← 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
Tony Parker2 decades - 2
Victor Wembanyamanot measured- - 3
Rudy Gobertnot measured- - 4
Nicolas Batumnot measured- - 5
Evan Fourniernot measured- - 6
Guerschon Yabuselenot measured- - 7
Boris Diawnot measured- - 8
Frank Ntilikinanot measured- - 9
Timothé Luwawu-Cabarrotnot measured- - 10
Marine Johannesnot measured- - 11
Zaccharie Risachernot measured- - 12
Valériane Ayayinot measured- - 13
Mathias Lessortnot measured- - 14
Ronny Turiafnot measured- - 15
Joffrey Lauvergnenot measured- - 16
Nando de Colonot measured- - 17
Killian Hayesnot measured- - 18
Mickaël Piétrusnot measured- - 19
Céline Dumercnot measured- - 20
Thomas Heurtelnot measured- - 21
Axel Toupanenot measured- - 22
Alexandre Sarrnot measured- - 23
Rodrigue Beauboisnot measured- - 24
Bilal Coulibalynot measured- - 25
Moustapha Fallnot measured- - 26
Élie Okobonot measured- - 27
Frédéric Weisnot measured- - 28
Andrew Albicynot measured- - 29
Iliana Rupertnot measured- - 30
Ian Mahinminot measured- - 31
Sylvain Francisconot measured- - 32
Matthew Strazelnot measured- - 33
Kevin Séraphinnot measured- - 34Antoine Rigaudeaunot measured-
- 35
Vincent Poiriernot measured- - 36
Sandrine Grudanot measured- - 37
Alexis Ajinçanot measured- - 38
Tariq Abdul-Wahadnot measured- - 39
Marine Fauthouxnot measured- - 40
Théo Maledonnot measured- - 41
Sekou Doumbouyanot measured- - 42
Mickaël Gelabalenot measured- - 43
Edwin Jacksonnot measured- - 44
Stéphane Risachernot measured- - 45
Dominique Malonganot measured- - 46
Isaia Cordiniernot measured- - 47
Marième Badianenot measured- - 48
Jérôme Moïsonot measured- - 49Rayan Rupertnot measured-
- 50
Adam Mokokanot measured- - 51
Janelle Salaünnot measured- - 52
Sarah Michelnot measured- - 53
Isabelle Yacoubounot measured- - 54
Petr Cornelienot measured- - 55Tidjane Salaünnot measured-
- 56
Florent Piétrusnot measured- - 57
Romane Berniesnot measured- - 58
Johan Petronot measured- - 59
Ousmane Diengnot measured- - 60
Léo Westermannnot measured- - 61
Antoine Diotnot measured- - 62
Damien Inglisnot measured- - 63
Maxime Raynaudnot measured- - 64
Moussa Diabaténot measured- - 65
Edwige Lawson-Wadenot measured- - 66
Olivier Sarrnot measured- - 67
Leïla Lacannot measured- - 68
Livio Jean-Charlesnot measured- - 69
Pacôme Dadietnot measured- - 70
Louis Labeyrienot measured- - 71
Nolan Traorénot measured- - 72
Endéné Miyemnot measured- - 73
Noa Essenguenot measured- - 74
Yakhouba Diawaranot measured- - 75
Joël Ayayinot measured- - 76
Adrien Moermannot measured- - 77
Alpha Kabanot measured- - 78
Frédéric Fauthouxnot measured- - 79
Fabien Causeurnot measured- - 80
Alexia Chartereaunot measured- - 81
Olivia Époupanot measured- - 82
Héléna Ciaknot measured- - 83
Mouhammadou Jaitehnot measured- - 84
Émilie Gomisnot measured- - 85
Laurent Sciarranot measured- - 86
Kim Tillienot measured- - 87
Yann Bonatonot measured- - 88
Amine Nouanot measured- - 89Sidy Cissokonot measured-
- 90
Laurent Foirestnot measured- - 91
Yves Ponsnot measured- - 92
Amath M'Bayenot measured- - 93Jim Bilbanot measured-
- 94
Isabelle Fijalkowskinot measured- - 95
Ismaël Kamagatenot measured- - 96
Billy Yakuba Ouattaranot measured- - 97
Pape Synot measured- - 98
Nobel Boungou Colonot measured- - 99
Alain Digbeunot measured- - 100
Valérie Garniernot 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.