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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Alfonso XII of Spain1857–1885 · 🇪🇸 Spain · Historical Figures0 decades - 2
Francisco de Asís, Duke of Cádiz1822–1902 · 🇪🇸 Spain · Historical Figures5 decades - 3
Carlota Joaquina of Spain1775–1830 · 🇪🇸 Spain · Historical Figures14 decades - 4
Mercedes of Orléans1860–1878 · 🇪🇸 Spain · Historical Figuresnot measured— - 5
Infante Francisco de Paula of Spain1794–1865 · 🇪🇸 Spain · Historical Figuresnot measured— - 6
Charles II, Duke of Parma1799–1883 · 🇪🇸 Spain · Historical Figures0 decades - 7
Baldomero Espartero, Prince of Vergara1793–1879 · 🇪🇸 Spain · Historical Figures22 decades - 8
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Maria Isabella of Spain1789–1848 · 🇪🇸 Spain · Historical Figures0 decades - 9
Queen Maria Isabel of Spain1797–1818 · 🇪🇸 Spain · Historical Figures20 decades - 10
Maria Josepha Amalia of Saxony1803–1829 · 🇪🇸 Spain · Historical Figures15 decades - 11
Luisa Fernanda of Spain, Duchess of Montpensier1832–1897 · 🇪🇸 Spain · Historical Figures2 decades - 12
Maria Luisa I, Duchess of Lucca1782–1824 · 🇪🇸 Spain · Historical Figures15 decades - 13
Infanta Maria Francisca of Portugal1800–1834 · 🇪🇸 Spain · Historical Figures4 decades - 14
Infante Enrique of Spain1823–1870 · 🇪🇸 Spain · Historical Figuresnot measured— - 15
Ali Bey al-Abbasi1767–1818 · 🇪🇸 Spain · Historical Figuresnot measured— - 16
María Teresa de Borbón, 15th Countess of Chinchón1780–1828 · 🇪🇸 Spain · Historical Figuresnot measured— - 17
María Manuela Kirkpatrick1794–1879 · 🇪🇸 Spain · Historical Figuresnot measured— - 18
Princess Maria Cristina of Orléans1852–1879 · 🇪🇸 Spain · Historical Figuresnot measured— - 19
Robert Bontine Cunninghame Graham1852–1936 · 🇪🇸 Spain · Historical Figuresnot measured— - 20
Cayetano Valdés y Flórez1767–1835 · 🇪🇸 Spain · Historical Figuresnot measured— - 21
Carlota de Godoy, 2nd Duchess of Sueca1800–1886 · 🇪🇸 Spain · Historical Figuresnot measured— - 22
María Amparo Muñoz, 1st Countess of Vista Alegre1834–1864 · 🇪🇸 Spain · Historical Figuresnot measured— - 23
José María Narváez1768–1848 · 🇪🇸 Spain · Historical Figuresnot measured— - 24
Jacobo Fitz-James Stuart, 15th Duke of Alba1821–1881 · 🇪🇸 Spain · Historical Figuresnot measured— - 25
Emilio Bonelli1854–1926 · 🇪🇸 Spain · Historical Figuresnot measured— - 26AAAntonio Armijo1804–1850 · 🇪🇸 Spain · Historical Figuresnot measured—
- 27
Fernando Villaamil1845–1898 · 🇪🇸 Spain · Historical Figuresnot measured— - 28JCJuan Carrascoborn 1800 · 🇪🇸 Spain · Historical Figuresnot measured—
- 29
José María de Orbe y Gaytán de Ayala1848–1933 · 🇪🇸 Spain · Historical Figuresnot 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.