← 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
Emmanuel Macronnot measured- - 2
Marine Le Pen2 decades - 3
Gabriel Attal0 decades - 4
Sébastien Lecornu0 decades - 5
Édouard Philippe1 decades - 6
Jordan Bardellanot measured- - 7
Andry Rajoelina0 decades - 8
Rachida Dati2 decades - 9
Jean Castexnot measured- - 10
Louis Aliot2 decades - 11
Marion Maréchalnot measured- - 12
Gérald Darmaninnot measured- - 13
Benoît Hamon2 decades - 14
Valérie Pécressenot measured- - 15
Audrey Azoulay0 decades - 16
Yaël Braun-Pivetnot measured- - 17
Stéphane Séjournénot measured- - 18
Rima Hassannot measured- - 19
Bruno Le Mairenot measured- - 20
Jean-Noël Barrotnot measured- - 21
Nathalie Arthaudnot measured- - 22
Philippe Poutounot measured- - 23
Olivier Besancenotnot measured- - 24
François Baroinnot measured- - 25
Yannick Jadotnot measured- - 26
Marlène Schiappanot measured- - 27
David Douilletnot measured- - 28
Xavier Bertrandnot measured- - 29
Manon Aubrynot measured- - 30
Laurent Wauquieznot measured- - 31
Fabien Rousselnot measured- - 32
Cécile Duflotnot measured- - 33
Marine Tondeliernot measured- - 34
Jean-Baptiste Djebbarinot measured- - 35
Nathalie Kosciusko-Morizetnot measured- - 36
Christophe Castanernot measured- - 37
Florian Philippotnot measured- - 38
Clémentine Autainnot measured- - 39
Olivier Faurenot measured- - 40
Aurélie Filippettinot measured- - 41
Verónika Mendozanot measured- - 42
Éric Ciottinot measured- - 43
Mathilde Panotnot measured- - 44
Amélie de Montchalinnot measured- - 45
Emmanuel Grégoirenot measured- - 46
Rama Yadenot measured- - 47
Lucie Castetsnot measured- - 48
Sarah Knafonot measured- - 49
Roland Lescurenot measured- - 50
Manuel Bompardnot measured- - 51
Gwendal Peizeratnot measured- - 52
Carole Delganot measured- - 53
François de Rugynot measured- - 54
Benjamin Griveauxnot measured- - 55
Agnès Pannier-Runachernot measured- - 56
Élodie Gossuinnot measured- - 57
Valérie Hayernot measured- - 58
Franck Riesternot measured- - 59
Olivier Vérannot measured- - 60
Fleur Pellerinnot measured- - 61
Delphine Bathonot measured- - 62
Frédérick Bousquetnot measured- - 63
François-Xavier Bellamynot measured- - 64
Olivier Marleixnot measured- - 65
Barbara Pompilinot measured- - 66
Rima Abdul Malaknot measured- - 67
Gilles Simeoninot measured- - 68
Olivier Dussoptnot measured- - 69
Aymeric Chaupradenot measured- - 70
Stanislas Guerininot measured- - 71
Marco Enríquez-Ominaminot measured- - 72
Myriam El Khomrinot measured- - 73
Aurore Lalucqnot measured- - 74
Nicolas Baynot measured- - 75
Damien Abadnot measured- - 76
Antoine Armandnot measured- - 77
Bruno Le Rouxnot measured- - 78
Clément Beaunenot measured- - 79
Marie Toussaintnot measured- - 80
Benoît Payannot measured- - 81
Clémence Guetténot measured- - 82
Aurore Bergénot measured- - 83
Emma Fourreaunot measured- - 84
Christophe Béchunot measured- - 85
Hélène Laportenot measured- - 86
Grégory Doucetnot measured- - 87
Amélie Oudéa-Castéranot measured- - 88
Edwige Diaznot measured- - 89Carole Montilletnot measured-
- 90
Sylvia Bongo Ondimbanot measured- - 91
Jean-Vincent Placénot measured- - 92
Joël Abatinot measured- - 93
Jeanne Barseghiannot measured- - 94
Emmanuelle Wargonnot measured- - 95
Guillaume Peltiernot measured- - 96
Sibeth Ndiayenot measured- - 97
Bally Bagayokonot measured- - 98
Sylvia Pinelnot measured- - 99
Adrien Quatennensnot measured- - 100
Julien Denormandienot 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.