← 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
Markus Zusaknot measured- - 2
Liane Moriartynot measured- - 3
Kate Mortonnot measured- - 4
Cate Shortlandnot measured- - 5
Trudi Canavannot measured- - 6
Matthew Reillynot measured- - 7
Sam Chuinot measured- - 8
Stuart Beattienot measured- - 9
Tony McNamaranot measured- - 10
Jane Harpernot measured- - 11
David Hicksnot measured- - 12
Simon Stonenot measured- - 13
Randa Abdel-Fattahnot measured- - 14
Cordelia Finenot measured- - 15
Jay Kristoffnot measured- - 16Jonathan M. Shiffnot measured-
- 17Jessica Townsendnot measured-
- 18
Anna Fundernot measured- - 19Schapelle Corbynot measured-
- 20Samantha Rileynot measured-
- 21
Christos Tsiolkasnot measured- - 22
Max Barrynot measured- - 23
Chris Lilleynot measured- - 24
Anthony Hayesnot measured- - 25
Jessica Jacobsnot measured- - 26
Jason Gannnot measured- - 27
Dirk Mosesnot measured- - 28
Steve Toltznot measured- - 29
Tara Mossnot measured- - 30Melina Marchettanot measured-
- 31
Melissa Lucashenkonot measured- - 32
Yassmin Abdel-Magiednot measured- - 33Jeffrey Walkernot measured-
- 34Sonya Hartnettnot measured-
- 35Jaclyn Moriartynot measured-
- 36
Ben Templesmithnot measured- - 37
Kitty Greennot measured- - 38
Anita Heissnot measured- - 39
Van Badhamnot measured- - 40
Christine Cainenot measured- - 41Kylie Moore-Gilbertnot measured-
- 42
Hannah Kentnot measured- - 43Charlotte Woodnot measured-
- 44
David Thornenot measured- - 45
Larissa Behrendtnot measured- - 46
Chloe Hoopernot measured- - 47
Alison Goodmannot measured- - 48Angela Slatternot measured-
- 49
Anh Donot measured- - 50
Eddie Woonot measured- - 51
Paul Leydennot measured- - 52
Agnes Milowkanot measured- - 53
Dave Sharmanot measured- - 54Susan Carlandnot measured-
- 55
Aaron Blabeynot measured- - 56
Saul Newmannot measured- - 57
Bhante Sujatonot measured- - 58Yang Hengjunnot measured-
- 59K. J. Bishopnot measured-
- 60
Bradley Trevor Greivenot measured- - 61M. J. Hylandnot measured-
- 62
Damian Kindlernot measured- - 63
Karen Stollznownot measured- - 64
Morgan O'Neillnot measured- - 65
Justine Larbalestiernot measured- - 66
Kim Wilkinsnot measured- - 67
Andreas Loewenot measured- - 68
Tim Copenot measured- - 69
Damien Millernot measured- - 70
Cameron Welshnot measured- - 71Lindsay Armstrongnot measured-
- 72
Nakkiah Luinot measured- - 73Ambelin Kwaymullinanot 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.