← 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
Tiago Splitternot measured- - 2
Leandro Barbosanot measured- - 3
Anderson Varejãonot measured- - 4
Bruno Caboclonot measured- - 5
Marcelinho Huertasnot measured- - 6
Fab Melonot measured- - 7
Damiris Dantasnot measured- - 8
Raul Netonot measured- - 9
Gui Santosnot measured- - 10
Janeth Arcainnot measured- - 11
Cristiano Felícionot measured- - 12
Lucas Nogueiranot measured- - 13
Yago Mateus dos Santosnot measured- - 14Rafael Araújonot measured-
- 15
Érika de Souzanot measured- - 16Marcelo Machadonot measured-
- 17
Alex Garcianot measured- - 18
Vitor Faveraninot measured- - 19
Leonardo Meindlnot measured- - 20
Augusto Limanot measured- - 21Vítor Benitenot measured-
- 22
Rafael Hettsheimeirnot measured- - 23Marcos Louzada Silvanot measured-
- 24
Kelly Santosnot measured- - 25
Adriana Moisés Pintonot measured- - 26
George de Paulanot measured- - 27
Kamilla Cardosonot measured- - 28
Iziane Castro Marquesnot measured- - 29
Helen Luznot measured- - 30
Clarissa dos Santosnot measured- - 31Adriana Santosnot measured-
- 32Alessandra Santos de Oliveiranot measured-
- 33
Rafael Luznot measured- - 34
Marcus Vinicius de Souzanot measured- - 35Lucas Diasnot measured-
- 36Maria Angélicanot measured-
- 37
Guilherme Giovannoninot measured- - 38Cíntia Tuiúnot measured-
- 39
J. P. Batistanot measured- - 40
Felipe Dos Anjosnot measured- - 41Silvia Andrea Santos Luznot measured-
- 42Paulão Prestesnot measured-
- 43
Marcelo Dilglay Damiaonot measured- - 44Shamell Stallworthnot measured-
- 45Leila Sobralnot measured-
- 46
Cláudia das Nevesnot measured- - 47Lilian Gonçalvesnot measured-
- 48Murilo Beckernot measured-
- 49
Jonathan Tavernarinot measured- - 50
Roseli Gustavonot measured- - 51Cláudia Maria Pastornot measured-
- 52
Nádia Colhadonot measured- - 53Ruth Roberta de Souzanot measured-
- 54Mãozinha Pereiranot measured-
- 55Caio Torresnot measured-
- 56
Márcio Santosnot measured- - 57Ilisaine Davidnot measured-
- 58
Stephanie Soaresnot measured- - 59Ricardo Fischernot measured-
- 60
Marcus Vinicius Urban Toledo dos Reisnot measured- - 61Nádia Bento de Limanot measured-
- 62
Palmira Marçalnot measured- - 63
Isabela Ramonanot measured- - 64
João Viannanot measured- - 65
Leonardo Demétrionot measured- - 66
Patrícia Teixeiranot measured- - 67
Joice Rodriguesnot measured- - 68Karla Costanot measured-
- 69Demétrius Ferraciúnot measured-
- 70Jucimara Evangelista Dantasnot measured-
- 71André Luís Guimarães Fonsecanot measured-
- 72
Tainá Paixãonot measured- - 73
Tatiane Pacheconot measured- - 74Tássia Carcavallinot measured-
- 75Nezinho dos Santosnot measured-
- 76Sandro Varejaonot measured-
- 77Patrícia Ferreiranot measured-
- 78Karen Rochanot measured-
- 79Eduardo Machadonot measured-
- 80
Wesley Senanot measured- - 81Simone Pontellonot measured-
- 82Sílvia Cristina Rochanot measured-
- 83Graziane de Jesus Coelhonot measured-
- 84André Bambunot measured-
- 85Soeli Garvão Zakrzeskinot measured-
- 86Caio Eduardo de Mello Cazziolatonot measured-
- 87Franciele Aparecida do Nascimentonot measured-
- 88Fulvio de Assisnot measured-
- 89Micaela Martins Jacinthonot measured-
- 90Fernanda Neves Belingnot measured-
- 91Vivian Lopesnot measured-
- 92Diego Pinheironot measured-
- 93Joycenara Batistanot 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.