← 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
Brock Lesnar0 decades - 2
Chris Benoit0 decades - 3
Jacques Villeneuve2 decades - 4
Lance Strollnot measured- - 5
Sidney Crosby1 decades - 6
Edgenot measured- - 7
Mario Lemieux3 decades - 8
Lennox Lewis2 decades - 9
Kevin Owensnot measured- - 10
Connor McDavidnot measured- - 11
Christiannot measured- - 12
Natalya Neidhartnot measured- - 13
Nicholas Latifinot measured- - 14
Sami Zaynnot measured- - 15
Trish Stratusnot measured- - 16
Daniel Negreanunot measured- - 17
Macklin Celebrininot measured- - 18
Cale Makarnot measured- - 19
Tyler Manenot measured- - 20
Andre De Grassenot measured- - 21
Chelsea Greennot measured- - 22
Santino Marellanot measured- - 23
Joe Thorntonnot measured- - 24
Arturo Gattinot measured- - 25
Gail Kimnot measured- - 26
Bobby Roodenot measured- - 27
P. K. Subbannot measured- - 28
Maryse Mizaninnot measured- - 29
Mike Comrienot measured- - 30
Carlitonot measured- - 31
Jinder Mahalnot measured- - 32
Steve Yzermannot measured- - 33
Damian Warnernot measured- - 34
Andrew Martinnot measured- - 35
Jonathan Toewsnot measured- - 36
Devon Larrattnot measured- - 37
Tyson Kiddnot measured- - 38
Jordan Staalnot measured- - 39
Patrick Roynot measured- - 40
Claude Lemieuxnot measured- - 41
Marc-André Fleurynot measured- - 42
Ethan Katzbergnot measured- - 43
Nathan MacKinnonnot measured- - 44
Carey Pricenot measured- - 45
Donovan Baileynot measured- - 46
Aaron Brownnot measured- - 47
Mitchell Marnernot measured- - 48
Joe Sakicnot measured- - 49
Eric Lindrosnot measured- - 50
Marie-Philip Poulinnot measured- - 51
Paul Kariyanot measured- - 52Connor Bedardnot measured-
- 53
Martin St. Louisnot measured- - 54
Shawn Spearsnot measured- - 55
John Tavaresnot measured- - 56
Mike Fishernot measured- - 57
Camryn Rogersnot measured- - 58
Patrice Bergeronnot measured- - 59
Alexander Killornnot measured- - 60
Eric Staalnot measured- - 61
Ethan Pagenot measured- - 62
Sean Averynot measured- - 63
Jarome Iginlanot measured- - 64
Tyler Breezenot measured- - 65
Robert Mailletnot measured- - 66
Davey Boy Smith Jr.not measured- - 67
Corey Perrynot measured- - 68
Rod Brind'Amournot measured- - 69
Chris Prongernot measured- - 70
Angelina Lovenot measured- - 71
Eric Youngnot measured- - 72
Steven Stamkosnot measured- - 73
Lance Stormnot measured- - 74
Ray Emerynot measured- - 75
Marco Aropnot measured- - 76
Brad Marchandnot measured- - 77
Todd Bertuzzinot measured- - 78
Nick Suzukinot measured- - 79
Nazem Kadrinot measured- - 80
Kyle O'Reillynot measured- - 81
Ricardo Andrés Vega Torresnot measured- - 82
Brendan Shanahannot measured- - 83
Brendan Gallaghernot measured- - 84
Patrick Marleaunot measured- - 85
Cam Neelynot measured- - 86
Theoren Fleurynot measured- - 87
Hayley Wickenheisernot measured- - 88
Scott Niedermayernot measured- - 89
Pierre Turgeonnot measured- - 90
Joe Nieuwendyknot measured- - 91
James Hinchcliffenot measured- - 92
Roberto Luongonot measured- - 93
Taylor Hallnot measured- - 94
Chris Osgoodnot measured- - 95
Evander Kanenot measured- - 96
Logan Couturenot measured- - 97
René Dupréenot measured- - 98
Jeff Skinnernot measured- - 99
Drew Doughtynot measured- - 100
Milena Rouckanot 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.