← 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
Michael Schumacher3 decades - 2
Sebastian Vettel1 decades - 3
Nico Hülkenbergnot measured- - 4
Nico Rosberg0 decades - 5
Laura Dahlmeiernot measured- - 6
Ralf Schumacher1 decades - 7
Mick Schumachernot measured- - 8
Katarina Witt4 decades - 9
Jan Ullrich3 decades - 10
Mathias Rust1 decades - 11
Adrian Sutilnot measured- - 12
Malaika Mihambonot measured- - 13
Timo Glocknot measured- - 14
Franziska van Almsicknot measured- - 15
Pascal Wehrleinnot measured- - 16
Isabell Werthnot measured- - 17
Heinz-Harald Frentzen0 decades - 18
Erik Zabelnot measured- - 19
Gesa Felicitas Krausenot measured- - 20
Nick Heidfeld0 decades - 21
Jonas Deichmannnot measured- - 22
Gina Lückenkempernot measured- - 23
Alica Schmidtnot measured- - 24
Tim Lobingernot measured- - 25
Yemisi Ogunleyenot measured- - 26
Sabine Schmitznot measured- - 27
Kristin Ottonot measured- - 28
Niklas Kaulnot measured- - 29
Sophia Flörschnot measured- - 30
Marcel Kittelnot measured- - 31
Magdalena Neuner1 decades - 32
Jan Frodenonot measured- - 33
Katrin Krabbenot measured- - 34
Johannes Vetternot measured- - 35
Felix Neureuthernot measured- - 36
Konstanze Klosterhalfennot measured- - 37
Jens Voigtnot measured- - 38
Michael Jungnot measured- - 39
Ludwig Kaisernot measured- - 40
Kristina Vogelnot measured- - 41
Nils Polittnot measured- - 42
Thomas Röhlernot measured- - 43
Leon Draisaitlnot measured- - 44
Rebekka Haasenot measured- - 45
Kati Wilhelmnot measured- - 46
Florian Lipowitznot measured- - 47
Stefan Kretzschmarnot measured- - 48
John Degenkolbnot measured- - 49
Miriam Neureuthernot measured- - 50
Moritz Fürstenot measured- - 51
Claudia Pechsteinnot measured- - 52
Rick Zabelnot measured- - 53
Andreas Klödennot measured- - 54
Bernd Mayländernot measured- - 55
Julian Webernot measured- - 56
Maria Höfl-Rieschnot measured- - 57
Evi Sachenbacher-Stehlenot measured- - 58
Lars Riedelnot measured- - 59
André Lotterernot measured- - 60
André Greipelnot measured- - 61Nicole Uphoffnot measured-
- 62
Markus Winkelhocknot measured- - 63
Arthur Abrahamnot measured- - 64
Andreas Kriegernot measured- - 65
Eduard Trippelnot measured- - 66
Michael Bartelsnot measured- - 67
Tatjana Pintonot measured- - 68
Albert, 12th Prince of Thurn and Taxisnot measured- - 69
Pascal Ackermannnot measured- - 70
Princess Nathalie of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburgnot measured- - 71
Dany Heatleynot measured- - 72
David Schumachernot measured- - 73
Tony Martinnot measured- - 74
Jessica von Bredow-Werndlnot measured- - 75
Christoph Hartingnot measured- - 76
Lennard Kämnanot measured- - 77
Max Walscheidnot measured- - 78
Olaf Kölzignot measured- - 79
Grit Breuernot measured- - 80
Felix Sturmnot measured- - 81
Emanuel Buchmannnot measured- - 82
Christina Obergföllnot measured- - 83
Florian Kohfeldtnot measured- - 84
Rolf Aldagnot measured- - 85
David Storlnot measured- - 86
Christian Ehrhoffnot measured- - 87
Betty Heidlernot measured- - 88
Verena Bentelenot measured- - 89
Amanal Petrosnot measured- - 90
Maro Engelnot measured- - 91
Alexandra Burghardtnot measured- - 92
Raphael Holzdeppenot measured- - 93Sabine Braunnot measured-
- 94
Alexander Zornigernot measured- - 95
Pierre Vogelnot measured- - 96
Corinna Schumachernot measured- - 97
Robert Förstemannnot measured- - 98
Sven Fischernot measured- - 99
Stefan Bradlnot measured- - 100
Ariane Friedrichnot 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.