← 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
Timothée Chalamet0 decades - 2
Eva Green2 decades - 3
Marion Cotillard2 decades - 4
Léa Seydoux1 decades - 5
Sophie Marceau4 decades - 6
Vincent Cassel3 decades - 7
Omar Sy1 decades - 8
Jean Dujardin3 decades - 9
Mélanie Laurent1 decades - 10
Audrey Tautou2 decades - 11
Julie Delpy4 decades - 12
Golshifteh Farahani0 decades - 13
Adèle Exarchopoulos0 decades - 14
Laetitia Casta2 decades - 15
Gaspard Ulliel1 decades - 16
Emma Mackeynot measured- - 17
Jeremy Allen Whitenot measured- - 18
Guillaume Canet2 decades - 19
Emmanuelle Seigner3 decades - 20
Louis Garrel2 decades - 21
Adriana Sklenaříková2 decades - 22
Clémence Poésy0 decades - 23
Sébastien Loeb2 decades - 24
Bérénice Bejo0 decades - 25
Louane1 decades - 26
Dany Boon2 decades - 27
Alexa Davalosnot measured- - 28
Tahar Rahimnot measured- - 29
Maïwennnot measured- - 30
Sandrine Bonnaire4 decades - 31
Astrid Berges-Frisbeynot measured- - 32
Ludivine Sagniernot measured- - 33
Romain Durisnot measured- - 34
Julie Gayetnot measured- - 35
Guillaume Depardieunot measured- - 36
Adèle Haenelnot measured- - 37
Chiara Mastroianninot measured- - 38
Olivier Martineznot measured- - 39
Élodie Yungnot measured- - 40
Pierre Nineynot measured- - 41
Saïd Taghmaouinot measured- - 42
Irène Jacobnot measured- - 43
Nora Arnezedernot measured- - 44
Julie Depardieunot measured- - 45
Sandrine Kiberlainnot measured- - 46
David Bellenot measured- - 47
Virginie Ledoyennot measured- - 48
Teddy Rinernot measured- - 49
Mélanie Thierrynot measured- - 50
Yvan Attalnot measured- - 51
Laure Manaudounot measured- - 52
Karina Lombardnot measured- - 53
Emma de Caunesnot measured- - 54
Leïla Bekhtinot measured- - 55
Louise Bourgoinnot measured- - 56
Clotilde Couraunot measured- - 57
Manuel Ferraranot measured- - 58
Isabelle Carrénot measured- - 59
Stacy Martinnot measured- - 60
Mathieu Amalricnot measured- - 61
Tom Leebnot measured- - 62
Benoît Magimelnot measured- - 63
Audrey Fleurotnot measured- - 64
Anamaria Vartolomeinot measured- - 65
Roschdy Zemnot measured- - 66
Lucas Bravonot measured- - 67
Jeanne Balibarnot measured- - 68
Kalki Koechlinnot measured- - 69
Florent Manaudounot measured- - 70
Bérénice Marlohenot measured- - 71
Gaia Weissnot measured- - 72
Gilles Lellouchenot measured- - 73
Denis Ménochetnot measured- - 74
Amira Casarnot measured- - 75
Reda Katebnot measured- - 76
Elsa Lunghininot measured- - 77
Léa Druckernot measured- - 78
Niels Schneidernot measured- - 79
Claire Keimnot measured- - 80
Élodie Fontannot measured- - 81
Céline Trannot measured- - 82
Stephanie Szostaknot measured- - 83
Sara Giraudeaunot measured- - 84
Clovis Cornillacnot measured- - 85
Valérie Donzellinot measured- - 86
Marina Handsnot measured- - 87
Lou Doillonnot measured- - 88
Emmanuelle Bercotnot measured- - 89
Aure Atikanot measured- - 90
Camille Cottinnot measured- - 91
Melvil Poupaudnot measured- - 92
Swann Arlaudnot measured- - 93
David Herman0 decades - 94
Élodie Boucheznot measured- - 95
Marina Foïsnot measured- - 96
Tomer Sisleynot measured- - 97
Cécile Casselnot measured- - 98
Elsa Zylbersteinnot measured- - 99
Julie Dreyfusnot measured- - 100
Alice Evansnot 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.