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
Abdul Hamid II1842–1918 · 🇹🇷 Turkey · Historical Figures13 decades - 2
Mehmed VI1861–1926 · 🇹🇷 Turkey · Historical Figures0 decades - 3
Mahmud II1785–1839 · 🇹🇷 Turkey · Historical Figures14 decades - 4
Emin Paşa1840–1892 · 🇹🇷 Turkey · Historical Figuresnot measured— - 5
Bidar Kadın1855–1918 · 🇹🇷 Turkey · Historical Figuresnot measured— - 6HKHayranıdil Kadın1846–1898 · 🇹🇷 Turkey · Historical Figuresnot measured—
- 7
Esma Sultan1778–1848 · 🇹🇷 Turkey · Historical Figuresnot measured— - 8HHHacıye Hoşyar Kadın1796–1849 · 🇹🇷 Turkey · Historical Figuresnot measured—
- 9
Kamures Kadın1855–1921 · 🇹🇷 Turkey · Historical Figuresnot measured— - 10
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Şayeste Hanım1838–1912 · 🇹🇷 Turkey · Historical Figuresnot measured— - 11NKNurefsun Kadın1851–1915 · 🇹🇷 Turkey · Historical Figuresnot measured—
- 12SHSerfiraz Hanım1837–1905 · 🇹🇷 Turkey · Historical Figuresnot measured—
- 13DKDürriaden Kadın1860–1909 · 🇹🇷 Turkey · Historical Figuresnot measured—
- 14EKEdadil Kadın1845–1875 · 🇹🇷 Turkey · Historical Figuresnot measured—
- 15ADAzize Dilpesend Kadın1861–1901 · 🇹🇷 Turkey · Historical Figuresnot measured—
- 16EMElâru Mevhibe Başkadınefendi1835–1936 · 🇹🇷 Turkey · Historical Figuresnot measured—
- 17RHResan Hanım1860–1910 · 🇹🇷 Turkey · Historical Figuresnot measured—
- 18BKBezmiara Kadin1834–1909 · 🇹🇷 Turkey · Historical Figuresnot measured—
- 19GKGevheri Kadın1856–1884 · 🇹🇷 Turkey · Historical Figuresnot measured—
- 20RKReftârıdil Kadınefendi1838–1936 · 🇹🇷 Turkey · Historical Figuresnot measured—
- 21ASAtiye Sultan1824–1850 · 🇹🇷 Turkey · Historical Figuresnot measured—
- 22HSHibetullah Sultan1789–1841 · 🇹🇷 Turkey · Historical Figuresnot measured—
- 23ANAdile Nesrin Hanımefendi1826–1853 · 🇹🇷 Turkey · Historical Figuresnot measured—
- 24MKMahitab Kadin1830–1888 · 🇹🇷 Turkey · Historical Figuresnot measured—
- 25ŞKŞayan Kadın1853–1945 · 🇹🇷 Turkey · Historical Figuresnot measured—
- 26ZHZeynifelek Hanım1824–1842 · 🇹🇷 Turkey · Historical Figuresnot measured—
- 27NHNükhetsezâ Hanım1827–1850 · 🇹🇷 Turkey · Historical Figuresnot measured—
- 28NHNavekimisal Hanım1827–1854 · 🇹🇷 Turkey · Historical Figuresnot measured—
- 29ZIZeynab Ilhamy1859–1918 · 🇹🇷 Turkey · 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.