← Fame through time2021
2021
Who the world actually read about in 2021 - readers across every language edition we measure, whoever they were and whenever they lived.
Most read
Who people actually looked up in 2021, across every language edition we measure.
- 1
Elizabeth II28.3M - 2
Elon Musk27.6M - 3
Cristiano Ronaldo23M - 4
Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh21.8M - 5
Joe Biden18.7M - 6
Donald Trump17.7M - 7
Lionel Messi17M - 8
Tom Brady13.5M - 9
Kamala Harris11.8M - 10
Diana, Princess of Wales11.8M - 11
Charles IIInot measured11.8M - 12
Dwayne Johnson11.3M - 13
Freddie Mercury11.2M - 14
Richard Ramireznot measured11.1M - 15
Zendaya10.8M - 16
Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon10.7M - 17
Keanu Reeves10.5M - 18
Jeff Bezos10.4M - 19
Adolf Hitler10.3M - 20
Scarlett Johansson10.3M - 21
George VI10M - 22
Olivia Rodrigonot measured10M - 23
Michael Jackson9.7M - 24
Britney Spears9.7M - 25
Betty White9.6M
Lived then
The most notable people whose working lives fell in 2021, ranked where coverage and readership agree.
- 1
Lady Gaga1 decades - 2
Rafael Nadal2 decades - 3
Megan Fox1 decades - 4
Robert Pattinson1 decades - 5
Shia LaBeouf0 decades - 6
Drakenot measured- - 7
Emilia Clarke0 decades - 8
Lindsay Lohan2 decades - 9
Emmy Rossum0 decades - 10
MrBeastnot measured- - 11
Sergio Ramos4 decades - 12
Amber Heard0 decades - 13
Alexandra Daddario0 decades - 14
Manuel Neuer1 decades - 15
Usain Bolt1 decades - 16
Olivier Giroud0 decades - 17
Deepika Padukone0 decades - 18
Kit Harington0 decades - 19
Irina Shayk0 decades - 20
Kat Dennings0 decades - 21
Leighton Meester0 decades - 22
Amanda Bynes0 decades - 23
Edin Džeko0 decades - 24
Vincent Kompany0 decades - 25
Gabriel Boric0 decades - 26
Sébastien Lecornu0 decades - 27
James Milner0 decades - 28
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Ellie Goulding0 decades - 29
Lena Dunham1 decades - 30
Vozinhanot measured- - 31
Richard Maddennot measured- - 32
Armie Hammer0 decades - 33
Oscar Pistorius1 decades - 34
Radamel Falcao0 decades - 35
Hugo Lloris1 decades - 36
Penn Badgley0 decades - 37
Gaël Monfils0 decades - 38
Oona Castilla Chaplinnot measured- - 39
Agnez Monot measured- - 40
Jamie Bell0 decades - 41
Dianna Agron0 decades - 42
Gemma Arterton0 decades - 43
Kasper Schmeichel0 decades - 44
Shruti Haasannot measured- - 45
Mischa Barton0 decades - 46
Katie Cassidy0 decades - 47
David Silvanot measured- - 48
Lea Michele0 decades - 49
Ryan Coogler0 decades - 50
Emily VanCamp0 decades - 51
Sam Claflin0 decades - 52
Pom Klementieffnot measured- - 53
Usha Vancenot measured- - 54
Sania Mirza0 decades - 55
Kangana Ranaut0 decades - 56
Hulknot measured- - 57
Seth Rollins0 decades - 58
Brittany Snow0 decades - 59
Keylor Navas0 decades - 60
Fernando Musleranot measured- - 61
Teresa Palmernot measured- - 62
Igor Akinfeev1 decades - 63
Jenna Coleman0 decades - 64
Naninot measured- - 65
Sidharth Malhotranot measured- - 66
Ruby Rosenot measured- - 67
Sebastian Kurznot measured- - 68
Scott Eastwood0 decades - 69
Ileana D'Cruznot measured- - 70
Fernando Gagonot measured- - 71
Romain Grosjean0 decades - 72
Alexander Rybak0 decades - 73
Jai Courtney0 decades - 74
Alex Turner0 decades - 75
Florence Welch0 decades - 76
Dane DeHaan0 decades - 77
Jameela Jamil0 decades - 78
Mary-Kate Olsennot measured- - 79
Yahya Abdul-Mateen IInot measured- - 80
Alfie Allen0 decades - 81
Martanot measured- - 82
Belle Delphinenot measured- - 83
Mario Mandžukić0 decades - 84
Aditi Rao Hydarinot measured- - 85
Solange Knowles0 decades - 86
Ashley Olsennot measured- - 87
Wunmi Mosakunot measured- - 88
Keisuke Hondanot measured- - 89
Cassie Venturanot measured- - 90
Christina Perri0 decades - 91
Emily Armstrongnot measured- - 92
Huma Qureshinot measured- - 93
Yoann Gourcuff0 decades - 94
Charlotte Flairnot measured- - 95
Camilla Belle0 decades - 96
Rajon Rondo0 decades - 97
Paetongtarn Shinawatranot measured- - 98
BoAnot measured- - 99
Diego Godín0 decades - 100
Shelly-Ann Fraser-Prycenot 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.