Claim profile
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
  1. 1Zhu XiZhu Xi1130–1200 · 12th century · 🇨🇳 China · Writers870
  2. 2Li HongzhangLi Hongzhang1823–1901 · 19th century · 🇨🇳 China · Politicians149
  3. 3Zhang ZhidongZhang Zhidong1837–1909 · 19th century · Politicians86
  4. 4Zuo ZongtangZuo Zongtang1812–1885 · 19th century · 🇨🇳 China · Politicians43
  5. 5Ban GuBan Gu32–92 · 1st century · Writers40
  6. 6Ge HongGe Hong284–364 · 4th century · Academics40
  7. 7CSChen Shou233–297 · 3rd century · Writers14
  8. 8Mao ZedongMao Zedong1893–1976 · 20th century · 🇨🇳 China · Politicians12
  9. 9Lu XunLu 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.

CountryAll🇺🇸 United States🇫🇷 France🇩🇪 Germany🇬🇧 United Kingdom🇮🇹 Italy🇪🇸 Spain🇯🇵 Japan🇦🇹 Austria🇹🇷 Turkey🇸🇪 Sweden
FieldAllPoliticiansWritersHistorical FiguresScientistsAcademicsArtistsMusiciansDoctorsFoundersJournalists
  1. 1Gustaf V of SwedenGustaf V of Sweden1858–1950 · 🇸🇪 Sweden · Historical Figures0 decades
  2. 2Oscar II of SwedenOscar II of Sweden1829–1907 · 🇸🇪 Sweden · Historical Figures0 decades
  3. 3Charles XV of SwedenCharles XV of Sweden1826–1872 · 🇸🇪 Sweden · Historical Figures0 decades
  4. 4Gustav IV Adolf of SwedenGustav IV Adolf of Sweden1778–1837 · 🇸🇪 Sweden · Historical Figures8 decades
  5. 5Louise of SwedenLouise of Sweden1851–1926 · 🇸🇪 Sweden · Historical Figures0 decades
  6. 6Josephine of LeuchtenbergJosephine of Leuchtenberg1807–1876 · 🇸🇪 Sweden · Historical Figures0 decades
  7. 7Prince Carl, Duke of VästergötlandPrince Carl, Duke of Västergötland1861–1951 · 🇸🇪 Sweden · Historical Figures13 decades
  8. 8Adolf Erik NordenskiöldAdolf Erik Nordenskiöld1832–1901 · 🇸🇪 Sweden · Historical Figures0 decades
  9. 9Frederica of BadenFrederica of Baden1781–1826 · 🇸🇪 Sweden · Historical Figures0 decades
  10. 10Prince Oscar BernadottePrince Oscar Bernadotte1859–1953 · 🇸🇪 Sweden · Historical Figures0 decades
  11. 11Princess Amalia of SwedenPrincess Amalia of Sweden1805–1853 · 🇸🇪 Sweden · Historical Figuresnot measured—
  12. 12Prince Carl Oscar, Duke of SödermanlandPrince Carl Oscar, Duke of Södermanland1852–1854 · 🇸🇪 Sweden · Historical Figuresnot measured—
  13. 13Charles John AnderssonCharles John Andersson1828–1867 · 🇸🇪 Sweden · Historical Figuresnot measured—
  14. 14Carl Axel GottlundCarl Axel Gottlund1796–1875 · 🇸🇪 Sweden · Historical Figuresnot measured—
  15. 15Arvid Adolf EtholénArvid Adolf Etholén1799–1876 · 🇸🇪 Sweden · 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.