← 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
Michael Schumacher3 decades - 2
Jürgen Klopp2 decades - 3
Thomas Müllernot measured- - 4
Diane Kruger0 decades - 5
Heidi Klum2 decades - 6
Steffi Graf4 decades - 7
Manuel Neuer1 decades - 8
Alice Weidel1 decades - 9
Mesut Özil1 decades - 10
Miroslav Klose2 decades - 11
Boris Becker4 decades - 12
Sebastian Vettel1 decades - 13
Annalena Baerbock0 decades - 14
Thomas Tuchel1 decades - 15
Kai Havertznot measured- - 16
Joshua Kimmich0 decades - 17
Toni Kroos1 decades - 18
Jamal Musialanot measured- - 19
Bastian Schweinsteiger2 decades - 20
Alexander Zverevnot measured- - 21
Antonio Rüdigernot measured- - 22
Lukas Podolski2 decades - 23
Leroy Sané0 decades - 24
Marc-André ter Stegen0 decades - 25
Julian Nagelsmann0 decades - 26
Florian Wirtznot measured- - 27
Dirk Nowitzki2 decades - 28
Michael Ballack2 decades - 29
Oliver Kahn2 decades - 30
Sahra Wagenknecht3 decades - 31
Claudia Schiffer3 decades - 32
Nico Hülkenbergnot measured- - 33
Deniz Undavnot measured- - 34
Nico Rosberg0 decades - 35
Daniel Brühl2 decades - 36
Mario Götze1 decades - 37
Lena Meyer-Landrut1 decades - 38
Mats Hummels1 decades - 39
Laura Dahlmeiernot measured- - 40
Franka Potente2 decades - 41
Marco Reus1 decades - 42
İlkay Gündoğannot measured- - 43
Timo Werner0 decades - 44
Jérôme Boateng1 decades - 45
Ralf Schumacher1 decades - 46
Leon Goretzka0 decades - 47
Helene Fischer1 decades - 48
Sami Khedira1 decades - 49
Philipp Lahm1 decades - 50
Robert Habeck0 decades - 51
Sibel Kekilli1 decades - 52
Serge Gnabrynot measured- - 53
Kevin-Prince Boateng0 decades - 54
Per Mertesacker1 decades - 55
Sandra Hüller1 decades - 56
Julian Draxler0 decades - 57
Mick Schumachernot measured- - 58
Hakan Çalhanoğlunot measured- - 59
Loris Kariusnot measured- - 60
Christoph Kramernot measured- - 61
Jonathan Tahnot measured- - 62
Mario Gómez0 decades - 63
Niclas Füllkrugnot measured- - 64
Angelique Kerber0 decades - 65
Markus Söder2 decades - 66
Katarina Witt4 decades - 67
Jens Lehmann2 decades - 68
Emre Cannot measured- - 69
Hans-Dieter Flick0 decades - 70
André Schürrle0 decades - 71
Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg1 decades - 72
Nick Woltemadënot measured- - 73
Robert Enke1 decades - 74
Sead Kolašinacnot measured- - 75
Niklas Sülenot measured- - 76
Jan Ullrich3 decades - 77
Nuri Şahinnot measured- - 78
Kevin Trapp0 decades - 79
Matthias Sammer3 decades - 80
Zedd1 decades - 81
Sarah Connornot measured- - 82
Ramin Djawadinot measured- - 83
Mehmet Scholl2 decades - 84
Felix Nmechanot measured- - 85
Dennis Schrödernot measured- - 86
Nico Schlotterbecknot measured- - 87
Bill Kaulitznot measured- - 88
Julian Brandtnot measured- - 89
Frauke Petry1 decades - 90
Alexandra Maria Lara1 decades - 91
Thomas Hitzlsperger1 decades - 92
Uwe Bollnot measured- - 93
Robin Gosensnot measured- - 94
Nadiem Amirinot measured- - 95
Julia Klöcknernot measured-
- 96
Pascal Großnot measured- - 97
Anna Sorokinnot measured- - 98
Éric Maxim Choupo-Motingnot measured- - 99
Shkodran Mustafi0 decades - 100
Nina Hoss1 decades
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.