← 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
Diane Kruger0 decades - 2
Daniel Brühl2 decades - 3
Franka Potente2 decades - 4
Sibel Kekilli1 decades - 5
Sandra Hüller1 decades - 6
Alexandra Maria Lara1 decades - 7
Anna Sorokinnot measured- - 8
Nina Hoss1 decades - 9
Stefan Raab2 decades - 10
August Diehlnot measured- - 11
Moritz Bleibtreunot measured- - 12
Tom Wlaschihanot measured- - 13
Matthias Schweighöfernot measured- - 14
Meryem Uzerlinot measured- - 15
Karoline Herfurthnot measured- - 16
Heike Makatschnot measured- - 17
Timo Bollnot measured- - 18
Antje Trauenot measured- - 19
Veronica Ferresnot measured- - 20
Nora Tschirnernot measured- - 21
David Krossnot measured- - 22
Liv Lisa Friesnot measured- - 23
Boris Kodjoenot measured- - 24
Lars Eidingernot measured- - 25
Julia Jentschnot measured- - 26
Tom Schillingnot measured- - 27
Anke Engelkenot measured- - 28
Paula Beernot measured- - 29
Alexander Dreymonnot measured- - 30
Gedeon Burkhardnot measured- - 31
Michaela Schaffrathnot measured- - 32
Alicia von Rittbergnot measured- - 33
Leonie Beneschnot measured- - 34
Christian Olivernot measured- - 35
Fabian Hambüchennot measured- - 36
Benno Fürmannnot measured- - 37
Maria Furtwänglernot measured- - 38
Volker Bruchnot measured- - 39
Evelyn Sharmanot measured- - 40
Jürgen Vogelnot measured- - 41
Briana Banksnot measured- - 42
Josefine Preußnot measured- - 43
Florence Kasumbanot measured- - 44
Christiane Paulnot measured- - 45
Oliver Masuccinot measured- - 46
Louis Hofmannnot measured- - 47
Helena Zengelnot measured- - 48
Alexander Gerstnot measured- - 49
Florian Munteanunot measured- - 50
Florian David Fitznot measured- - 51
Nur Fettahoğlunot measured- - 52
Erdoğan Atalaynot measured- - 53
Emilia Schülenot measured- - 54
Max Riemeltnot measured- - 55
Ruby O. Feenot measured- - 56
Hannah Herzsprungnot measured- - 57
Nadja Uhlnot measured- - 58
Jessica Schwarznot measured- - 59
Damian Hardungnot measured- - 60
Florian Wellbrocknot measured- - 61
Anna Maria Mühenot measured- - 62
Tom Becknot measured- - 63
Frederick Launot measured- - 64
Johanna Wokaleknot measured- - 65
Cosma Shiva Hagennot measured- - 66
Kostja Ullmannnot measured- - 67
Sonja Gerhardtnot measured- - 68
Sarah Thonignot measured- - 69
Anna Thalbachnot measured- - 70
Barbara Schönebergernot measured- - 71
Florian Lukasnot measured- - 72
Peter Hermannnot measured- - 73
Juliane Köhlernot measured- - 74
Markus Rühlnot measured- - 75
Andreas Pietschmannnot measured- - 76
Sophia Thomallanot measured- - 77
Jannis Niewöhnernot measured- - 78
Maria Ehrichnot measured- - 79
Natalia Wörnernot measured- - 80
Jana Pallaskenot measured- - 81
Jannik Schümannnot measured- - 82
Karoline Schuchnot measured- - 83
Anna Kovalchuknot measured- - 84
Madison Ivynot measured- - 85
Martina Hillnot measured- - 86
Natja Brunckhorstnot measured- - 87
Sophie Charlottenot measured- - 88
Emma Aichernot measured- - 89
Lisa Martineknot measured- - 90
Christian Friedelnot measured- - 91
Meret Beckernot measured- - 92Hilde Gergnot measured-
- 93
Jördis Triebelnot measured- - 94
Verona Poothnot measured- - 95
Götz Ottonot measured- - 96
Jella Haasenot measured- - 97
Nadeshda Brennickenot measured- - 98
Anja Klingnot measured- - 99
Palina Rojinskinot measured- - 100
Simone Thomallanot 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.