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
Ichiyō Higuchi1872–1896 · 🇯🇵 Japan · Writersnot measured— - 2
Mori Ōgai1862–1922 · 🇯🇵 Japan · Writers0 decades - 3
Futabatei Shimei1864–1909 · 🇯🇵 Japan · Writers0 decades - 4
Okakura Kakuzō1863–1913 · 🇯🇵 Japan · Writers0 decades - 5
Tsubouchi Shōyō1859–1935 · 🇯🇵 Japan · Writers0 decades - 6
Hirata Atsutane1776–1843 · 🇯🇵 Japan · Writersnot measured— - 7
Kanzō Uchimura1861–1930 · 🇯🇵 Japan · Writersnot measured— - 8
Kitamura Tokoku1868–1894 · 🇯🇵 Japan · Writersnot measured— - 9
Ōshio Heihachirō1793–1837 · 🇯🇵 Japan · Writersnot measured— - 10
Komura Jutarō1855–1911 · 🇯🇵 Japan · Writersnot measured— - 11
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Rai San'yo1780–1832 · 🇯🇵 Japan · Writersnot measured— - 12
Jippensha Ikku1765–1831 · 🇯🇵 Japan · Writersnot measured— - 13
Tokutomi Sohō1863–1957 · 🇯🇵 Japan · Writersnot measured— - 14
Hayashi Tadasu1850–1913 · 🇯🇵 Japan · Writersnot measured— - 15
Kazuo Hatoyama1856–1911 · 🇯🇵 Japan · Writersnot measured— - 16
Itō Sachio1864–1913 · 🇯🇵 Japan · Writersnot measured— - 17
Nabeshima Naohiro1846–1921 · 🇯🇵 Japan · Writersnot measured— - 18
Sone Arasuke1849–1910 · 🇯🇵 Japan · Writersnot measured— - 19
Nakamura Masanao1832–1891 · 🇯🇵 Japan · Writersnot measured— - 20
Kume Kunitake1839–1931 · 🇯🇵 Japan · Writersnot measured— - 21
Shiba Gorō1860–1945 · 🇯🇵 Japan · Writersnot measured— - 22
Ōtsuki Fumihiko1847–1928 · 🇯🇵 Japan · Writersnot measured— - 23
Shikitei Sanba1776–1822 · 🇯🇵 Japan · Writersnot measured— - 24
Nishi Tokujirō1847–1912 · 🇯🇵 Japan · Writersnot measured— - 25
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Satō Nobuhiro1769–1850 · 🇯🇵 Japan · Writersnot measured— - 26
Kawatake Mokuami1816–1893 · 🇯🇵 Japan · Writersnot measured— - 27
Fukuchi Genichiro1841–1906 · 🇯🇵 Japan · Writersnot measured— - 28
Terashima Munenori1832–1893 · 🇯🇵 Japan · Writersnot measured— - 29
Takahira Kogorō1854–1926 · 🇯🇵 Japan · Writersnot measured— - 30
Hirotsu Ryurō1861–1928 · 🇯🇵 Japan · Writersnot measured— - 31
Nanjo Bunyu1849–1927 · 🇯🇵 Japan · Writersnot measured— - 32
San'yūtei Enchō1839–1900 · 🇯🇵 Japan · Writersnot measured— - 33
Motono Ichirō1862–1918 · 🇯🇵 Japan · Writersnot measured— - 34
Techō Suehiro1849–1896 · 🇯🇵 Japan · Writersnot measured— - 35
Ryūtei Tanehiko1783–1842 · 🇯🇵 Japan · Writersnot measured— - 36
Tokai Sanshi1852–1922 · 🇯🇵 Japan · Writersnot measured— - 37
Tachibana Akemi1812–1868 · 🇯🇵 Japan · Writersnot measured— - 38
Naka Michiyo1851–1908 · 🇯🇵 Japan · Writersnot measured— - 39
Aruga Nagao1860–1921 · 🇯🇵 Japan · Writersnot measured— - 40
Arakaki Seishō1840–1918 · 🇯🇵 Japan · Writersnot measured— - 41
Hachisuka Mochiaki1846–1918 · 🇯🇵 Japan · Writersnot measured— - 42
Ikeda Nagaoki1837–1879 · 🇯🇵 Japan · Writersnot measured— - 43
Tansō Hirose1782–1856 · 🇯🇵 Japan · Writersnot measured— - 44
Hayashi Gonsuke1860–1939 · 🇯🇵 Japan · Writersnot measured— - 45
Chinda Sutemi1857–1929 · 🇯🇵 Japan · Writersnot measured— - 46TSTamenaga Shunsui1790–1844 · 🇯🇵 Japan · Writersnot measured—
- 47
Ijūin Hikokichi1864–1924 · 🇯🇵 Japan · Writersnot measured— - 48
Inagaki Manjirō1861–1908 · 🇯🇵 Japan · Writersnot measured— - 49
Kurino Shin'ichirō1851–1937 · 🇯🇵 Japan · Writersnot measured— - 50
Wakamatsu Shizuko1864–1896 · 🇯🇵 Japan · Writersnot measured— - 51
Ochiai Naobumi1861–1903 · 🇯🇵 Japan · Writersnot measured— - 52
Iwamoto Yoshiharu1863–1942 · 🇯🇵 Japan · Writersnot measured— - 53
Wada Ei1857–1929 · 🇯🇵 Japan · Writersnot measured— - 54
Asano Nagakoto1842–1937 · 🇯🇵 Japan · Writersnot measured— - 55
Hayashi Akira1801–1859 · 🇯🇵 Japan · Writersnot measured— - 56
Hoshino Hisashi1839–1917 · 🇯🇵 Japan · Writersnot measured— - 57
Hanabusa Yoshimoto1842–1917 · 🇯🇵 Japan · Writersnot measured— - 58HHHagiwara Hiromichi1815–1863 · 🇯🇵 Japan · Writersnot measured—
- 59JSJōno Saigiku1832–1902 · 🇯🇵 Japan · Writersnot measured—
- 60
Sameshima Naonobu1845–1880 · 🇯🇵 Japan · Writersnot measured— - 61
Iwakura Tomotsuneborn 1853 · 🇯🇵 Japan · Writersnot measured— - 62YRYosano Reigon1823–1898 · 🇯🇵 Japan · Writersnot 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.