← 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
Steffi Graf4 decades - 2
Boris Becker4 decades - 3
Alexander Zverevnot measured- - 4
Angelique Kerber0 decades - 5
Andrea Petkovicnot measured- - 6
Michael Stichnot measured- - 7
Tommy Haas0 decades - 8
Sabine Lisicki0 decades - 9
Mischa Zverevnot measured- - 10
Jan-Lennard Struffnot measured- - 11
Tatjana Marianot measured- - 12
Dustin Brownnot measured- - 13
Eva Lysnot measured- - 14
Laura Siegemundnot measured- - 15
Philipp Kohlschreibernot measured- - 16
Tamara Korpatschnot measured- - 17
Kevin Krawietznot measured- - 18
Julia Görgesnot measured- - 19
Anke Hubernot measured- - 20
Rainer Schüttlernot measured- - 21
Tim Pütznot measured- - 22
Nicolas Kiefernot measured- - 23
Urszula Radwańskanot measured- - 24
Nicole Vaidisovanot measured- - 25
Mona Barthelnot measured- - 26
Benjamin Beckernot measured- - 27
Daniel Altmaiernot measured- - 28
Karsten Braaschnot measured- - 29
Yannick Hanfmannnot measured- - 30
Sandra Zaniewskanot measured- - 31
Andreas Miesnot measured- - 32
Florian Mayernot measured- - 33
Anna-Lena Grönefeldnot measured- - 34
Carina Witthöftnot measured- - 35
Mirjana Lučić-Baroninot measured- - 36Carl-Uwe Steebnot measured-
- 37
Ella Seidelnot measured- - 38
Jule Niemeiernot measured- - 39
Patrik Kühnennot measured- - 40
Dominik Koepfernot measured- - 41
Philipp Petzschnernot measured- - 42
Marc-Kevin Goellnernot measured- - 43
Barbara Rittnernot measured- - 44
Oscar Ottenot measured- - 45
Maximilian Marterernot measured- - 46
Michael Kohlmannnot measured- - 47
Anna-Lena Friedsamnot measured- - 48
Eric Jelennot measured-
- 49
Annika Becknot measured- - 50
Peter Gojowczyknot measured- - 51
Noma Noha Akuguenot measured- - 52
Michael Berrernot measured- - 53David Prinosilnot measured-
- 54
Christopher Kasnot measured- - 55
Björn Phaunot measured- - 56
Tobias Kamkenot measured- - 57
Nastasja Schunknot measured- - 58
Alexander Waskenot measured- - 59
Martin Emmrichnot measured- - 60Constantin Frantzennot measured-
- 61
Daniel Brandsnot measured- - 62
Cedrik-Marcel Stebenot measured- - 63
Gréta Arnnot measured- - 64Alexander Poppnot measured-
- 65
Kristina Barroisnot measured- - 66Mark Wallnernot measured-
- 67
Dieter Kindlmannnot measured- - 68
Matthias Bachingernot measured- - 69
Gero Kretschmernot measured- - 70
Antonia Lottnernot measured- - 71Sarah Gronertnot measured-
- 72Jakob Schnaitternot measured-
- 73
Tomas Behrendnot measured- - 74Joern Renzenbrinknot measured-
- 75Lars Burgsmüllernot measured-
- 76
Simon Greulnot measured- - 77Udo Riglewskinot measured-
- 78Hendrik Dreekmannnot measured-
- 79Marlene Weingärtnernot measured-
- 80
Julia Schruffnot measured- - 81
Andre Begemannnot measured- - 82Alexander Mronznot measured-
- 83
Daniel Masurnot measured- - 84
Denis Gremelmayrnot measured- - 85
Dinah Pfizenmaiernot measured- - 86
Jasmin Wöhrnot measured- - 87
Dominik Meffertnot measured- - 88Bernd Karbachernot measured-
- 89
Kathrin Wörle-Schellernot measured- - 90
Jana Kandarrnot measured- - 91Sabine Hacknot measured-
- 92Jens Knippschildnot measured-
- 93Claudia Porwiknot measured-
- 94
Yannick Madennot measured- - 95Alex Rădulescunot measured-
- 96
Julian Reisternot measured- - 97
Frank Mosernot measured- - 98Markus Zoeckenot measured-
- 99
Vivian Heisennot measured- - 100Isabel Cuetonot 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.