Ernest Guiraud1837–1892 · 🇫🇷 France · Musicians13 decades - 51
Henri Herz1802–1888 · 🇫🇷 France · Musiciansnot measured— - 52
François Delsarte1811–1871 · 🇫🇷 France · Musiciansnot measured— - 53
Charles Lecocq1832–1918 · 🇫🇷 France · Musiciansnot measured— - 54
Guy Ropartz1864–1955 · 🇫🇷 France · Musiciansnot measured— - 55
Charles-Louis Hanon1819–1900 · 🇫🇷 France · Musiciansnot measured— - 56
Marie Jaëll1846–1925 · 🇫🇷 France · Musiciansnot measured— - 57
Pierre Rode1774–1830 · 🇫🇷 France · Musiciansnot measured— - 58
Henry Litolff1818–1891 · 🇫🇷 France · Musiciansnot measured— - 59
Antoine-François Marmontel1816–1898 · 🇫🇷 France · Musicians0 decades - 60
Alfred Lefébure-Wély1817–1869 · 🇫🇷 France · Musiciansnot measured— - 61
Eugène Gigout1844–1925 · 🇫🇷 France · Musiciansnot measured— - 62
Philipp von Ferrary1850–1917 · 🇫🇷 France · Musiciansnot measured— - 63
Maurice Emmanuel1862–1938 · 🇫🇷 France · Musiciansnot measured— - 64
Juliette Colbert de Barolo1785–1864 · 🇫🇷 France · Musiciansnot measured— - 65
Marie Pleyel1811–1875 · 🇫🇷 France · Musiciansnot measured— - 66
Charles Dancla1817–1907 · 🇫🇷 France · Musiciansnot measured— - 67
Arthur Saint-Léon1821–1870 · 🇫🇷 France · Musiciansnot measured— - 68
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Auguste Franchomme1808–1884 · 🇫🇷 France · Musiciansnot measured— - 69
Louis Théodore Gouvy1819–1898 · 🇫🇷 France · Musiciansnot measured— - 70
Nicolas-Charles Bochsa1789–1856 · 🇫🇷 France · Musiciansnot measured— - 71
Paul Taffanel1844–1908 · 🇫🇷 France · Musiciansnot measured— - 72
Jean-Baptiste Arban1825–1889 · 🇫🇷 France · Musiciansnot measured— - 73
Napoléon Coste1805–1883 · 🇫🇷 France · Musiciansnot measured— - 74
Hervé1825–1892 · 🇫🇷 France · Musiciansnot measured— - 75
Clémence de Grandval1828–1907 · 🇫🇷 France · Musiciansnot measured— - 76
Arnold Dolmetsch1858–1940 · 🇫🇷 France · Musiciansnot measured— - 77
Robert Planquette1848–1903 · 🇫🇷 France · Musicians3 decades - 78
Adolphe Nourrit1802–1839 · 🇫🇷 France · Musiciansnot measured— - 79
Félicien-César David1810–1876 · 🇫🇷 France · Musiciansnot measured— - 80
Pierre Baillot1771–1842 · 🇫🇷 France · Musiciansnot measured— - 81
André Gedalge1856–1926 · 🇫🇷 France · Musiciansnot measured— - 82
Louis Diémer1843–1919 · 🇫🇷 France · Musiciansnot measured— - 83
Gilbert Duprez1806–1896 · 🇫🇷 France · Musiciansnot measured— - 84
Jean-Baptiste Faure1830–1914 · 🇫🇷 France · Musiciansnot measured— - 85
Victor Massé1822–1884 · 🇫🇷 France · Musiciansnot measured— - 86
Paul Vidal1863–1931 · 🇫🇷 France · Musiciansnot measured— - 87
Camille Pleyel1788–1855 · 🇫🇷 France · Musiciansnot measured— - 88
Cornélie Falcon1814–1897 · 🇫🇷 France · Musiciansnot measured— - 89
Jean-Delphin Alard1815–1888 · 🇫🇷 France · Musiciansnot measured— - 90
Ernest Reyer1823–1909 · 🇫🇷 France · Musiciansnot measured— - 91
Victor Maurel1848–1923 · 🇫🇷 France · Musiciansnot measured— - 92
Alfred Bruneau1857–1934 · 🇫🇷 France · Musiciansnot measured— - 93
Marie Bigot1786–1820 · 🇫🇷 France · Musiciansnot measured—
- 94
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Raoul Pugno1852–1914 · 🇫🇷 France · Musiciansnot measured— - 95
Jacques Féréol Mazas1782–1849 · 🇫🇷 France · Musiciansnot measured— - 96
Ernest Goüin1815–1885 · 🇫🇷 France · Musiciansnot measured— - 97
Isidor Philipp1863–1958 · 🇫🇷 France · Musiciansnot measured— - 98
François Habeneck1781–1849 · 🇫🇷 France · Musiciansnot measured— - 99
Nicolas Isouard1775–1818 · 🇫🇷 France · Musiciansnot measured— - 100
Albert Lavignac1846–1916 · 🇫🇷 France · Musiciansnot 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.