← 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
Jürgen Klopp2 decades - 2
Thomas Müllernot measured- - 3
Manuel Neuer1 decades - 4
Mesut Özil1 decades - 5
Miroslav Klose2 decades - 6
Thomas Tuchel1 decades - 7
Kai Havertznot measured- - 8
Joshua Kimmich0 decades - 9
Toni Kroos1 decades - 10
Jamal Musialanot measured- - 11
Bastian Schweinsteiger2 decades - 12
Antonio Rüdigernot measured- - 13
Lukas Podolski2 decades - 14
Leroy Sané0 decades - 15
Marc-André ter Stegen0 decades - 16
Julian Nagelsmann0 decades - 17
Florian Wirtznot measured- - 18
Michael Ballack2 decades - 19
Oliver Kahn2 decades - 20
Deniz Undavnot measured- - 21
Mario Götze1 decades - 22
Mats Hummels1 decades - 23
Marco Reus1 decades - 24
İlkay Gündoğannot measured- - 25
Timo Werner0 decades - 26
Jérôme Boateng1 decades - 27
Leon Goretzka0 decades - 28
Sami Khedira1 decades - 29
Philipp Lahm1 decades - 30
Serge Gnabrynot measured- - 31
Kevin-Prince Boateng0 decades - 32
Per Mertesacker1 decades - 33
Julian Draxler0 decades - 34
Hakan Çalhanoğlunot measured- - 35
Loris Kariusnot measured- - 36
Christoph Kramernot measured- - 37
Jonathan Tahnot measured- - 38
Mario Gómez0 decades - 39
Niclas Füllkrugnot measured- - 40
Jens Lehmann2 decades - 41
Emre Cannot measured- - 42
Hans-Dieter Flick0 decades - 43
André Schürrle0 decades - 44
Nick Woltemadënot measured- - 45
Robert Enke1 decades - 46
Sead Kolašinacnot measured- - 47
Niklas Sülenot measured- - 48
Nuri Şahinnot measured- - 49
Kevin Trapp0 decades - 50
Matthias Sammer3 decades - 51
Mehmet Scholl2 decades - 52
Felix Nmechanot measured- - 53
Nico Schlotterbecknot measured- - 54
Julian Brandtnot measured- - 55
Thomas Hitzlsperger1 decades - 56
Robin Gosensnot measured- - 57
Nadiem Amirinot measured- - 58
Pascal Großnot measured- - 59
Éric Maxim Choupo-Motingnot measured- - 60
Shkodran Mustafi0 decades - 61
Oliver Bierhoff2 decades - 62
Christoph Metzelder0 decades - 63
Kerim Alajbegovićnot measured- - 64
Malik Tillmannot measured- - 65
Youssoufa Moukokonot measured- - 66
Bernd Leno0 decades - 67
Nathaniel Brownnot measured- - 68
Waldemar Antonnot measured- - 69
Malick Thiawnot measured- - 70
Dietmar Hamannnot measured- - 71Lennart Karlnot measured-
- 72
Alexander Nübelnot measured- - 73
Mario Baslernot measured- - 74
Angelo Stillernot measured- - 75
David Raumnot measured- - 76
Marko Marin0 decades - 77
Cacaunot measured- - 78
Sven Bender0 decades - 79
Robert Huthnot measured- - 80
Thilo Kehrernot measured- - 81
Sandro Wagnernot measured- - 82
René Adler0 decades - 83
Edin Terzićnot measured- - 84
Rani Khediranot measured- - 85
Markus Babbel0 decades - 86
Maximilian Beiernot measured- - 87
Lars Bender0 decades - 88
Marco Rosenot measured- - 89
Max Krusenot measured- - 90
Karl-Heinz Riedlenot measured- - 91
Jamie Lewelingnot measured- - 92
Sebastian Deislernot measured- - 93
Ulf Kirstennot measured- - 94
Julian Weiglnot measured- - 95
Fabian Hürzelernot measured- - 96
Ibrahim Mazanot measured- - 97
Fredi Bobicnot measured- - 98
Aleksandar Pavlovićnot measured- - 99
Daniel Farkenot measured- - 100
Max Meyernot 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.