← 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 Chinese books during the 21st century, whenever they lived.
- 1
Mao Zedong114 - 2
Deng Xiaoping61 - 3
Lu Xun36 - 4
Jiang Zemin36 - 5
Hu Jintao30 - 6
Zhou Enlai26 - 7
Confucius19 - 8
Sun Yat-sen18 - 9
Chen Shui-bian13 - 10
Liu Shaoqi13 - 11
Xi Jinping12 - 12
Laozi11 - 13
Lee Teng-hui10.0 - 14
Lee Kuan Yew8.8 - 15
Ma Ying-jeou8.5 - 16
Wen Jiabao8.1 - 17
Lin Biao5.7 - 18
Zhu De4.9 - 19
Yuan Shikai4.6 - 20
Jiang Qing4.0 - 21
Zhuang Zhou3.9 - 22Gao Ming3.6
- 23
Kang Youwei3.6 - 24
Chiang Ching-kuo2.9 - 25
Yan Fu2.8
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
Justin Trudeau1 decades - 2
Justin Bieber1 decades - 3Dwayne Johnson1 decades
- 4
Pamela Anderson3 decades - 5
Mark Carney1 decades - 6
Ryan Gosling1 decades - 7
Celine Dion1 decades - 8
Ryan Reynolds1 decades - 9
Rachel McAdams0 decades - 10
Drakenot measured- - 11
Elliot Pagenot measured- - 12
Avril Lavigne2 decades - 13
Nina Dobrev0 decades - 14
The Weeknd0 decades - 15
Alanis Morissette3 decades - 16
Shania Twain3 decades - 17
Elisha Cuthbert0 decades - 18
Cobie Smulders0 decades - 19
Finn Wolfhard0 decades - 20
Nelly Furtado0 decades - 21
Evangeline Lilly0 decades - 22
Hayden Christensen0 decades - 23
Sunny Leone0 decades - 24
Anna Paquinnot measured- - 25
Nathan Fillion0 decades - 26
Denis Villeneuve0 decades - 27
Neve Campbell0 decades - 28
Seth Rogen1 decades - 29
Shawn Mendes0 decades - 30
Brock Lesnar0 decades - 31
Michael Bublé1 decades - 32
Kristin Kreuk0 decades - 33
Tate McRaenot measured- - 34
Carrie-Anne Moss0 decades - 35
Yassine Bounounot measured- - 36
Michael Cera0 decades - 37
Chris Benoit0 decades - 38
Grimesnot measured- - 39
Alphonso Daviesnot measured- - 40
Steve Nash2 decades - 41Shai Gilgeous-Alexandernot measured-
- 42
Joshua Jackson0 decades - 43Sandra Oh0 decades
- 44
Hudson Williamsnot measured- - 45
Jacques Villeneuve2 decades - 46
Emily VanCamp0 decades - 47
Tara Strong0 decades - 48
Carly Rae Jepsen0 decades - 49
Lance Strollnot measured- - 50
Lara Fabian2 decades - 51
Sidney Crosby1 decades - 52
Pom Klementieffnot measured- - 53
Natasha Henstridge0 decades - 54
Stephen Amell0 decades - 55
Tatiana Maslanynot measured- - 56
Linda Evangelista0 decades - 57
Shay Mitchell0 decades - 58
Cory Monteith0 decades - 59
Katheryn Winnick0 decades - 60
Naomi Klein2 decades - 61
Sarah Chalke0 decades - 62
Edgenot measured- - 63
August Ames0 decades - 64
Mario Lemieux3 decades - 65
Lennox Lewis2 decades - 66
Jonathan Davidnot measured- - 67
Avan Jogianot measured- - 68
Laurie Holden0 decades - 69
Taylor Kitschnot measured- - 70
Sarah McLachlan2 decades - 71
Xavier Dolan1 decades - 72
Georges St-Pierrenot measured- - 73
Shawn Ashmorenot measured- - 74
Eugenie Bouchard0 decades - 75
Jay Baruchelnot measured- - 76
Sarah Gadonnot measured- - 77
Cory Doctorow1 decades - 78
Corey Haimnot measured- - 79
Jacob Tremblaynot measured- - 80
Shyla Styleznot measured- - 81
Will Arnettnot measured- - 82
Deryck Whibley0 decades - 83
Deadmau5not measured- - 84
Leylah Fernandeznot measured- - 85
Robbie Amellnot measured- - 86
A. J. Cooknot measured- - 87
Patrick J. Adamsnot measured- - 88
Michael Shanksnot measured- - 89
Mackenzie Davisnot measured- - 90
Alexander Ludwignot measured- - 91
Barry Peppernot measured- - 92
Amanda Tapping0 decades - 93
Jeremy Hansennot measured- - 94
Cyle Larinnot measured- - 95
Alison Pillnot measured- - 96
Alissa White-Gluznot measured- - 97
Erica Durancenot measured- - 98
Emmanuelle Chriquinot measured- - 99
Tricia Helfernot measured- - 100
Kevin Durandnot 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.