← 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
Santiago Ramón y Cajal13 decades - 2
Narcís Monturiol i Estarriol8 decades - 3
Leonardo Torres Quevedo11 decades - 4
Isaac Peralnot measured- - 5
Manuel Blanco Ramosnot measured- - 6
Rafael Guastavinonot measured- - 7
Faustino Míguez Gonzáleznot measured- - 8
Manuel Iradier y Bulfynot measured- - 9
Jaume Ferran i Cluanot measured- - 10
Ramón de la Sagranot measured- - 11
Carlos Ibáñez de Iberonot measured- - 12
Philip Barker Webbnot measured- - 13
Mariano Lagascanot measured- - 14
Julio Cervera Bavieranot measured- - 15
Odón de Buennot measured- - 16Longinos Navásnot measured-
- 17
Mariano de la Paz Graells y de la Agüeranot measured- - 18
Simon de Roxas Clemente y Rubionot measured- - 19
Francisco de Paula Marínnot measured- - 20
José Arechavaletanot measured- - 21
José María Alguénot measured- - 22
Blanca Catalán de Ocón y Gayolánot measured-
- 23
Miguel Colmeironot measured- - 24
Carlos Pau y Españolnot measured- - 25
Casiano de Pradonot measured- - 26
Francisco Coellonot measured- - 27
Sebastián Vidal y Solernot measured- - 28Fernando Weyler y Laviñanot measured-
- 29
Benjamín Máximo Laguna y Villanuevanot measured- - 30Agustín Ibáñez y Bojonsnot measured-
- 31Anastasio Guzmánnot measured-
- 32
Tomás O'Ryan y Vázqueznot measured- - 33
Fermina Orduñanot measured- - 34
Joaquín Ezquerra del Bayonot measured- - 35
Salvador Calderón y Arananot measured- - 36Domingo Bello y Espinosanot measured-
- 37
Claudio Boutelounot measured- - 38José Demetrio Rodrígueznot measured-
- 39
Francisco Fernández Iparraguirrenot measured- - 40Manuel de Maeztu Rodrígueznot 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.