← 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
Gabriele D'Annunzio14 decades - 2
Giacomo Leopardi22 decades - 3
Alessandro Manzoni22 decades - 4
Giosuè Carducci17 decades - 5
Carlo Collodi8 decades - 6
Emilio Salgari13 decades - 7
Italo Svevo10 decades - 8
Giovanni Pascoli14 decades - 9
Giovanni Verga15 decades - 10
Edmondo De Amicis16 decades - 11
Arrigo Boito16 decades - 12
Antonio Fogazzaro14 decades - 13
Goffredo Mameli18 decades - 14
Bartolo Longo14 decades - 15
Luigi Carlo Farini19 decades - 16
Giuseppe Giacosa15 decades - 17
Giuseppe Gioachino Belli13 decades - 18
Luigi Galleani6 decades - 19
Francesco de Sanctis20 decades - 20
Cesare Cantù20 decades - 21
Giacomo Antonelli19 decades - 22
Pellegrino Artusinot measured- - 23
Luigi Illica14 decades - 24
Graziadio Isaia Ascoli14 decades - 25
Federico de Robertonot measured- - 26
Archduke Ludwig Salvator of Austrianot measured- - 27
Felice Romani21 decades - 28
Olindo Guerrininot measured- - 29
Carlo Dossinot measured- - 30
Angelo de Gubernatis16 decades - 31
Giovanni Capurronot measured- - 32
Temistocle Soleranot measured- - 33
Teresa, Contessa Guicciolinot measured- - 34
Aleardo Aleardinot measured- - 35
Raffaello Giovagnolinot measured- - 36
Tatyana Sukhotina-Tolstayanot measured- - 37
Girolamo de Radanot measured- - 38
Domenico Ferratanot measured- - 39
Antonio Ranierinot measured- - 40
Salvatore Di Giacomonot measured- - 41
Arturo Graf15 decades - 42
Roberto Bracconot measured- - 43
Alfredo Orianinot measured- - 44
Giacomo Zanellanot measured- - 45
Vittoria Aganoornot measured- - 46
Luigi Settembrininot measured- - 47
Carolina Invernizionot measured- - 48
Marianna Marquesa Florenzinot measured- - 49
Iginio Ugo Tarchettinot measured- - 50
Giuseppe Cesare Abbanot measured- - 51
Giovanni Battista Niccolininot measured- - 52
Andrea Maffeinot measured- - 53
Costantino Nigranot measured- - 54
Emilio Visconti Venostanot measured- - 55
Renato Fucininot measured- - 56
Emilio De Marchinot measured- - 57
Anna Radius Zuccarinot measured- - 58
Ghevont Alishannot measured- - 59
Mario Rapisardinot measured- - 60
Donato Sbarrettinot measured- - 61
Girolamo Maria Gottinot measured- - 62
Nicola Zingarellinot measured- - 63
Anna Rosa Gattornonot measured- - 64
Pasquale Villarinot measured- - 65
Anton Giulio Barrilinot measured- - 66
Salvatore Farinanot measured- - 67
Giuseppe La Farinanot measured- - 68
Maria Antonietta Torrianinot measured- - 69
Ferdinando Martininot measured- - 70
Emilio Praganot measured- - 71
Vittorio Bersezionot measured- - 72
Gaetano Moroninot measured- - 73
Francesco Satollinot measured- - 74
Giovanni Pratinot measured- - 75
Ida Baccininot measured- - 76
Alessandro d'Anconanot measured- - 77
Antonio Petitonot measured- - 78
Giovanni Simeoninot measured- - 79
Carlotta Ferrarinot measured- - 80
Giovanni Ruffininot measured- - 81
Luigi Bertellinot measured- - 82
Albertine von Montenuovonot measured- - 83
Pietro Cossanot measured- - 84
Napoleone Colajanninot measured- - 85
Giovanni Targioni-Tozzettinot measured- - 86
Carlo Sacconinot measured- - 87
Angelo Di Pietronot measured- - 88
Luigi Mercantininot measured- - 89
Vittorio Imbrianinot measured- - 90
Alfonso Capecelatronot measured- - 91
Alberto Blancnot measured- - 92
Antonio Lasciacnot measured- - 93
Giuseppe Montanellinot measured- - 94
Giovanni Battista Cavalcasellenot measured- - 95
Cesare Pascarellanot measured- - 96
Giovan Pietro Vieusseuxnot measured- - 97
Pietro Fanfaninot measured- - 98
Luigi Tripepinot measured- - 99
Sebastiano Martinellinot measured- - 100
Edoardo Scarfoglionot 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.