← 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
Justin Bieber1 decades - 2
Celine Dion1 decades - 3
Drakenot measured- - 4
Avril Lavigne2 decades - 5
The Weeknd0 decades - 6
Alanis Morissette3 decades - 7
Shania Twain3 decades - 8
Nelly Furtado0 decades - 9
Shawn Mendes0 decades - 10
Michael Bublé1 decades - 11
Tate McRaenot measured- - 12
Grimesnot measured- - 13
Carly Rae Jepsen0 decades - 14
Lara Fabian2 decades - 15
Sarah McLachlan2 decades - 16
Deryck Whibley0 decades - 17
Deadmau5not measured- - 18
Alissa White-Gluznot measured- - 19
Chad Kroegernot measured- - 20
Sebastian Bachnot measured- - 21
Kris Wunot measured- - 22
Mac DeMarconot measured- - 23
Feistnot measured- - 24
Garounot measured- - 25
Devin Townsendnot measured- - 26
Nicholas Tsenot measured- - 27
bbno$not measured- - 28
Natasha St-Piernot measured- - 29
Daniel Powternot measured- - 30
Adam Gontiernot measured- - 31
Jeff Healeynot measured- - 32
Cœur de piratenot measured- - 33
Tory Laneznot measured- - 34
Peachesnot measured- - 35
Denise Honot measured- - 36
Snownot measured- - 37
Melissa Auf der Maurnot measured- - 38
Mark Leenot measured- - 39
Henry Launot measured- - 40
Jeon Sominot measured- - 41
Zahonot measured- - 42
Yannick Nézet-Séguinnot measured- - 43
K’naannot measured- - 44
La Zarranot measured- - 45
Pierre Bouviernot measured- - 46
Kieszanot measured- - 47
PartyNextDoornot measured- - 48
Jessie Reyeznot measured- - 49
Daniel Caesarnot measured- - 50
Melissa O'Neilnot measured- - 51
Richie Hawtinnot measured- - 52Ruth B.not measured-
- 53
Lightsnot measured- - 54
Kardinal Offishallnot measured- - 55
Allie Xnot measured- - 56
Melanie Fionanot measured- - 57
Natalie Appletonnot measured- - 58
Sébastien Lefebvrenot measured- - 59
Nicole Appletonnot measured- - 60
Isabelle Boulaynot measured- - 61
Navnot measured- - 62
G.NAnot measured- - 63
Jonita Gandhinot measured- - 64
Deborah Coxnot measured- - 65
Charlotte Cardinnot measured- - 66
Tamianot measured- - 67
Tagaqnot measured- - 68
Alice Glassnot measured- - 69
Kaytranadanot measured- - 70
Jason McCaslinnot measured- - 71
Johnny Orlandonot measured- - 72
Tablonot measured- - 73
Christophe Becknot measured- - 74
Evelyne Brochunot measured- - 75
Dave Bakshnot measured- - 76
Chilly Gonzalesnot measured- - 77
Daniel Adairnot measured- - 78
Chantal Kreviazuknot measured- - 79
Bellynot measured- - 80
Fefe Dobsonnot measured- - 81
Patrick Watsonnot measured- - 82
Powfunot measured- - 83
Tal Bachmannot measured- - 84
Cirkutnot measured- - 85
Steve Jocznot measured- - 86
Emily Hainesnot measured- - 87
Lennon Stellanot measured- - 88Taylor Mitchellnot measured-
- 89
Venetian Snaresnot measured- - 90
Amanda Marshallnot measured- - 91
Terri Clarknot measured- - 92
Bif Nakednot measured- - 93Mia Martinanot measured-
- 94
Marc Martelnot measured- - 95
k-osnot measured- - 96
Sook-Yin Leenot measured- - 97
Rebecca Shoichetnot measured- - 98
Barbara Hannigannot measured- - 99
Mike Kroegernot measured- - 100
A-Traknot 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.