← 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
Lafcadio Hearn14 decades - 2
Mori Ōgai0 decades - 3
Ichiyō Higuchinot measured- - 4
Okakura Kakuzō0 decades - 5
Futabatei Shimei0 decades - 6
Tsubouchi Shōyō0 decades - 7
Hirata Atsutanenot measured- - 8
Kanzō Uchimuranot measured- - 9
Kitamura Tokokunot measured- - 10
Ōshio Heihachirōnot measured- - 11
Komura Jutarōnot measured- - 12
Rai San'yonot measured- - 13
Jippensha Ikkunot measured- - 14
Tokutomi Sohōnot measured- - 15
Hayashi Tadasunot measured- - 16
Kazuo Hatoyamanot measured- - 17
Itō Sachionot measured- - 18
Nabeshima Naohironot measured- - 19
Sone Arasukenot measured- - 20
Ōtsuki Fumihikonot measured- - 21
Kume Kunitakenot measured- - 22
Nakamura Masanaonot measured- - 23
Shiba Gorōnot measured- - 24
Nishi Tokujirōnot measured- - 25
Satō Nobuhironot measured- - 26
Kawatake Mokuaminot measured- - 27
Shikitei Sanbanot measured- - 28
Fukuchi Genichironot measured- - 29
Terashima Munenorinot measured- - 30
Takahira Kogorōnot measured- - 31
Hirotsu Ryurōnot measured- - 32
San'yūtei Enchōnot measured- - 33
Nanjo Bunyunot measured- - 34
Ryūtei Tanehikonot measured- - 35
Naka Michiyonot measured- - 36
Techō Suehironot measured- - 37
Motono Ichirōnot measured- - 38
Tokai Sanshinot measured- - 39
Tachibana Akeminot measured- - 40
Hachisuka Mochiakinot measured- - 41
Aruga Nagaonot measured- - 42
Arakaki Seishōnot measured- - 43
Chinda Suteminot measured- - 44
Ikeda Nagaokinot measured- - 45
Tansō Hirosenot measured- - 46
Ijūin Hikokichinot measured- - 47
Hayashi Gonsukenot measured- - 48Tamenaga Shunsuinot measured-
- 49
Kurino Shin'ichirōnot measured- - 50
Wakamatsu Shizukonot measured- - 51
Inagaki Manjirōnot measured- - 52
Ochiai Naobuminot measured- - 53
Iwamoto Yoshiharunot measured- - 54
Asano Nagakotonot measured- - 55
Wada Einot measured- - 56
Hayashi Akiranot measured- - 57
Hanabusa Yoshimotonot measured- - 58
Sameshima Naonobunot measured- - 59Jōno Saigikunot measured-
- 60
Hoshino Hisashinot measured- - 61Hagiwara Hiromichinot measured-
- 62
Shigetane Suzukinot measured- - 63
Iwakura Tomotsunenot measured- - 64Yosano Reigonnot 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.