← 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
Kylie Minogue3 decades - 2
Sianot measured- - 3
Iggy Azalea0 decades - 4
Natalie Imbruglia0 decades - 5
Dannii Minogue0 decades - 6
Troye Sivan0 decades - 7
Delta Goodrem0 decades - 8
Keith Urbannot measured- - 9
Cody Simpsonnot measured- - 10
Tones and Inot measured- - 11
The Kid Laroinot measured-
- 12
Guy Sebastiannot measured- - 13
Darren Hayesnot measured- - 14
Jessica Mauboynot measured- - 15
Felixnot measured- - 16
Tina Arenanot measured- - 17
Kate Miller-Heidkenot measured- - 18
Bang Channot measured- - 19
Courtney Barnettnot measured- - 20
Dami Im0 decades - 21
Gabriella Cilminot measured- - 22
Montaignenot measured- - 23
Orianthinot measured- - 24
Vance Joynot measured- - 25
Sheldon Rileynot measured- - 26
Go-Jonot measured- - 27
Flumenot measured- - 28
Luke Hemmingsnot measured- - 29
Daniel Johnsnot measured- - 30
Vanessa Amorosinot measured- - 31
Missy Higginsnot measured- - 32
Dean Lewisnot measured- - 33
Mick Gordonnot measured- - 34
Timmy Trumpetnot measured- - 35
Rebecca St. Jamesnot measured- - 36
Brody Dallenot measured- - 37
Lenkanot measured- - 38
Silia Kapsisnot measured- - 39
Isaiah Firebracenot measured- - 40
Kevin Parkernot measured- - 41
Arianne Caoilinot measured- - 42
Havana Brownnot measured- - 43
Silvia Collocanot measured- - 44
Tash Sultananot measured- - 45
Tal Wilkenfeldnot measured- - 46
Ruelnot measured- - 47
Samantha Jadenot measured- - 48
Danielle Marshnot measured- - 49
Luke Steelenot measured- - 50
Chet Fakernot measured- - 51
Anja Nissennot measured- - 52
Ray Chennot measured- - 53
Anusha Dandekarnot measured- - 54
Darlene Zschechnot measured- - 55
Shibani Dandekarnot measured- - 56
Andrew Lambrounot measured- - 57Daniel Jonesnot measured-
- 58
Amy Sharknot measured- - 59
Ashton Irwinnot measured- - 60
Courtney Actnot measured- - 61
Emma Hewittnot measured- - 62Rob Dougannot measured-
- 63
Kasey Chambersnot measured- - 64
Xavier Ruddnot measured- - 65
Dean Geyernot measured- - 66
Alison Wonderlandnot measured- - 67
Jessica Origliassonot measured- - 68
Masked Wolfnot measured- - 69
Emma Louisenot measured- - 70
Julia Stonenot measured- - 71
Betty Whonot measured- - 72
Vassynot measured- - 73
Daniel Merriweathernot measured- - 74
Rob Swirenot measured- - 75
Josef Salvatnot measured- - 76
Craig Nichollsnot measured- - 77
Conrad Sewellnot measured- - 78Gina Gnot measured-
- 79
Juan carlosnot measured- - 80
Hanni Phamnot measured- - 81
Kevin Penkinnot measured- - 82
Bec Hewittnot measured- - 83
Julia Jacklinnot measured- - 84
Dirty Southnot measured- - 85
Christine Anunot measured- - 86
Natalie Bassingthwaightenot measured- - 87
Nick Littlemorenot measured- - 88
Sam Kimnot measured- - 89
Emma Watkinsnot measured- - 90
Lisa Origliassonot measured- - 91
Calum Hoodnot measured- - 92
Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingunot measured- - 93
Lisa Mitchellnot measured- - 94
Sam Sparronot measured- - 95
Bobby Andonovnot measured- - 96
Chris Joannounot measured- - 97
Ben Frostnot measured- - 98
Michael Cliffordnot measured- - 99
Matt Corbynot measured- - 100
Justine Clarkenot 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.