← 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.
- 1Dwayne Johnson1 decades
- 2
Pamela Anderson3 decades - 3
Ryan Gosling1 decades - 4
Ryan Reynolds1 decades - 5
Rachel McAdams0 decades - 6
Elliot Pagenot measured- - 7
Nina Dobrev0 decades - 8
Elisha Cuthbert0 decades - 9
Cobie Smulders0 decades - 10
Finn Wolfhard0 decades - 11
Evangeline Lilly0 decades - 12
Hayden Christensen0 decades - 13
Sunny Leone0 decades - 14
Anna Paquinnot measured- - 15
Nathan Fillion0 decades - 16
Neve Campbell0 decades - 17
Seth Rogen1 decades - 18
Kristin Kreuk0 decades - 19
Carrie-Anne Moss0 decades - 20
Michael Cera0 decades - 21
Joshua Jackson0 decades - 22Sandra Oh0 decades
- 23
Hudson Williamsnot measured- - 24
Emily VanCamp0 decades - 25
Tara Strong0 decades - 26
Pom Klementieffnot measured- - 27
Natasha Henstridge0 decades - 28
Stephen Amell0 decades - 29
Tatiana Maslanynot measured- - 30
Shay Mitchell0 decades - 31
Cory Monteith0 decades - 32
Katheryn Winnick0 decades - 33
Sarah Chalke0 decades - 34
August Ames0 decades - 35
Avan Jogianot measured- - 36
Laurie Holden0 decades - 37
Taylor Kitschnot measured- - 38
Georges St-Pierrenot measured- - 39
Shawn Ashmorenot measured- - 40
Jay Baruchelnot measured- - 41
Sarah Gadonnot measured- - 42
Corey Haimnot measured- - 43
Jacob Tremblaynot measured- - 44
Shyla Styleznot measured- - 45
Will Arnettnot measured- - 46
Robbie Amellnot measured- - 47
A. J. Cooknot measured- - 48
Patrick J. Adamsnot measured- - 49
Michael Shanksnot measured- - 50
Mackenzie Davisnot measured- - 51
Alexander Ludwignot measured- - 52
Barry Peppernot measured- - 53
Amanda Tapping0 decades - 54
Alison Pillnot measured- - 55
Erica Durancenot measured- - 56
Emmanuelle Chriquinot measured- - 57
Tricia Helfernot measured- - 58
Kevin Durandnot measured- - 59
Steven Oggnot measured- - 60
Devon Sawanot measured- - 61
Scott Speedmannot measured- - 62
Sarah Polleynot measured- - 63
Sophie Nélissenot measured- - 64
Michael Mandonot measured- - 65
Maitreyi Ramakrishnannot measured- - 66
Chris Diamantopoulosnot measured- - 67
Taylor Russellnot measured- - 68
Aaron Ashmorenot measured- - 69
Kevin Zegersnot measured- - 70
Jill Hennessynot measured- - 71
Donal Loguenot measured- - 72
Ahn Hyo-seopnot measured- - 73
Kathleen Robertsonnot measured- - 74
Tom Greennot measured- - 75
Eric Bauzanot measured- - 76
Katharine Isabellenot measured- - 77
Jodelle Ferlandnot measured- - 78
Emily Bett Rickardsnot measured- - 79
Dan Levynot measured- - 80
Pablo Schreibernot measured- - 81
Jennifer Halenot measured- - 82
Justin Chatwinnot measured- - 83
Jessalyn Gilsignot measured- - 84
Sara Canningnot measured- - 85
Charlotte Le Bonnot measured- - 86
François Arnaudnot measured- - 87
Missy Peregrymnot measured- - 88
Richard Harmonnot measured- - 89
Melissa Roxburghnot measured- - 90
Sophie Grégoire Trudeaunot measured- - 91
Ashleigh Ballnot measured- - 92
Rachel Blanchardnot measured- - 93
Emily Hampshirenot measured- - 94
David Hewlettnot measured- - 95
Estella Warrennot measured- - 96
Vanessa Morgannot measured- - 97
Mia Kirshnernot measured- - 98
Rachelle Lefevrenot measured- - 99
Drew Seeleynot measured- - 100
Serinda Swannot 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.