← 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
Melanie Martineznot measured- - 2
Anittanot measured- - 3
Max Cavaleranot measured- - 4
Paula Fernandesnot measured- - 5
Ivete Sangalonot measured- - 6
Marília Mendonçanot measured- - 7
Claudia Leittenot measured- - 8
Marisa Montenot measured- - 9
Daniela Mercurynot measured- - 10
Kiko Loureironot measured- - 11
Luan Santananot measured- - 12
Gusttavo Limanot measured- - 13
Sandynot measured- - 14
Andre Matosnot measured- - 15
Pabllo Vittarnot measured- - 16
Seu Jorgenot measured- - 17
Amon Tobinnot measured- - 18
Michel Teló0 decades - 19
Aloknot measured- - 20
Fabrizio Morettinot measured- - 21
Igor Pablo Cavaleranot measured- - 22
Lexanot measured- - 23
Laura Rizzottonot measured- - 24
Maria Ritanot measured- - 25
Pittynot measured- - 26
Andreas Kissernot measured- - 27
Paulo Jr.not measured- - 28
Manu Gavassinot measured- - 29
Kelly Keynot measured- - 30
Ludmillanot measured- - 31
Adriana Calcanhottonot measured- - 32
Vanessa da Matanot measured- - 33
Angélicanot measured- - 34
Joe Pennanot measured- - 35
Ana Carolinanot measured- - 36
Izanot measured- - 37
Luísa Sonzanot measured- - 38
Ana Paula Valadãonot measured- - 39
Ed Mottanot measured- - 40
Aquiles Priesternot measured- - 41
Marcelo Zarvosnot measured- - 42
Céunot measured- - 43
Eloy Casagrandenot measured- - 44Luciana Souzanot measured-
- 45
Gaby Amarantosnot measured- - 46
Lovefoxxxnot measured- - 47
Marcelo D2not measured- - 48
Rodrigo Amarantenot measured- - 49
Alexandre Piresnot measured- - 50
Chorãonot measured- - 51
Luiza Possinot measured- - 52
Lord Vinheteironot measured- - 53
Fernanda Takainot measured- - 54Georgia Brownnot measured-
- 55
Cristian Machadonot measured- - 56
Maria Gadúnot measured- - 57
Aline Barrosnot measured- - 58
Gabriel o Pensadornot measured- - 59
Samuel Rosanot measured- - 60
Sophia Abrahãonot measured- - 61
Fernanda Brandãonot measured- - 62Wagner Lamouniernot measured-
- 63
Fantine Thónot measured- - 64
Jessica Alvesnot measured- - 65
Badi Assadnot measured- - 66
Suplanot measured- - 67
Pedro Sampaionot measured- - 68
Sabotagenot measured- - 69
Gloria Groovenot measured- - 70
Cristiano Araújonot measured- - 71
Lu Andradenot measured- - 72
Latinonot measured- - 73
Emicidanot measured- - 74
Juliettenot measured- - 75
Antonio Pintonot measured- - 76
Yamandu Costanot measured- - 77
Gabriela Rochanot measured- - 78
Roberta Sánot measured- - 79
Clarice Falcãonot measured- - 80
Pocahnot measured- - 81
Bielnot measured- - 82
Ricardo Cruznot measured- - 83
Mano Brownnot measured- - 84
Gui Borattonot measured- - 85
Olga Souzanot measured- - 86
Mr. Catranot measured- - 87
Ana Castelanot measured- - 88
Jairo Guedeznot measured- - 89
Marina Senanot measured- - 90
Jean Dolabellanot measured- - 91
Giulia Benot measured- - 92
André Valadãonot measured- - 93
Júlia Paesnot measured- - 94
Joelmanot measured- - 95
Gabriel Diniznot measured- - 96
Inês Brasilnot measured- - 97
Tiago Iorcnot measured- - 98
Marcelo Falcãonot measured- - 99
Mariana Aydarnot measured- - 100
Luciana Mellonot 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.