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
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Louis Pasteur1822–1895 · 🇫🇷 France · Scientists14 decades - 2
Gustave Eiffel1832–1923 · 🇫🇷 France · Scientists10 decades - 3
Pierre Curie1859–1906 · 🇫🇷 France · Scientists13 decades - 4
André-Marie Ampère1775–1836 · 🇫🇷 France · Scientists15 decades - 5
Rudolf Diesel1858–1913 · 🇫🇷 France · Scientists10 decades - 6
Henri Becquerel1852–1908 · 🇫🇷 France · Scientists15 decades - 7
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Louis Braille1809–1852 · 🇫🇷 France · Scientists14 decades - 8
Georges Cuvier1769–1832 · 🇫🇷 France · Scientists21 decades - 9
Nicéphore Niépce1765–1833 · 🇫🇷 France · Scientists6 decades - 10
Louis Daguerre1787–1851 · 🇫🇷 France · Scientists1 decades - 11
Nicolas Léonard Sadi Carnot1796–1832 · 🇫🇷 France · Scientists16 decades - 12
Joseph Louis Gay-Lussac1778–1850 · 🇫🇷 France · Scientistsnot measured— - 13
Élie Metchnikoff1845–1916 · 🇫🇷 France · Scientistsnot measured— - 14
Léon Foucault1819–1868 · 🇫🇷 France · Scientists14 decades - 15
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Augustin-Jean Fresnel1788–1827 · 🇫🇷 France · Scientists15 decades - 16
Camille Flammarion1842–1925 · 🇫🇷 France · Scientists16 decades - 17
Clément Ader1841–1925 · 🇫🇷 France · Scientists11 decades - 18
Urbain Le Verrier1811–1877 · 🇫🇷 France · Scientists4 decades - 19
Marcellin Berthelot1827–1907 · 🇫🇷 France · Scientists15 decades - 20
Michel Eugène Chevreul1786–1889 · 🇫🇷 France · Scientists1 decades - 21
Gabriel Lippmann1845–1921 · 🇫🇷 France · Scientists7 decades - 22
Louis Le Princeborn 1841 · 🇫🇷 France · Scientistsnot measured— - 23
Jean Eugène Robert-Houdin1805–1871 · 🇫🇷 France · Scientistsnot measured— - 24
Henry Louis Le Chatelier1850–1936 · 🇫🇷 France · Scientists12 decades - 25
Jean-Baptiste Biot1774–1862 · 🇫🇷 France · Scientists3 decades - 26
Henri Moissan1852–1907 · 🇫🇷 France · Scientists8 decades - 27
Claude-Louis Navier1785–1836 · 🇫🇷 France · Scientists0 decades - 28
Étienne-Jules Marey1830–1904 · 🇫🇷 France · Scientists3 decades - 29
Guillaume Henri Dufour1787–1875 · 🇫🇷 France · Scientists0 decades - 30
Edmond Becquerel1820–1891 · 🇫🇷 France · Scientists14 decades - 31
Édouard-Léon Scott de Martinville1817–1879 · 🇫🇷 France · Scientistsnot measured— - 32
André-Jacques Garnerin1769–1823 · 🇫🇷 France · Scientists0 decades - 33
Marc Isambard Brunel1769–1849 · 🇫🇷 France · Scientistsnot measured— - 34
Paul Sabatier1854–1941 · 🇫🇷 France · Scientists14 decades - 35
Pierre Duhem1861–1916 · 🇫🇷 France · Scientists12 decades - 36
Paul Vidal de La Blache1845–1918 · 🇫🇷 France · Scientists3 decades - 37
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Benoît Paul Émile Clapeyron1799–1864 · 🇫🇷 France · Scientists0 decades - 38
Pierre Janssen1824–1907 · 🇫🇷 France · Scientists3 decades - 39
André Michelin1853–1931 · 🇫🇷 France · Scientists6 decades - 40
Roland Bonaparte1858–1924 · 🇫🇷 France · Scientists14 decades - 41
Jean-Baptiste Dumas1800–1884 · 🇫🇷 France · Scientists14 decades - 42
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Louis Lumière1864–1948 · 🇫🇷 France · Scientists13 decades - 43
Éleuthère Irénée du Pont1771–1834 · 🇫🇷 France · Scientistsnot measured— - 44
Alcide d'Orbigny1802–1857 · 🇫🇷 France · Scientists0 decades - 45
Armand David1826–1900 · 🇫🇷 France · Scientists8 decades - 46
Antoine Béchamp1816–1908 · 🇫🇷 France · Scientistsnot measured— - 47
Marc Seguin1786–1875 · 🇫🇷 France · Scientists16 decades - 48
Édouard Branly1844–1940 · 🇫🇷 France · Scientists3 decades - 49
Louis Jacques Thénard1777–1857 · 🇫🇷 France · Scientists0 decades - 50
Henry Darcy1803–1858 · 🇫🇷 France · Scientists0 decades - 51
Émile Baudot1845–1903 · 🇫🇷 France · Scientists0 decades - 52
Henri Marie Ducrotay de Blainville1777–1850 · 🇫🇷 France · Scientistsnot measured— - 53
Charles-Adolphe Wurtz1817–1884 · 🇫🇷 France · Scientists0 decades - 54
Jeanne Villepreux-Power1794–1871 · 🇫🇷 France · Scientistsnot measured— - 55
Charles Joseph Minard1781–1870 · 🇫🇷 France · Scientistsnot measured— - 56
Antoine Thomson d'Abbadie1810–1897 · 🇫🇷 France · Scientists0 decades - 57
Fulgence Bienvenüe1852–1936 · 🇫🇷 France · Scientistsnot measured— - 58
Paul-Émile Lecoq de Boisbaudran1838–1912 · 🇫🇷 France · Scientistsnot measured— - 59
Félix Savart1791–1841 · 🇫🇷 France · Scientists3 decades - 60
Henri Giffard1825–1882 · 🇫🇷 France · Scientists4 decades - 61
Charles Friedel1832–1899 · 🇫🇷 France · Scientists7 decades - 62
Jean Charles Athanase Peltier1785–1845 · 🇫🇷 France · Scientistsnot measured— - 63
Gaston Planté1834–1889 · 🇫🇷 France · Scientists8 decades - 64
Henri Victor Regnault1810–1878 · 🇫🇷 France · Scientists7 decades - 65
Antoine César Becquerel1788–1878 · 🇫🇷 France · Scientists0 decades - 66
Henri Mouhot1826–1861 · 🇫🇷 France · Scientists8 decades - 67
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Édouard-Alfred Martel1859–1938 · 🇫🇷 France · Scientistsnot measured— - 68
Victor Loret1859–1946 · 🇫🇷 France · Scientists9 decades - 69
Paul Ulrich Villard1860–1934 · 🇫🇷 France · Scientists1 decades - 70
Alexandre Brongniart1770–1847 · 🇫🇷 France · Scientists22 decades - 71
Léon Gaumont1864–1946 · 🇫🇷 France · Scientistsnot measured— - 72
François-Vincent Raspail1794–1878 · 🇫🇷 France · Scientistsnot measured— - 73
Antoine Jérôme Balard1802–1876 · 🇫🇷 France · Scientists0 decades - 74
Jacques-Arsène d'Arsonval1851–1940 · 🇫🇷 France · Scientists4 decades - 75
Jacques Curie1855–1941 · 🇫🇷 France · Scientistsnot measured— - 76
Octave Chanute1832–1910 · 🇫🇷 France · Scientistsnot measured— - 77
Édouard Roche1820–1883 · 🇫🇷 France · Scientists0 decades - 78
Adolphe Alphand1817–1891 · 🇫🇷 France · Scientists2 decades - 79
Charles Frédéric Gerhardt1816–1856 · 🇫🇷 France · Scientists5 decades - 80
Bernard Courtois1777–1838 · 🇫🇷 France · Scientists1 decades - 81
Auguste Bravais1811–1863 · 🇫🇷 France · Scientists1 decades - 82
Augustin Saint-Hilaire1779–1853 · 🇫🇷 France · Scientists14 decades - 83
Auguste Lumière1862–1954 · 🇫🇷 France · Scientistsnot measured— - 84
Paul Héroult1863–1914 · 🇫🇷 France · Scientists0 decades - 85
Alexis Bouvard1767–1843 · 🇫🇷 France · Scientists0 decades - 86
Frédéric Cuvier1773–1838 · 🇫🇷 France · Scientists19 decades - 87
Pierre Louis Dulong1785–1838 · 🇫🇷 France · Scientists0 decades - 88
Alphonse Pyramus de Candolle1806–1893 · 🇫🇷 France · Scientistsnot measured— - 89PBPierre-François Bouchard1771–1822 · 🇫🇷 France · Scientistsnot measured—
- 90
Jean-Baptiste Boussingault1801–1887 · 🇫🇷 France · Scientists0 decades - 91
Casimir Lefaucheux1802–1852 · 🇫🇷 France · Scientistsnot measured— - 92
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Claude Gay1800–1873 · 🇫🇷 France · Scientistsnot measured— - 93
Gustave Trouvé1839–1902 · 🇫🇷 France · Scientistsnot measured— - 94
Léon Charles Thévenin1857–1926 · 🇫🇷 France · Scientistsnot measured— - 95
Maurice Koechlin1856–1946 · 🇫🇷 France · Scientistsnot measured— - 96
Hippolyte Mège-Mouriès1817–1880 · 🇫🇷 France · Scientistsnot measured— - 97
François-Marie Raoult1830–1901 · 🇫🇷 France · Scientists0 decades - 98
Jules Antoine Lissajous1822–1880 · 🇫🇷 France · Scientistsnot measured— - 99
Auguste Charlois1864–1910 · 🇫🇷 France · Scientistsnot measured— - 100
Anselme Payen1795–1871 · 🇫🇷 France · Scientists0 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.