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
Elizabeth Blackwell1821–1910 · 🇺🇸 United States · Doctors17 decades - 2
H. H. Holmes1861–1896 · 🇺🇸 United States · Doctors2 decades - 3
Doc Holliday1851–1887 · 🇺🇸 United States · Doctors8 decades - 4
John Harvey Kellogg1852–1943 · 🇺🇸 United States · Doctors5 decades - 5
William Walker1824–1860 · 🇺🇸 United States · Doctors20 decades - 6
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Mary Edwards Walker1832–1919 · 🇺🇸 United States · Doctors0 decades - 7
James Curtis Hepburn1815–1911 · 🇺🇸 United States · Doctors0 decades - 8
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Leonard Wood1860–1927 · 🇺🇸 United States · Doctors13 decades - 9
William T. G. Morton1819–1868 · 🇺🇸 United States · Doctors2 decades - 10
William Stewart Halsted1852–1922 · 🇺🇸 United States · Doctorsnot measured— - 11
J. Marion Sims1813–1883 · 🇺🇸 United States · Doctorsnot measured— - 12
Charles Eastman1858–1939 · 🇺🇸 United States · Doctorsnot measured— - 13
Hawley Harvey Crippen1862–1910 · 🇺🇸 United States · Doctorsnot measured— - 14
George Huntington1850–1916 · 🇺🇸 United States · Doctors9 decades - 15
Crawford Williamson Long1815–1878 · 🇺🇸 United States · Doctors0 decades - 16
Andrew Taylor Still1828–1917 · 🇺🇸 United States · Doctorsnot measured— - 17
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Samuel Mudd1833–1883 · 🇺🇸 United States · Doctorsnot measured— - 18
William Beaumont1785–1853 · 🇺🇸 United States · Doctorsnot measured— - 19
Ramón Emeterio Betances1827–1898 · 🇺🇸 United States · Doctorsnot measured— - 20
Samuel Gridley Howe1801–1876 · 🇺🇸 United States · Doctorsnot measured— - 21
Joel Roberts Poinsett1779–1851 · 🇺🇸 United States · Doctorsnot measured— - 22
John Gorrie1803–1855 · 🇺🇸 United States · Doctorsnot measured— - 23
Henry Draper1837–1882 · 🇺🇸 United States · Doctors16 decades - 24
William Crawford Gorgas1854–1920 · 🇺🇸 United States · Doctors4 decades - 25
Rebecca Lee Crumpler1831–1895 · 🇺🇸 United States · Doctors0 decades - 26
William Bates1860–1931 · 🇺🇸 United States · Doctorsnot measured— - 27
William Henry Welch1850–1934 · 🇺🇸 United States · Doctorsnot measured— - 28
William James Mayo1861–1939 · 🇺🇸 United States · Doctorsnot measured— - 29
Howard Atwood Kelly1858–1943 · 🇺🇸 United States · Doctorsnot measured— - 30
John Jacob Abel1857–1938 · 🇺🇸 United States · Doctors0 decades - 31
Mary Corinna Putnam Jacobi1842–1906 · 🇺🇸 United States · Doctorsnot measured— - 32
Henry Solomon Wellcome1853–1936 · 🇺🇸 United States · Doctorsnot measured— - 33
Emily Blackwell1826–1910 · 🇺🇸 United States · Doctorsnot measured— - 34
Albert Mackey1807–1881 · 🇺🇸 United States · Doctorsnot measured— - 35
Simon Flexner1863–1946 · 🇺🇸 United States · Doctorsnot measured— - 36
Greene Vardiman Black1836–1915 · 🇺🇸 United States · Doctorsnot measured— - 37
Harriot Kezia Hunt1805–1875 · 🇺🇸 United States · Doctorsnot measured— - 38
John Lawrence LeConte1825–1883 · 🇺🇸 United States · Doctorsnot measured— - 39
Ephraim McDowell1771–1830 · 🇺🇸 United States · Doctorsnot measured— - 40
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Marcus Whitman1802–1847 · 🇺🇸 United States · Doctorsnot measured— - 41
Robert Wilson Shufeldt1850–1934 · 🇺🇸 United States · Doctorsnot measured— - 42
William Coley1862–1936 · 🇺🇸 United States · Doctorsnot measured— - 43
Marie Zakrzewska1829–1902 · 🇺🇸 United States · Doctorsnot measured— - 44
George Washington Crile1864–1943 · 🇺🇸 United States · Doctorsnot measured— - 45
James McCune Smith1813–1865 · 🇺🇸 United States · Doctorsnot measured— - 46
James Tyler Kent1849–1916 · 🇺🇸 United States · Doctorsnot measured— - 47
Thomas C. Durant1820–1885 · 🇺🇸 United States · Doctorsnot measured— - 48
Bernard Sachs1858–1944 · 🇺🇸 United States · Doctorsnot measured— - 49
William Williams Keen1837–1932 · 🇺🇸 United States · Doctorsnot measured— - 50
Samuel A. Cartwright1793–1863 · 🇺🇸 United States · Doctorsnot measured— - 51
Eliza Ann Grier1864–1902 · 🇺🇸 United States · Doctorsnot measured— - 52
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John Collins Warren1778–1856 · 🇺🇸 United States · Doctorsnot measured— - 53
Samuel W. Crawford, Jr.1829–1892 · 🇺🇸 United States · Doctorsnot measured— - 54
David Hosack1769–1835 · 🇺🇸 United States · Doctorsnot measured— - 55
Solon Borland1808–1864 · 🇺🇸 United States · Doctorsnot measured— - 56
Cyrus Teed1839–1908 · 🇺🇸 United States · Doctorsnot measured— - 57
John Shaw Billings1838–1913 · 🇺🇸 United States · Doctorsnot measured— - 58SFStubbins Ffirth1782–1820 · 🇺🇸 United States · Doctorsnot measured—
- 59
Albert Abrams1863–1924 · 🇺🇸 United States · Doctorsnot measured— - 60
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Daniel Hale Williams1858–1931 · 🇺🇸 United States · Doctorsnot measured— - 61
Mary Ann Bickerdyke1817–1901 · 🇺🇸 United States · Doctorsnot measured— - 62
Augustus Addison Gould1805–1866 · 🇺🇸 United States · Doctorsnot measured— - 63
Charles Leale1842–1932 · 🇺🇸 United States · Doctorsnot measured— - 64
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Mahlon Loomis1826–1886 · 🇺🇸 United States · Doctorsnot measured— - 65
Hans Kudlich1823–1917 · 🇺🇸 United States · Doctorsnot measured— - 66
John Edwards Holbrook1794–1871 · 🇺🇸 United States · Doctorsnot measured— - 67
John Benjamin Murphy1857–1916 · 🇺🇸 United States · Doctorsnot measured— - 68
Ann Preston1813–1872 · 🇺🇸 United States · Doctorsnot measured— - 69
Samuel David Gross1805–1884 · 🇺🇸 United States · Doctorsnot measured— - 70
James Ellsworth De Kay1792–1851 · 🇺🇸 United States · Doctorsnot measured— - 71
Rosa Welt-Straus1856–1938 · 🇺🇸 United States · Doctorsnot measured— - 72
Henry Jacob Bigelow1818–1890 · 🇺🇸 United States · Doctorsnot measured— - 73
Anita Newcomb McGee1864–1940 · 🇺🇸 United States · Doctorsnot measured— - 74
George Miller Sternberg1838–1915 · 🇺🇸 United States · Doctorsnot measured— - 75
Caroline Still Anderson1848–1919 · 🇺🇸 United States · Doctorsnot measured— - 76
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George Vasey1822–1893 · 🇺🇸 United States · Doctorsnot measured— - 77
John Addison Fordyce1858–1925 · 🇺🇸 United States · Doctorsnot measured— - 78
Doc Adams1814–1899 · 🇺🇸 United States · Doctorsnot measured— - 79
William Henry Howell1860–1945 · 🇺🇸 United States · Doctorsnot measured— - 80
Henry Bryant1820–1867 · 🇺🇸 United States · Doctorsnot measured— - 81
Samuel Washington Woodhouse1821–1904 · 🇺🇸 United States · Doctorsnot measured— - 82
Mary E. Britton1855–1925 · 🇺🇸 United States · Doctorsnot measured— - 83EHEdward Hallowell1808–1860 · 🇺🇸 United States · Doctorsnot measured—
- 84
Albert James Myer1828–1880 · 🇺🇸 United States · Doctorsnot measured— - 85
William Pepper1843–1898 · 🇺🇸 United States · Doctorsnot measured— - 86
Edward Livingston Trudeau1848–1915 · 🇺🇸 United States · Doctorsnot measured— - 87
Susan McKinney Steward1847–1918 · 🇺🇸 United States · Doctorsnot measured— - 88
William Harkness1837–1903 · 🇺🇸 United States · Doctorsnot measured— - 89
Robert Abbe1851–1928 · 🇺🇸 United States · Doctorsnot measured— - 90
Rebecca Cole1846–1922 · 🇺🇸 United States · Doctorsnot measured— - 91WOWilliam Orville Ayres1817–1887 · 🇺🇸 United States · Doctorsnot measured—
- 92
John Henry Tilden1851–1940 · 🇺🇸 United States · Doctorsnot measured— - 93
Halle Tanner Dillon Johnson1864–1901 · 🇺🇸 United States · Doctorsnot measured— - 94
James G. Blunt1826–1881 · 🇺🇸 United States · Doctorsnot measured— - 95
Jacob Mendes Da Costa1833–1900 · 🇺🇸 United States · Doctorsnot measured— - 96
Thaddeus William Harris1795–1856 · 🇺🇸 United States · Doctorsnot measured— - 97
Lydia Folger Fowler1822–1879 · 🇺🇸 United States · Doctorsnot measured— - 98CBCatherine Brewer Benson1822–1908 · 🇺🇸 United States · Doctorsnot measured—
- 99
William E. Upjohn1853–1932 · 🇺🇸 United States · Doctorsnot measured— - 100
William Francis Channing1820–1901 · 🇺🇸 United States · Doctorsnot 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.