← 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
Simón Bolívar21 decades - 2
Antoni Gaudí5 decades - 3
José Martí16 decades - 4
Miguel de Unamuno14 decades - 5
Isabella II of Spain11 decades - 6
Ferdinand VII of Spain19 decades - 7
Santiago Ramón y Cajal13 decades - 8
Alfonso XII of Spain0 decades - 9
Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer13 decades - 10
Bernardo O'Higgins21 decades - 11
Agustín I of Mexico0 decades - 12
George Santayana9 decades - 13
Benito Pérez Galdós14 decades - 14
Maria Christina of Austrianot measured- - 15
Rosalía de Castro13 decades - 16
Isaac Albéniz12 decades - 17
Joaquín Sorolla13 decades - 18
José Echegaray19 decades - 19
Francisco de Asís, Duke of Cádiz5 decades - 20
Emilia Pardo Bazán14 decades - 21
Juan Prim, 1st Marquis of los Castillejos18 decades - 22
Manuel Godoy22 decades - 23
José Antonio Páez21 decades - 24
Ferdinand II of the Two Siciliesnot measured- - 25
Antonio Cánovas del Castillo17 decades - 26
Francisco Tárreganot measured- - 27
Carlota Joaquina of Spain14 decades - 28
Carlos de Borbón y Borbón-Parma14 decades - 29
José de Espronceda19 decades - 30
Mercedes of Orléansnot measured- - 31
Francisco Morazán14 decades - 32
Rafael del Riego21 decades - 33
Pablo de Sarasate11 decades - 34
Juan José Flores21 decades - 35
Louis Blanc20 decades - 36
Mariano José de Larra19 decades - 37
Leopoldo Alas4 decades - 38
Francesc Macià i Llussànot measured- - 39
José Zorrilla21 decades - 40
Infanta Isabel, Countess of Gergenti0 decades - 41
Baldomero Espartero, Prince of Vergara22 decades - 42
Francisco Ferrer12 decades - 43
Adelina Patti16 decades - 44
Práxedes Mateo Sagasta16 decades - 45
Francisco Pi y Margall17 decades - 46
Infante Francisco de Paula of Spainnot measured- - 47
Valentín Gómez Farías15 decades - 48
Maria Josepha Amalia of Saxony15 decades - 49
Emilio Castelar17 decades - 50
Charles II, Duke of Parma0 decades - 51
Carlos Manuel de Céspedes del Castillonot measured- - 52
Queen Maria Isabel of Spain20 decades - 53
Marcelino Menéndez y Pelayo14 decades - 54
Santiago Rusiñol i Prats13 decades - 55
Jacint Verdaguer15 decades - 56
Eduardo Dato14 decades - 57
Lluís Domènech i Montanernot measured- - 58
Fernando Sor11 decades - 59
Luisa Fernanda of Spain, Duchess of Montpensier2 decades - 60
Pedro Antonio de Alarcón14 decades - 61
Ildefons Cerdà13 decades - 62
Alejandro Lerroux13 decades - 63
Concepción Arenal Ponte16 decades - 64
Fernán Caballero18 decades - 65
Antonio Maura16 decades - 66
Francisco Serrano, 1st Duke of la Torre12 decades - 67
Leopoldo O'Donnell, 1st Duke of Tetuan18 decades - 68
Álvaro de Figueroa, 1st Count of Romanones0 decades - 69
Maria Antonia of Naples and Sicily10 decades - 70
Pablo Iglesias Posse2 decades - 71
Mariano Fortuny Marsal15 decades - 72
Anthony Mary Claret16 decades - 73
Estanislao Figueras16 decades - 74
Maria Isabella of Spain0 decades - 75
Francisco de Paula Martínez de la Rosa y Berdejo21 decades - 76
Juan Donoso Cortés19 decades - 77
José Canalejas16 decades - 78
Juan Valera1 decades - 79
Carlos Luis de Borbón y Bragançanot measured- - 80
Ángel de Saavedra, 3rd Duke of Rivas22 decades - 81
Infanta Eulalia, Duchess of Galliera9 decades - 82
Princess Luisa Carlotta of the Two Siciliesnot measured- - 83
Princess María Isabel of Orléansnot measured- - 84
Agustina de Aragón13 decades - 85
Carlos de Borbón y Austria-Estenot measured- - 86
José Joaquín de Olmedo17 decades - 87
Juan Crisóstomo de Arriaga1 decades - 88
Jaime Balmes18 decades - 89
Maria Luisa I, Duchess of Luccanot measured- - 90
Ramón de Campoamor17 decades - 91
Infanta Maria Francisca of Portugal4 decades - 92
Narcís Monturiol i Estarriol8 decades - 93
Nicolás Salmerón16 decades - 94
Carolina Coronado18 decades - 95
Leonardo Torres Quevedo11 decades - 96
Infanta María de la Paz of Spain6 decades - 97
Ramón María Narváez, 1st Duke of Valencia14 decades - 98
Arsenio Martínez-Campos y Antón15 decades - 99
Juan de Borbón y Bragança0 decades - 100
Miguel Ricardo de Álava y Esquivel1 decades
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.