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
Hjalmar Branting1860–1925 · 🇸🇪 Sweden · Politicians1 decades - 2
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Johan Vilhelm Snellman1806–1881 · 🇸🇪 Sweden · Politicians0 decades - 3
Hjalmar Hammarskjöld1862–1953 · 🇸🇪 Sweden · Politicians0 decades - 4
Louis de Geer the Elder1818–1896 · 🇸🇪 Sweden · Politiciansnot measured— - 5
Arvid Lindman1862–1936 · 🇸🇪 Sweden · Politicians0 decades - 6
Karl Staaff1860–1915 · 🇸🇪 Sweden · Politicians0 decades - 7
August Palm1849–1922 · 🇸🇪 Sweden · Politiciansnot measured— - 8
Erik Gustaf Boström1842–1907 · 🇸🇪 Sweden · Politicians0 decades - 9
Arvid Posse1820–1901 · 🇸🇪 Sweden · Politicians0 decades - 10
Carl Swartz1858–1926 · 🇸🇪 Sweden · Politicians0 decades - 11
Gerhard Louis De Geer1854–1935 · 🇸🇪 Sweden · Politiciansnot measured— - 12
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Carl Gustaf Mannerheim1797–1854 · 🇸🇪 Sweden · Politiciansnot measured— - 13
Klas Pontus Arnoldson1844–1916 · 🇸🇪 Sweden · Politicians0 decades - 14
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Carl Löwenhielm1772–1861 · 🇸🇪 Sweden · Politiciansnot measured— - 15
Ernst Trygger1857–1943 · 🇸🇪 Sweden · Politicians0 decades - 16
Baltzar von Platen1766–1829 · 🇸🇪 Sweden · Politiciansnot measured—
- 17
Fredrik von Otter1833–1910 · 🇸🇪 Sweden · Politiciansnot measured— - 18
Robert Themptander1844–1897 · 🇸🇪 Sweden · Politicians0 decades - 19
Christian Lundeberg1842–1911 · 🇸🇪 Sweden · Politiciansnot measured— - 20
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Karolina Widerström1856–1949 · 🇸🇪 Sweden · Politiciansnot measured— - 21
Gustaf Åkerhielm1833–1900 · 🇸🇪 Sweden · Politiciansnot measured— - 22
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Carl Johan Thyselius1811–1891 · 🇸🇪 Sweden · Politicians0 decades - 23
Johan Ramstedt1852–1935 · 🇸🇪 Sweden · Politiciansnot measured— - 24
Knut Agathon Wallenberg1853–1938 · 🇸🇪 Sweden · Politiciansnot measured— - 25
Lars Johan Hierta1801–1872 · 🇸🇪 Sweden · Politiciansnot measured— - 26
Carl Lindhagen1860–1946 · 🇸🇪 Sweden · Politiciansnot measured— - 27
Johan August Gripenstedt1813–1874 · 🇸🇪 Sweden · Politiciansnot measured— - 28
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Carl Otto Mörner1781–1868 · 🇸🇪 Sweden · Politiciansnot measured— - 29
André Oscar Wallenberg1816–1886 · 🇸🇪 Sweden · Politiciansnot measured—
- 30
Count Ludvig Douglas, 12th Count of Skenninge and Stjernorp1849–1916 · 🇸🇪 Sweden · Politiciansnot measured— - 31
Carl von Blixen-Finecke1822–1873 · 🇸🇪 Sweden · Politiciansnot measured— - 32
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Magnus Björnstjerna1779–1847 · 🇸🇪 Sweden · Politiciansnot measured— - 33
Elis Fischer1834–1889 · 🇸🇪 Sweden · Politiciansnot measured— - 34
Ivar Afzelius1848–1921 · 🇸🇪 Sweden · Politiciansnot measured— - 35
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Carl Johan Schönherr1772–1848 · 🇸🇪 Sweden · Politiciansnot measured— - 36
Fredrik Wachtmeister1855–1919 · 🇸🇪 Sweden · Politiciansnot measured— - 37
Claes Tholin1860–1927 · 🇸🇪 Sweden · Politiciansnot measured— - 38
Hans Järta1774–1847 · 🇸🇪 Sweden · Politiciansnot measured— - 39
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Gustaf af Wetterstedt1776–1837 · 🇸🇪 Sweden · Politiciansnot measured— - 40
Anna Sterky1856–1939 · 🇸🇪 Sweden · Politiciansnot measured— - 41
Robert Henrik Rehbinder1777–1841 · 🇸🇪 Sweden · Politiciansnot measured— - 42
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Axel Gustav Adlercreutz1821–1880 · 🇸🇪 Sweden · Politiciansnot measured— - 43
Carl Fredrik af Wingård1781–1851 · 🇸🇪 Sweden · Politiciansnot measured— - 44
Adolph Ribbing1765–1843 · 🇸🇪 Sweden · Politiciansnot measured— - 45
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Hans Forssell1843–1901 · 🇸🇪 Sweden · Politiciansnot measured— - 46
Gustaf Lagerbjelke1817–1895 · 🇸🇪 Sweden · Politiciansnot measured— - 47
Gustaf Oscar Wallenberg1863–1937 · 🇸🇪 Sweden · Politiciansnot measured— - 48
Fridtjuv Berg1851–1916 · 🇸🇪 Sweden · Politiciansnot measured— - 49
Axel Otto Mörner1774–1852 · 🇸🇪 Sweden · Politiciansnot measured— - 50
Herman Lindqvist1863–1932 · 🇸🇪 Sweden · Politiciansnot measured— - 51
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Bror Cederström1780–1877 · 🇸🇪 Sweden · Politiciansnot measured— - 52
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August Gyldenstolpe1849–1928 · 🇸🇪 Sweden · Politiciansnot measured— - 53
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Christofer Rutger Ludvig Manderström1806–1873 · 🇸🇪 Sweden · Politiciansnot measured— - 54
Emil Key1822–1892 · 🇸🇪 Sweden · Politiciansnot measured— - 55
Julius Mankell1828–1897 · 🇸🇪 Sweden · Politiciansnot measured— - 56
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Sven Adolf Hedlund1821–1900 · 🇸🇪 Sweden · Politiciansnot measured— - 57
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Gustaf Algernon Stierneld1791–1868 · 🇸🇪 Sweden · Politiciansnot measured— - 58
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Knut Gillis Bildt1854–1927 · 🇸🇪 Sweden · Politiciansnot measured— - 59
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Olof Fåhræus1796–1884 · 🇸🇪 Sweden · Politiciansnot measured— - 60
Axel Key1832–1901 · 🇸🇪 Sweden · Politiciansnot measured— - 61
Alfred Lagerheim1843–1924 · 🇸🇪 Sweden · Politiciansnot measured— - 62
Gustaf Rudolf Abelin1819–1903 · 🇸🇪 Sweden · Politiciansnot measured—
- 63
Adolf Hedin1834–1905 · 🇸🇪 Sweden · Politiciansnot measured— - 64
Albert Ehrensvärd the Elder1821–1901 · 🇸🇪 Sweden · Politiciansnot measured— - 65
Carl Henrik Anckarsvärd1782–1865 · 🇸🇪 Sweden · Politiciansnot measured— - 66
Erik Marks von Würtemberg1861–1937 · 🇸🇪 Sweden · Politiciansnot measured— - 67
Oscar Björnstjerna1819–1905 · 🇸🇪 Sweden · Politiciansnot measured—
- 68
Johan Gabriel Richert1784–1864 · 🇸🇪 Sweden · Politiciansnot measured— - 69
Hugo Tamm1840–1907 · 🇸🇪 Sweden · Politiciansnot measured— - 70
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Claes Adolph Fleming1771–1831 · 🇸🇪 Sweden · Politiciansnot measured— - 71
Edvard Carleson1820–1884 · 🇸🇪 Sweden · Politiciansnot measured— - 72
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Johan Sandler1858–1929 · 🇸🇪 Sweden · Politiciansnot measured— - 73
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Gösta Posse1823–1888 · 🇸🇪 Sweden · Politiciansnot measured— - 74
Filip Boström1843–1908 · 🇸🇪 Sweden · Politiciansnot measured— - 75
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Albert Staaff1821–1895 · 🇸🇪 Sweden · Politiciansnot measured— - 76
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Oscar von Otter1835–1905 · 🇸🇪 Sweden · Politiciansnot measured— - 77CTCarl Ture af Wirsén1815–1869 · 🇸🇪 Sweden · Politiciansnot measured—
- 78CFCarl Fredrik Geijer1784–1853 · 🇸🇪 Sweden · Politiciansnot 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.