215,950 profiles ranked

← Fame through time1800-1899

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.

  1. 1Zhu Xi1130-1200 · 12th century · China · Writers870
  2. 2Li Hongzhang1823-1901 · 19th century · China · Politicians149
  3. 3Zhang Zhidong1837-1909 · 19th century · Politicians86
  4. 4Zuo Zongtang1812-1885 · 19th century · China · Politicians43
  5. 5Ban Gu32-92 · 1st century · Writers40
  6. 6Ge Hong284-364 · 4th century · Academics40
  7. 7Chen Shou233-297 · 3rd century · Writers14
  8. 8Mao Zedong1893-1976 · 20th century · China · Politicians12
  9. 9Lu Xun1881-1936 · 20th century · China · Writers11

Lived then

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

  1. 1Hiroshige1797-1858 · Japan · Artistsnot measured-
  2. 2Tokugawa Yoshinobu1837-1913 · Japan · Artists0 decades
  3. 3Utagawa Kuniyoshi1798-1861 · Japan · Artists0 decades
  4. 4Yoshitoshi1839-1892 · Japan · Artistsnot measured-
  5. 5Utagawa Kunisada1786-1865 · Japan · Artists0 decades
  6. 6Keisai Eisen1790-1848 · Japan · Artistsnot measured-
  7. 7Katsushika Ōi1800-1866 · Japan · Artistsnot measured-
  8. 8Kawanabe Kyōsai1831-1889 · Japan · Artistsnot measured-
  9. 9Toyohara Chikanobu1838-1912 · Japan · Artistsnot measured-
  10. 10Utagawa Toyokuni I1769-1825 · Japan · Artistsnot measured-
  11. 11Kobayashi Kiyochika1847-1915 · Japan · Artistsnot measured-
  12. 12Kikuchi Yōsai1788-1878 · Japan · Artistsnot measured-
  13. 13Hashimoto Gahō1835-1908 · Japan · Artistsnot measured-
  14. 14Kusakabe Kimbei1841-1932 · Japan · Artistsnot measured-
  15. 15Kanō Hōgai1828-1888 · Japan · Artistsnot measured-
  16. 16Tomioka Tessai1837-1924 · Japan · Artistsnot measured-
  17. 17Watanabe Kazan1793-1841 · Japan · Artistsnot measured-
  18. 18Takeuchi Seihō1864-1942 · Japan · Artistsnot measured-
  19. 19Utagawa Hiroshige II1826-1869 · Japan · Artistsnot measured-
  20. 20Ōtagaki Rengetsu1791-1875 · Japan · Artistsnot measured-
  21. 21Utagawa Yoshiiku1833-1904 · Japan · Artistsnot measured-
  22. 22Matsuura Takeshirō1818-1888 · Japan · Artistsnot measured-
  23. 23Asai Chū1856-1907 · Japan · Artistsnot measured-
  24. 24Kiyohara Tama1861-1939 · Japan · Artistsnot measured-
  25. 25Toyohara Kunichika1835-1900 · Japan · Artistsnot measured-
Show 64 more

How to read these rankings

  • Attention, not reputation. A place on these lists reflects the attention a person still draws in the public record. It is not a judgement on the life.
  • Fame in print. The curves show how often a name appeared in the books of each decade from 1800 to 2019, drawn from the Google Books Ngram corpus.
  • Gaps are left as gaps. Where the record is too thin to be fair, we would rather show nothing than guess.