← 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
Naomi Klein2 decades - 2
Rupi Kaur0 decades - 3
Tessa Virtuenot measured- - 4Justine Musknot measured-
- 5
Nathan Fieldernot measured- - 6
Severn Cullis-Suzukinot measured- - 7
Evan Goldbergnot measured- - 8
Emily St. John Mandelnot measured- - 9
Scott Moirnot measured- - 10
Lisa Jakubnot measured- - 11
Emma Donoghuenot measured- - 12
Xiran Jay Zhaonot measured- - 13
Nelly Arcannot measured- - 14
Pattie Mallettenot measured- - 15
R. Scott Bakkernot measured- - 16
Stephanie Savagenot measured- - 17
Drew Karpyshynnot measured- - 18
Maggie Kangnot measured- - 19
Aaron Abramsnot measured- - 20
Mysterynot measured- - 21
Rachel Reidnot measured- - 22
Jeff Lemirenot measured- - 23
Madeleine Thiennot measured- - 24
Polly Shannonnot measured- - 25
Mariko Tamakinot measured- - 26
Amal El-Mohtarnot measured- - 27
Jon Klassennot measured- - 28
Emilia McCarthynot measured- - 29
Kelley Armstrongnot measured- - 30
Sheila Hetinot measured- - 31Sonja Langnot measured-
- 32
Robert C. Coopernot measured- - 33
Moira Walley-Beckettnot measured- - 34
Terri Tatchellnot measured- - 35
Ryan Northnot measured- - 36
Philippe Falardeaunot measured- - 37
Gordon Currienot measured- - 38
Kate Beatonnot measured- - 39
Patrick deWittnot measured- - 40
Esi Edugyannot measured- - 41
Craig Kielburgernot measured- - 42
Elle Kennedynot measured- - 43
Fonda Leenot measured- - 44
Omar El Akkadnot measured- - 45
Evan Adamsnot measured- - 46
Fab Filipponot measured- - 47Mona Awadnot measured-
- 48
Matthew Bennettnot measured- - 49
Joseph Boydennot measured- - 50
Jayson Thiessennot measured- - 51
Joseph Mallozzinot measured- - 52
Sophie Labellenot measured- - 53
Kenneth Oppelnot measured- - 54
Michelle Noldennot measured- - 55
Naomi Fontainenot measured- - 56
John Bairdnot measured- - 57
J. H. Wymannot measured- - 58
Karen Cockburnnot measured- - 59
André Turpinnot measured- - 60Julian Clarkenot measured-
- 61
Piruz Dilenchinot measured- - 62
Andrew Pypernot measured- - 63Keri Smithnot measured-
- 64
Mathieu Bock-Côténot measured- - 65
Andrea Werhunnot measured- - 66
Tanya Davisnot measured- - 67
Sylvain Neuvelnot measured- - 68
Dominique Fortiernot measured- - 69
Lisi Harrisonnot measured- - 70
Natasha Kanapé Fontainenot measured- - 71
Eliza Reidnot measured- - 72Chevy Stevensnot measured-
- 73
Amber Dawnnot measured- - 74Nita Prosenot measured-
- 75Chris Bachalonot measured-
- 76
Tom Rachmannot measured- - 77
Jennifer Gunternot measured- - 78Cameron Alexandernot measured-
- 79
Stephen Marchenot measured- - 80
Andres Kasekampnot measured- - 81
Joel H. Cohennot measured- - 82
Chloé Robichaudnot measured- - 83
Tracy Dawsonnot measured- - 84
Kristen Thomsonnot measured- - 85Kai Cheng Thomnot measured-
- 86
Alwyn Hamiltonnot measured- - 87
Durga Chew-Bosenot measured- - 88Lynsay Sandsnot measured-
- 89
Stephanie Moorenot measured- - 90Katherena Vermettenot measured-
- 91
Bryan Perronot measured- - 92
Stephen Dunnnot measured- - 93
Anne Fortiernot measured- - 94
Ahmad Danny Ramadannot measured- - 95Carley Fortunenot measured-
- 96
Jordan Tannahillnot measured- - 97
Sarah Mlynowskinot measured- - 98
Evan Solomonnot measured- - 99
Rita Mestokoshonot measured- - 100
Quinn Slobodiannot 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.