← 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
Dirk Nowitzki2 decades - 2
Dennis Schrödernot measured- - 3
Franz Wagnernot measured- - 4
Moritz Wagnernot measured- - 5
Daniel Theisnot measured- - 6
Isaiah Hartensteinnot measured- - 7
Chris Kamannot measured- - 8
Isaac Bonganot measured- - 9
Maximilian Klebernot measured- - 10
Maodo Lônot measured- - 11
Tibor Pleißnot measured- - 12
Johannes Voigtmannnot measured- - 13
Satou Saballynot measured- - 14
Andreas Obstnot measured- - 15
Sonja Greinachernot measured- - 16
Tristan da Silvanot measured- - 17
Johannes Thiemannnot measured- - 18
Oscar da Silvanot measured- - 19
Ademola Okulajanot measured- - 20
Patrick Femerlingnot measured- - 21
Nyara Saballynot measured- - 22
Marie Gülichnot measured- - 23
Paul Zipsernot measured- - 24
Niels Giffeynot measured- - 25
Svenja Brunckhorstnot measured- - 26
Elisa Meviusnot measured- - 27
Anton Gavelnot measured- - 28
Maik Zirbesnot measured- - 29
Dalibor Bagarićnot measured- - 30
Robin Benzingnot measured- - 31
Luisa Geiselsödernot measured- - 32
Henrik Rödlnot measured- - 33
Marie Reichertnot measured- - 34
Per Günthernot measured- - 35
Heiko Schaffartziknot measured- - 36
Ariel Hukportinot measured- - 37
Demond Greenenot measured- - 38Steffen Hamannnot measured-
- 39
Leonie Fiebichnot measured- - 40
Marlies Askampnot measured- - 41
Kostja Mushidinot measured- - 42
Jan Jaglanot measured- - 43
Elias Harrisnot measured- - 44
Boniface N'Dongnot measured- - 45Mithat Demirelnot measured-
- 46
Dylan Osetkowskinot measured- - 47
Justus Hollatznot measured- - 48
Marko Pešićnot measured- - 49Henning Harnischnot measured-
- 50Sven Schultzenot measured-
- 51
Denis Wucherernot measured- - 52Tim Ohlbrechtnot measured-
- 53Stephen Arigbabunot measured-
- 54
Lucca Staigernot measured- - 55
Danilo Barthelnot measured- - 56
İsmet Akpınarnot measured- - 57
Pascal Rollernot measured- - 58
Tim Schneidernot measured- - 59
Alex Kingnot measured- - 60Michael Kochnot measured-
- 61Stephanie Storpnot measured-
- 62Misan Haldinnot measured-
- 63
Adam Hessnot measured- - 64
Karsten Taddanot measured- - 65
Gavin Schillingnot measured- - 66
Akeem Vargasnot measured- - 67
Louis Olindenot measured- - 68Jörg Lütckenot measured-
- 69Štefan Sviteknot measured-
- 70
Mathias Fischernot measured- - 71Linda Fröhlichnot measured-
- 72
Jonas Wohlfarth-Bottermannnot measured- - 73
Joshua Obiesienot measured- - 74Eleonora Wildnot measured-
- 75
Karim Jallownot measured- - 76
Robert Marasnot measured- - 77
Mareike Adermannnot measured- - 78
Joshiko Saibounot measured- - 79
Romy Bärnot measured- - 80
Mario Stojićnot measured- - 81Jens Kujawanot measured-
- 82
Edina Müllernot measured- - 83Yassin Idbihinot measured-
- 84
Konstantin Kleinnot measured- - 85Johannes Herbernot measured-
- 86
Jan Niklas Wimbergnot measured- - 87
Stefano Garrisnot measured- - 88Kai Nürnbergernot measured-
- 89
Annika Zeyen-Gilesnot measured- - 90Sophie von Saldernnot measured-
- 91
Andrej Mangoldnot measured- - 92
Sergio Keruschnot measured- - 93
Philipp Schwethelmnot measured- - 94
Alon Steinnot measured- - 95
Vladimir Bogojevičnot measured- - 96
Martin Breunignot measured- - 97Stephan Baecknot measured-
- 98Michael Meeksnot measured-
- 99
Jack Kayilnot measured- - 100
Frieda Bühnernot 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.