← 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
Lena Meyer-Landrut1 decades - 2
Helene Fischer1 decades - 3
Zedd1 decades - 4
Sarah Connornot measured- - 5
Ramin Djawadinot measured- - 6
Bill Kaulitznot measured- - 7
Kim Petrasnot measured- - 8
Tom Kaulitznot measured- - 9
David Garrettnot measured- - 10
Jeanette Biedermannnot measured- - 11
Richard Kruspe0 decades - 12
Paul van Dyk0 decades - 13
Haddawaynot measured- - 14
Lou Beganot measured- - 15
Flake Lorenznot measured- - 16
C418not measured- - 17
Christoph Schneidernot measured- - 18
ATBnot measured- - 19
Oliver Riedelnot measured- - 20
Bushidonot measured- - 21
Xavier Naidoonot measured- - 22
Yvonne Catterfeldnot measured- - 23
Jonas Kaufmannnot measured- - 24
Robin Schulznot measured- - 25
Michael Schultenot measured- - 26
Diana Damraunot measured- - 27
Sidonot measured- - 28
Mark Forsternot measured- - 29
Maxim Vengerovnot measured- - 30
Matthias Steinernot measured- - 31
Klaus Badeltnot measured- - 32
Alice Mertonnot measured- - 33
Till Brönnernot measured- - 34
LaFeenot measured- - 35
Despina Vandinot measured- - 36
Peter Foxnot measured-
- 37
Ann Sophienot measured- - 38
Sandra Nasićnot measured- - 39
Hauschkanot measured- - 40
Paul Kalkbrennernot measured- - 41
Andrea Bergnot measured- - 42
Ayọnot measured- - 43
Angela Gossownot measured- - 44
Natalie Horlernot measured- - 45
Jasmin Tabatabainot measured- - 46
Malik Harrisnot measured- - 47
Felix Jaehnnot measured- - 48
Michellenot measured- - 49
Roger Ciceronot measured- - 50
Jasmin Wagnernot measured- - 51
Michael Kiskenot measured- - 52
Alice Sara Ottnot measured- - 53
Andreas Schollnot measured- - 54
Lucie Jonesnot measured- - 55
Tim Bendzkonot measured- - 56
Boris Brejchanot measured- - 57
Annett Louisannot measured- - 58
Gentlemannot measured- - 59
Gil Ofarimnot measured- - 60
Isaaknot measured- - 61
Azadnot measured- - 62
Apparatnot measured- - 63
Dhurata Doranot measured- - 64
Sarah Engelsnot measured- - 65
Namikanot measured- - 66
Nnekanot measured- - 67
Mandy Capristonot measured- - 68
Maximilian Mutzkenot measured- - 69
Atiyenot measured- - 70
TheFatRatnot measured- - 71
Jendrik Sigwartnot measured- - 72
Tobias Sammetnot measured- - 73
Vanessa Mainot measured- - 74
Ellen Alliennot measured- - 75
Gracia Baurnot measured- - 76
Matthias Manasinot measured- - 77
Cronot measured- - 78
Boys Noizenot measured- - 79
Oceananot measured- - 80
Nadja Benaissanot measured- - 81
Alex Christensennot measured- - 82
Levinanot measured- - 83
Julia Fischernot measured- - 84
Hansi Kürschnot measured- - 85
Nils Frahmnot measured- - 86Maria Radnernot measured-
- 87
Nananot measured- - 88
Vanessa Petruonot measured- - 89
Sabrina Setlurnot measured- - 90
Purple Disco Machinenot measured- - 91
Flernot measured- - 92
Mille Petrozzanot measured- - 93
Kool Savasnot measured- - 94
Sascha Gerstnernot measured- - 95
Igor Levitnot measured- - 96
Judith Holofernesnot measured- - 97
Sascha Paethnot measured- - 98
Fritz Kalkbrennernot measured- - 99
Alexander Klawsnot measured- - 100
Shantelnot 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.