← Fame through time2000-2099
The 21st century
Whose names filled the books of the 21st 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 21st century, whenever they lived.
- 1
Jesus102 - 2
Aristotle13 - 3
Plato11 - 4
Socrates6.5 - 5
Homer5.4 - 6
Cicero4.2 - 7
Augustus4.1 - 8
Johns Hopkins4.0 - 9
Virgil3.3 - 10
George Washington3.0 - 11
George W. Bush2.2 - 12
Ovid2.2 - 13
Plutarch1.9 - 14
Thomas Jefferson1.9 - 15
Cleopatra1.9 - 16
Abraham Lincoln1.9 - 17
Galen1.8 - 18
Saddam Hussein1.7 - 19
Ronald Reagan1.7 - 20
Herodotus1.6 - 21
Origen1.5 - 22
John the Baptist1.5 - 23
Bill Clinton1.5 - 24
Adam Smith1.4 - 25
Mark Twain1.4
Most read
Who people actually looked up in the 21st century, across every language edition we measure (2015-2026 only - readership is measured from July 2015).
- 1
Donald Trump336.3M - 2
Elizabeth II223.3M - 3
Cristiano Ronaldo211.6M - 4
Elon Musk207.7M - 5
Lionel Messi178.6M - 6
Vladimir Putin136.2M - 7
Joe Biden124M - 8
Freddie Mercury122.9M - 9
Jeffrey Dahmer120.3M - 10
Adolf Hitler118.7M - 11
Taylor Swift117.8M - 12
Barack Obama115.9M - 13
Michael Jackson114.4M - 14
Pablo Escobar114.4M - 15
Kamala Harris113.6M - 16
Dwayne Johnson111M - 17
Queen Victorianot measured105.6M - 18
Keanu Reeves103.4M - 19
Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh102.1M - 20
Elvis Presley99.6M - 21
Tom Cruise99.4M - 22
LeBron James99.2M - 23
Jeffrey Epstein98.7M - 24
Michael Jordan98.4M - 25
Ariana Grande98M
Lived then
The most notable people whose working lives fell in the 21st century, ranked where coverage and readership agree.
- 1
Novak Djokovic1 decades - 2
Serena Williams2 decades - 3
Rafael Nadal2 decades - 4
Roger Federer2 decades - 5
Jannik Sinnernot measured- - 6
Naomi Osakanot measured- - 7
Carlos Alcaraznot measured- - 8
Andre Agassi3 decades - 9
Venus Williams2 decades - 10
Steffi Graf4 decades - 11
Maria Sharapova2 decades - 12
Andy Murray1 decades - 13
Anna Kournikova1 decades - 14
Aryna Sabalenkanot measured- - 15
Iga Świąteknot measured- - 16
Boris Becker4 decades - 17
Emma Raducanunot measured- - 18
Monica Seles2 decades - 19
Elena Rybakinanot measured- - 20
Stan Wawrinka0 decades - 21
Pete Sampras3 decades - 22
Alexander Zverevnot measured- - 23
Coco Gauffnot measured- - 24
Daniil Medvedevnot measured- - 25
Andy Roddick0 decades - 26
Elina Svitolinanot measured- - 27
Gaël Monfils0 decades - 28
Madison Keys0 decades - 29
Martina Hingis2 decades - 30
Caroline Wozniacki0 decades - 31
Ana Ivanovic0 decades - 32
Marat Safin1 decades - 33
Sania Mirza0 decades - 34
Simona Halep0 decades - 35
Justine Henin1 decades - 36
Grigor Dimitrov0 decades - 37
Victoria Azarenka0 decades - 38
Lleyton Hewitt0 decades - 39
Stefanos Tsitsipasnot measured- - 40
Marin Čilić0 decades - 41
Jeļena Ostapenkonot measured- - 42
Belinda Bencicnot measured- - 43
Mirra Andreevanot measured- - 44
Juan Carlos Ferrero1 decades - 45
Angelique Kerber0 decades - 46
Gabriela Sabatini3 decades - 47
Ashleigh Bartynot measured- - 48
Jessica Pegulanot measured- - 49
Petra Kvitová0 decades - 50
Amélie Mauresmo2 decades - 51
Juan Martín del Potronot measured- - 52
Kim Clijsters0 decades - 53
Nick Kyrgiosnot measured- - 54
Sloane Stephens0 decades - 55
Eugenie Bouchard0 decades - 56
Garbiñe Muguruzanot measured- - 57
Jennifer Capriati0 decades - 58
Goran Ivanišević0 decades - 59
Amanda Anisimovanot measured- - 60
Dominic Thiemnot measured- - 61
Gustavo Kuerten0 decades - 62
Andrey Rublevnot measured- - 63
Stefan Edberg1 decades - 64
Michael Chang1 decades - 65
Leylah Fernandeznot measured- - 66
Karolína Muchovánot measured- - 67
Conchita Martíneznot measured- - 68
Jim Courier0 decades - 69
Li Na4 decades - 70
Karolína Plíškovánot measured- - 71
Linda Noskovánot measured- - 72
Arantxa Sánchez Vicario1 decades - 73
Kei Nishikori0 decades - 74
Daria Kasatkinanot measured- - 75
Markéta Vondroušovánot measured- - 76
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga0 decades - 77
Casper Ruudnot measured- - 78
Zheng Qinwennot measured- - 79
Matteo Berrettininot measured- - 80
Barbora Krejčíkovánot measured- - 81
Taylor Fritznot measured- - 82
Jasmine Paolininot measured- - 83
Sofia Keninnot measured- - 84
Alex de Minaurnot measured- - 85
Mary Piercenot measured- - 86
Leander Paes0 decades - 87
Bianca Andreescunot measured- - 88
Lindsay Davenport0 decades - 89
Donna Vekićnot measured- - 90
Andrea Petkovicnot measured- - 91
Flavia Pennetta0 decades - 92
Taylor Townsendnot measured- - 93
Carlos Moyá0 decades - 94
Agnieszka Radwańskanot measured- - 95
Félix Auger-Aliassimenot measured- - 96
David Nalbandian0 decades - 97
Patrick Rafter0 decades - 98
Yevgeny Kafelnikov1 decades - 99
David Ferrer0 decades - 100
Sorana Cîrsteanot 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.