← 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
Gaël Monfils0 decades - 2
Amélie Mauresmo2 decades - 3
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga0 decades - 4
Marion Bartoli0 decades - 5
Kristina Mladenovicnot measured- - 6
Caroline Garcianot measured- - 7
Nicolas Mahutnot measured- - 8
Adrian Mannarinonot measured- - 9
Richard Gasquet1 decades - 10
Diane Parrynot measured- - 11
Loïs Boissonnot measured- - 12
Arthur Filsnot measured- - 13
Alizé Cornetnot measured- - 14
Valentin Vacherotnot measured- - 15
Arnaud Clémentnot measured- - 16
Fabrice Santoronot measured- - 17
Ugo Humbertnot measured- - 18
Quentin Halysnot measured- - 19
Benoît Pairenot measured- - 20
Gilles Simon1 decades - 21
Lucas Pouillenot measured- - 22
Arthur Rinderknechnot measured- - 23
Younes El Aynaouinot measured- - 24
Nathalie Tauziatnot measured- - 25
Corentin Moutetnot measured- - 26
Guy Forgetnot measured- - 27
Benjamin Bonzinot measured- - 28
Sébastien Grosjeannot measured- - 29
Alizé Limnot measured- - 30
Cédric Piolinenot measured- - 31
Pierre-Hugues Herbertnot measured- - 32
Océane Dodinnot measured- - 33
Hugo Gastonnot measured- - 34
Giovanni Mpetshi Perricardnot measured- - 35
Tatiana Golovinnot measured- - 36
Elsa Jacquemotnot measured- - 37
Édouard Roger-Vasselinnot measured- - 38
Clara Burelnot measured- - 39
Michaël Llodranot measured- - 40
Paul-Henri Mathieunot measured- - 41
Jérémy Chardynot measured- - 42
Luca Van Asschenot measured- - 43
Julien Benneteaunot measured- - 44
Fiona Ferronot measured- - 45
Alexandre Müllernot measured- - 46
Aravane Rezaïnot measured- - 47
Léolia Jeanjeannot measured- - 48
Nicolas Escudénot measured- - 49
Albano Olivettinot measured- - 50Jérôme Golmardnot measured-
- 51
Harmony Tannot measured- - 52
Térence Atmanenot measured- - 53
Chloé Paquetnot measured- - 54
Hugo Nysnot measured- - 55
Arthur Geanot measured- - 56
Arnaud Di Pasqualenot measured- - 57
Nathalie Dechynot measured- - 58
Camille Pinnot measured- - 59
Marc Gicquelnot measured- - 60
Émilie Loitnot measured- - 61
Virginie Razzanonot measured- - 62
Pauline Parmentiernot measured- - 63
Tessah Andrianjafitrimonot measured- - 64
Sandrine Testudnot measured- - 65Julie Halard-Decugisnot measured-
- 66
Julie Coinnot measured- - 67
Arthur Cazauxnot measured- - 68
Manuel Guinardnot measured- - 69
Stéphane Robertnot measured- - 70
Kenny de Scheppernot measured- - 71
Sadio Doumbianot measured- - 72Thierry Ascionenot measured-
- 73
Tiantsoa Sarah Rakotomanga Rajaonahnot measured- - 74
Fabrice Martinnot measured- - 75
Harold Mayotnot measured- - 76
Valentin Royernot measured- - 77
Jean-René Lisnardnot measured- - 78
Théo Arribagénot measured- - 79
Arnaud Boetschnot measured- - 80
Fabien Reboulnot measured- - 81
Moïse Kouaménot measured- - 82
Florent Serranot measured- - 83
Constant Lestiennenot measured- - 84
Séverine Beltramenot measured- - 85
Mathilde Johanssonnot measured- - 86
Romain Arneodonot measured- - 87
Grégoire Barrèrenot measured- - 88
Carole Monnetnot measured- - 89
Jessika Ponchetnot measured- - 90
Stéphanie Foretznot measured- - 91
Guillaume Rufinnot measured- - 92
Josselin Ouannanot measured- - 93
Titouan Droguetnot measured- - 94
Laurent Lokolinot measured- - 95
Geoffrey Blancaneauxnot measured- - 96Olivier Delaîtrenot measured-
- 97
Kyrian Jacquetnot measured- - 98
Amandine Hessenot measured- - 99
Thierry Championnot measured- - 100Isabelle Demongeotnot 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.