215,950 profiles ranked

← 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 Russian books during the 21st century, whenever they lived.

  1. 1Patriarch Nikon of Moscow1605-1681 · 17th century · Religious Figures3.5
  2. 2Peter the Great1672-1725 · 18th century · Russia · Politicians3.0
  3. 3Nicholas II of Russia1868-1918 · 20th century · Russia · Historical Figures2.6
  4. 4Macarius, Metropolitan of Moscow1482-1563 · 16th century · Writers2.5
  5. 5Vladimir Putinborn 1952 · 20th century · Russia · Politicians2.2
  6. 6Nicholas I of Russia1796-1855 · 19th century · Russia · Models2.1
  7. 7Alexander I of Russia1777-1825 · 19th century · Russia · Historical Figures2.0
  8. 8Alexis of Russia1629-1676 · 17th century · Historical Figures1.9
  9. 9Ivan the Terrible1530-1584 · 16th century · Politicians1.9
  10. 10Leo Tolstoy1828-1910 · 19th century · Russia · Writers1.9
  11. 11Maria Feodorovna1847-1928 · 19th century · Denmark · Historical Figures1.5
  12. 12Alexander II of Russia1818-1881 · 19th century · Russia · Historical Figures1.5
  13. 13Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich of Russia1857-1905 · 19th century · Russia · Politicians1.5
  14. 14Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich of Russia1847-1909 · 19th century · Russia · Politicians1.4
  15. 15Alexander III of Russia1845-1894 · 19th century · Russia · Historical Figures1.4
  16. 16Alexei Nikolaevich, Tsarevich of Russia1904-1918 · 20th century · Russia · Historical Figures1.3
  17. 17Boris Godunov1552-1605 · 16th century · Politicians1.3
  18. 18Grand Duke Alexei Alexandrovich of Russia1850-1908 · 19th century · Russia · Historical Figures1.1
  19. 19Elizabeth of Russia1709-1761 · 18th century · Russia · Historical Figures1.0
  20. 20Andrei Bely1880-1934 · 20th century · Russia · Writers1.0
  21. 21Alexei Petrovich, Tsarevich of Russia1690-1718 · 18th century · Politicians1.0
  22. 22Ivan I of Tver1357-1425 · 14th century · Historical Figures0.99
  23. 23Paul I of Russia1754-1801 · 18th century · Russia · Historical Figures0.96
  24. 24Grand Duke Michael Nikolaevich of Russia1832-1909 · 19th century · Russia · Politicians0.92
  25. 25Ivan I Aleksandrovich, Prince of Smolenskdied 1359 · 14th century0.88
Show 75 more

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. 1Donald Trumpborn 1946 · 20th century · United States · Politicians336.3M
  2. 2Elizabeth II1926-2022 · 20th century · United Kingdom · Historical Figures223.3M
  3. 3Cristiano Ronaldoborn 1985 · 21st century · Portugal · Footballers211.6M
  4. 4Elon Muskborn 1971 · 21st century · South Africa · Founders207.7M
  5. 5Lionel Messiborn 1987 · 21st century · Argentina · Footballers178.6M
  6. 6Vladimir Putinborn 1952 · 20th century · Russia · Politicians136.2M
  7. 7Joe Bidenborn 1942 · 20th century · United States · Politicians124M
  8. 8Freddie Mercury1946-1991 · 20th century · United Kingdom · Musicians122.9M
  9. 9Jeffrey Dahmer1960-1994 · 20th century · United States · Historical Figures120.3M
  10. 10Adolf Hitler1889-1945 · 20th century · Austria · Politicians118.7M
  11. 11Taylor Swiftborn 1989 · 21st century · United States · Musicians117.8M
  12. 12Barack Obamaborn 1961 · 20th century · United States · Politicians115.9M
  13. 13Michael Jackson1958-2009 · 20th century · United States · Musicians114.4M
  14. 14Pablo Escobar1949-1993 · 20th century · Colombia · Politicians114.4M
  15. 15Kamala Harrisborn 1964 · 20th century · United States · Politicians113.6M
  16. 16Dwayne Johnsonborn 1972 · 21st century · Canada · Actors111M
  17. 17Queen Victoria1819-1901 · 19th century · United Kingdom · Historical Figuresnot measured105.6M
  18. 18Keanu Reevesborn 1964 · 20th century · Canada · Actors103.4M
  19. 19Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh1921-2021 · 20th century · United Kingdom102.1M
  20. 20Elvis Presley1935-1977 · 20th century · United States · Musicians99.6M
  21. 21Tom Cruiseborn 1962 · 20th century · United States · Actors99.4M
  22. 22LeBron Jamesborn 1984 · 21st century · United States · Basketball Players99.2M
  23. 23Jeffrey Epstein1953-2019 · 20th century · United States98.7M
  24. 24Michael Jordanborn 1963 · 20th century · United States · Basketball Players98.4M
  25. 25Ariana Grandeborn 1993 · 21st century · United States · Musicians98M
Show 75 more

Lived then

The most notable people whose working lives fell in the 21st century, ranked where coverage and readership agree.

  1. 1Lionel Messiborn 1987 · Argentina · Footballers1 decades
  2. 2Cristiano Ronaldoborn 1985 · Portugal · Footballers2 decades
  3. 3Kylian Mbappéborn 1998 · France · Footballers1 decades
  4. 4Neymarborn 1992 · Brazil · Footballers1 decades
  5. 5Zinedine Zidaneborn 1972 · France · Footballers3 decades
  6. 6David Beckhamborn 1975 · United Kingdom · Footballers2 decades
  7. 7Lamine Yamalborn 2007 · Spain · Footballersnot measured-
  8. 8Erling Haalandborn 2000 · Norway · Footballersnot measured-
  9. 9Zlatan Ibrahimovićborn 1981 · Sweden · Footballers0 decades
  10. 10Harry Kaneborn 1993 · United Kingdom · Footballersnot measured-
  11. 11Ronaldinhoborn 1980 · Brazil · Footballers3 decades
  12. 12Mohamed Salahborn 1992 · Egypt · Footballersnot measured-
  13. 13Thierry Henryborn 1977 · France · Footballers2 decades
  14. 14Ousmane Dembéléborn 1997 · France · Footballersnot measured-
  15. 15Luka Modrićborn 1985 · Croatia · Footballers0 decades
  16. 16Pep Guardiolaborn 1971 · Spain · Footballers1 decades
  17. 17Robert Lewandowskiborn 1988 · Poland · Footballers0 decades
  18. 18Jude Bellinghamborn 2003 · United Kingdom · Footballersnot measured-
  19. 19Xabi Alonsoborn 1981 · Spain · Footballers1 decades
  20. 20Gianni Infantinoborn 1970 · Switzerland · Footballersnot measured-
  21. 21Antoine Griezmannborn 1991 · France · Footballers1 decades
  22. 22Karim Benzemaborn 1987 · France · Footballers1 decades
  23. 23Gerard Piquéborn 1987 · Spain · Footballers1 decades
  24. 24Marcus Rashfordborn 1997 · United Kingdom · Footballers0 decades
  25. 25Jürgen Kloppborn 1967 · Germany · Footballers2 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.