← 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 Trudeau1 decades - 2
Mark Carney1 decades - 3
Pierre Poilievrenot measured- - 4
Chrystia Freelandnot measured- - 5
Rob Fordnot measured- - 6
Jagmeet Singhnot measured- - 7
Andrew Scheernot measured- - 8
Mélanie Jolynot measured- - 9
Erin O'Toolenot measured- - 10
Anita Anandnot measured- - 11
Danielle Smithnot measured- - 12
François-Philippe Champagnenot measured- - 13
Peter MacKaynot measured- - 14
Harjit Sajjannot measured- - 15
Jason Kenneynot measured- - 16
David Ebynot measured- - 17
Adam van Koeverdennot measured- - 18
Naheed Nenshinot measured- - 19
Michelle Rempel Garnernot measured- - 20
Christy Clarknot measured- - 21
André Boisclairnot measured- - 22
Wab Kinewnot measured- - 23
Valérie Plantenot measured- - 24
Yves-François Blanchetnot measured- - 25
Patty Hajdunot measured- - 26
Avi Lewisnot measured- - 27
Jody Wilson-Raybouldnot measured- - 28
Brad Wallnot measured- - 29
Alison Redfordnot measured- - 30
Catherine McKennanot measured- - 31
Sylvie Fréchettenot measured- - 32
Dominic LeBlancnot measured- - 33
Soraya Martinez Ferradanot measured- - 34
Chris Alexandernot measured- - 35
Karina Gouldnot measured- - 36
Belinda Stronachnot measured- - 37
Chantal Petitclercnot measured- - 38
Mark Hollandnot measured- - 39
Scott Moenot measured- - 40
Marit Stilesnot measured- - 41
Navdeep Bainsnot measured- - 42
Rona Ambrosenot measured- - 43
Jyoti Gondeknot measured- - 44
Isabelle Charestnot measured- - 45
Annamie Paulnot measured- - 46
Nathaniel Erskine-Smithnot measured- - 47
Marco Mendicinonot measured- - 48
Tim Houstonnot measured- - 49
Gary Anandasangareenot measured- - 50
Lisa Raittnot measured- - 51
Kennedy Stewartnot measured- - 52
Rachel Bendayannot measured- - 53
Omar Alghabranot measured- - 54
Kamal Kheranot measured- - 55
Maryam Monsefnot measured- - 56
Carla Qualtroughnot measured- - 57
Scott Brisonnot measured- - 58
Ruba Ghazalnot measured- - 59
Heather McPhersonnot measured- - 60
Kirsty Duncannot measured- - 61
Bardish Chaggernot measured- - 62
Ken Simnot measured- - 63
Tim Uppalnot measured- - 64
Sol Zanettinot measured- - 65
Leona Aglukkaqnot measured- - 66
Caroline Mulroneynot measured- - 67
James Moorenot measured- - 68
Mark Sutcliffenot measured- - 69
Dominique Angladenot measured- - 70
Jamie Korabnot measured- - 71
Nathan Cullennot measured- - 72
Mary Ngnot measured- - 73
Kapwani Kiwanganot measured- - 74
Jonathan Wilkinsonnot measured- - 75
Marie-Claude Bibeaunot measured- - 76
Michelle Stilwellnot measured- - 77
Melissa Lantsmannot measured- - 78
Gabriel Nadeau-Duboisnot measured- - 79
Sean Frasernot measured- - 80
Kent Hehrnot measured- - 81
Sandy Silvernot measured- - 82
Arif Viraninot measured- - 83
Randy Boissonnaultnot measured- - 84
Julie Dabrusinnot measured- - 85
Leslyn Lewisnot measured- - 86
Heather Stefansonnot measured- - 87
Michael Chongnot measured- - 88
Dennis Kwoknot measured- - 89
Leo Housakosnot measured- - 90
Andrew Fureynot measured- - 91
Marc-André Blanchardnot measured- - 92
Martine Ouelletnot measured- - 93
Niki Ashtonnot measured- - 94
Pascale St-Ongenot measured- - 95
Yvan Bakernot measured- - 96
Ginette Petitpas Taylornot measured- - 97
Brian Gallantnot measured- - 98
Blake Richardsnot measured- - 99Helena Guergisnot measured-
- 100
Peter Fonsecanot 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.