← Fame through time1800-1899
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 English books during the 19th century, whenever they lived.
- 1
Jesus94 - 2
Homer15 - 3
Cicero13 - 4
Augustus13 - 5
Plato10 - 6
Virgil9.6 - 7
Aristotle9.4 - 8
Socrates6.4 - 9
Herodotus6.2 - 10
Plutarch5.6 - 11
Ovid4.2 - 12
Strabo4.1 - 13
Charlemagne3.9 - 14
Demosthenes3.8 - 15
Lord Byron3.6 - 16
Livy3.4 - 17
Origen3.1 - 18
Cleopatra3.0 - 19
Xenophon3.0 - 20
Walter Scott3.0 - 21
Tertullian2.7 - 22
James II, Count of Urgell2.6 - 23
Robert Peel2.6 - 24
Henry VII, Holy Roman Emperor2.6 - 25
Pericles2.5
Lived then
The most notable people whose working lives fell in the 19th century, ranked where coverage and readership agree.
- 1
E. T. A. Hoffmann21 decades - 2
Heinrich von Kleist22 decades - 3
Helmuth von Moltke the Elder13 decades - 4
Gerhart Hauptmann13 decades - 5
Karl May14 decades - 6
Novalis22 decades - 7
Friedrich Hölderlin18 decades - 8
Theodor Fontane17 decades - 9
Georg Büchner17 decades - 10
Theodor Storm17 decades - 11
Wilhelm Grimm22 decades - 12
Leopold von Ranke16 decades - 13
Bettina von Arnim18 decades - 14
Friedrich Schlegel22 decades - 15
Wilhelm Hauff20 decades - 16
Frank Wedekind12 decades - 17
Clemens Brentano22 decades - 18
Eduard Mörike18 decades - 19
Wilhelm Dilthey14 decades - 20
Ernst Moritz Arndt22 decades - 21
Elisabeth of Wied0 decades - 22
Friedrich Rückert22 decades - 23
Anne Catherine Emmerich8 decades - 24
Multatuli9 decades - 25
Philipp Mainländer2 decades - 26
Friedrich Hebbel18 decades - 27
Ludwig Achim von Arnim22 decades - 28
August Wilhelm Schlegel22 decades - 29
Ricarda Huch13 decades - 30
Karl Heinrich Ulrichs3 decades - 31
Siegbert Tarrasch0 decades - 32
Wilhelm Raabe16 decades - 33
Duke Maximilian Joseph in Bavaria0 decades - 34
Heinrich von Treitschke16 decades - 35
Franz Mehring15 decades - 36
Johann Peter Eckermann12 decades - 37
Richard Dehmel13 decades - 38
Emanuel Geibel18 decades - 39
Constantin von Tischendorf0 decades - 40
Gustav Schwab21 decades - 41
Hermann Sudermann13 decades - 42
Hedwig Dohm11 decades - 43
Karoline von Günderrode8 decades - 44
John Henry Mackay13 decades - 45
Hermann von François0 decades - 46
Augustus, Duke of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburgnot measured- - 47
Friedrich Meinecke13 decades - 48
Ludwig von Pastor10 decades - 49
Christian Dietrich Grabbe12 decades - 50
Malwida Freiin von Meysenbug12 decades - 51
Wilhelm Heinrich Solfnot measured- - 52
Emily Ruetenot measured- - 53
Princess Marie of Battenbergnot measured- - 54
Heinrich Graetznot measured- - 55
Aleksander Brückner3 decades - 56
Arno Holz15 decades - 57
Paul Deussen13 decades - 58
Friedrich Carl Andreasnot measured- - 59
Wilhelm Scherernot measured- - 60
Oskar Panizzanot measured- - 61
Sophie Mereaunot measured- - 62
Josef Markwartnot measured- - 63
Karl Max, Prince Lichnowskynot measured- - 64
Princess Elisabeth Sybille of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenachnot measured- - 65
Adolf Erman15 decades - 66
August Leskien13 decades - 67
Friedrich Spielhagennot measured- - 68
Aaron Bernsteinnot measured- - 69
Heinrich Seidelnot measured- - 70
Karl Joseph Simrocknot measured- - 71
Clara Viebignot measured- - 72
Karl Brugmann13 decades - 73
Júlia da Silva Bruhnsnot measured- - 74
Julius Mosennot measured- - 75
Emil Schürernot measured- - 76
Konrad Krafft von Dellmensingennot measured- - 77
Karl Julius Belochnot measured- - 78
Ernst von Wolzogennot measured- - 79
Friedrich Wilhelm Webernot measured- - 80
Henriette Goldschmidtnot measured- - 81
Max Maria von Webernot measured- - 82
Friedrich Klugenot measured- - 83
Hermann von Kuhlnot measured- - 84
Christian Bartholomaenot measured- - 85
Otto Brahmnot measured- - 86
Ernst von Hoeppnernot measured- - 87
Johannes Daniel Falknot measured- - 88
Otto Seecknot measured- - 89
Joseph Aschbachnot measured- - 90
Gustav Frenssennot measured- - 91
Friedrich von Pourtalèsnot measured-
- 92
Johann Friedrich Böhmernot measured- - 93
Otto Erich Hartlebennot measured- - 94
Eduard Sieversnot measured- - 95
Arnošt Mukanot measured- - 96
Theodor Bergknot measured- - 97
Karl Friedrich Neumannnot measured- - 98
Wilhelm Waiblingernot measured- - 99
Luise Mühlbachnot measured- - 100
Peter Hillenot measured-
How to read these rankings
- Attention, not reputation. A place on these lists reflects the attention a person still draws in the public record. It is not a judgement on the life.
- Fame in print. The curves show how often a name appeared in the books of each decade from 1800 to 2019, drawn from the Google Books Ngram corpus.
- Gaps are left as gaps. Where the record is too thin to be fair, we would rather show nothing than guess.