215,950 profiles ranked

← Fame through time2000-2009

The 2000s

Whose names filled the books of the 2000s - 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 Chinese books during the 2000s, whenever they lived.

  1. 1Mao Zedong1893-1976 · 20th century · China · Politicians126
  2. 2Deng Xiaoping1904-1997 · 20th century · China · Politicians87
  3. 3Jiang Zemin1926-2022 · 20th century · China · Politicians65
  4. 4Lu Xun1881-1936 · 20th century · China · Writers46
  5. 5Hu Jintaoborn 1942 · 20th century · China · Politicians34
  6. 6Zhou Enlai1898-1976 · 20th century · China · Politicians32
  7. 7Sun Yat-sen1866-1925 · 20th century · China · Politicians15
  8. 8Liu Shaoqi1898-1969 · 20th century · China · Politicians13
  9. 9Confucius551 BC-479 BC · 1st millennium BC · China · Academics12
  10. 10Wen Jiabaoborn 1942 · 20th century · China · Politicians6.1
  11. 11Lin Biao1907-1971 · 20th century · China · Politicians5.5
  12. 12Zhu De1886-1976 · 20th century · China · Politicians5.4
  13. 13Chen Shui-bianborn 1950 · 20th century · Taiwan · Politicians5.3
  14. 14Laozi579 BC-500 BC · 1st millennium BC · Academics4.2
  15. 15Jiang Qing1914-1991 · 20th century · China · Actors4.2
  16. 16Yuan Shikai1859-1916 · 19th century · China · Politicians3.4
  17. 17Lee Teng-hui1923-2020 · 20th century · Taiwan · Politicians3.4
  18. 18Zhuang Zhou369 BC-288 BC · 1st millennium BC · China · Academics2.5
  19. 19Gao Ming1305-1370 · 14th century · Writers2.4
  20. 20Li Peng1928-2019 · 20th century · China · Politicians2.3
  21. 21Yan Fu1854-1921 · 19th century · Writers1.8
  22. 22Zhang Yimouborn 1950 · 20th century · China · Directors1.8
  23. 23Kang Youwei1858-1927 · 19th century · China · Politicians1.7
  24. 24Soong Ching-ling1893-1981 · 20th century · China · Politicians1.7
  25. 25Li Hongzhang1823-1901 · 19th century · China · Politicians1.6
Show 75 more

Lived then

The most notable people whose working lives fell in the 2000s, ranked where coverage and readership agree.

  1. 1Elon Muskborn 1971 · South Africa · Founders1 decades
  2. 2Leonardo DiCaprioborn 1974 · United States · Actors3 decades
  3. 3Justin Trudeauborn 1971 · Canada · Politicians1 decades
  4. 4Melania Trumpborn 1970 · Slovenia · Models1 decades
  5. 5Nicole Kidmanborn 1967 · Australia · Actors3 decades
  6. 6Eminemborn 1972 · United States · Musicians2 decades
  7. 7Zinedine Zidaneborn 1972 · France · Footballers3 decades
  8. 8Christopher Nolanborn 1970 · United Kingdom · Directors2 decades
  9. 9Matt Damonborn 1970 · United States · Actors3 decades
  10. 10Jennifer Lopezborn 1969 · United States · Musicians3 decades
  11. 11Dwayne Johnsonborn 1972 · Canada · Actors1 decades
  12. 12Michael Schumacherborn 1969 · Germany · Athletes3 decades
  13. 13Jennifer Anistonborn 1969 · United States · Actors2 decades
  14. 14Heath Ledger1979-2008 · Australia · Actors2 decades
  15. 15Pamela Andersonborn 1967 · Canada · Actors3 decades
  16. 16Ben Affleckborn 1972 · United States · Actors2 decades
  17. 17Julia Robertsborn 1967 · United States · Actors3 decades
  18. 18Cameron Diazborn 1972 · United States · Actors3 decades
  19. 19Gwyneth Paltrowborn 1972 · United States · Actors3 decades
  20. 20Will Smithborn 1968 · United States · Actors3 decades
  21. 21Jason Stathamborn 1967 · United Kingdom · Actors0 decades
  22. 22Mark Carneyborn 1965 · Canada · Politicians1 decades
  23. 23Celine Dionborn 1968 · Canada · Musicians1 decades
  24. 24Winona Ryderborn 1971 · United States · Actors3 decades
  25. 25Adam Sandlerborn 1966 · United States · Actors2 decades
Show 75 more

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.