← 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
Lleyton Hewitt0 decades - 2
Ashleigh Bartynot measured- - 3
Nick Kyrgiosnot measured- - 4
Alex de Minaurnot measured- - 5
Patrick Rafter0 decades - 6
Samantha Stosur0 decades - 7
Ajla Tomljanovićnot measured- - 8
Todd Woodbridgenot measured- - 9
Pat Cashnot measured- - 10
Mark Philippoussisnot measured- - 11
Johanna Kontanot measured- - 12
Bernard Tomicnot measured- - 13
Maya Jointnot measured- - 14
Thanasi Kokkinakisnot measured- - 15
Rennae Stubbsnot measured- - 16
Alexei Popyrinnot measured- - 17
Kimberly Birrellnot measured- - 18
Storm Hunternot measured- - 19
Mark Woodfordenot measured- - 20
Sam Grothnot measured- - 21
James Duckworthnot measured- - 22
Darren Cahillnot measured- - 23
Rinky Hijikatanot measured- - 24
Talia Gibsonnot measured- - 25
Matthew Ebdennot measured- - 26
Jordan Thompsonnot measured- - 27
John Peersnot measured- - 28
Jarmila Wolfenot measured- - 29
Max Purcellnot measured- - 30
Christopher O'Connellnot measured- - 31
Aleksandar Vukicnot measured- - 32
Casey Dellacquanot measured- - 33
Astra Sharmanot measured- - 34
Alicia Moliknot measured- - 35
Peter Luczaknot measured- - 36
Priscilla Honnot measured- - 37
Adam Waltonnot measured- - 38
John Millmannot measured- - 39
Ellen Pereznot measured- - 40
Olivia Gadeckinot measured- - 41
Luke Savillenot measured- - 42
Tristan Schoolkatenot measured- - 43
Jason Kublernot measured- - 44
Taylah Prestonnot measured- - 45
Maddison Inglisnot measured- - 46Scott Drapernot measured-
- 47
Jason Stoltenbergnot measured- - 48
John-Patrick Smithnot measured- - 49
Marc Polmansnot measured- - 50
Destanee Aiavanot measured- - 51
Marinko Matosevićnot measured- - 52
Chris Guccionenot measured- - 53
Alex Boltnot measured- - 54
Andrew Harrisnot measured- - 55Nicole Bradtkenot measured-
- 56Joshua Eaglenot measured-
- 57
Lizette Cabreranot measured- - 58
Wayne Arthursnot measured- - 59
Emerson Jonesnot measured- - 60
Olivia Rogowskanot measured- - 61
Nicole Prattnot measured- - 62Andrew Florentnot measured-
- 63
Naiktha Bainsnot measured- - 64Sandon Stollenot measured-
- 65Mark Kratzmannnot measured-
- 66
Paul Hanleynot measured- - 67Rachel McQuillannot measured-
- 68Stephen Hussnot measured-
- 69
Ashley Fishernot measured- - 70
Carsten Ballnot measured- - 71
Jessica Moorenot measured- - 72
Jaimee Fourlisnot measured- - 73Richard Frombergnot measured-
- 74
Matt Reidnot measured- - 75David Macphersonnot measured-
- 76
Monique Adamczaknot measured- - 77
Jordan Kerrnot measured- - 78
Sally Peersnot measured- - 79Andrew Ilienot measured-
- 80
Li Tunot measured- - 81Omar Jasikanot measured-
- 82
Greg Jonesnot measured- - 83
Sophie Fergusonnot measured- - 84
Benjamin Mitchellnot measured- - 85Nathan Healeynot measured-
- 86Andrew Kratzmannnot measured-
- 87
Roger Rasheednot measured- - 88
Rameez Junaidnot measured- - 89Jenny Byrnenot measured-
- 90
Andrew Whittingtonnot measured- - 91Todd Perrynot measured-
- 92Todd Reidnot measured-
- 93Michael Tebbuttnot measured-
- 94
Isabella Hollandnot measured- - 95Michael Hillnot measured-
- 96Evie Dominikovicnot measured-
- 97Simon Youlnot measured-
- 98
Sacha Hughesnot measured- - 99
Bojana Bobusicnot measured- - 100
Bradley Mousleynot 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.