← 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
Daniel Kehlmann2 decades - 2
Luisa Neubauernot measured- - 3
Juli Zehnot measured- - 4
Emilie Schindlernot measured- - 5
Sebastian Fitzeknot measured- - 6
Navid Kermaninot measured- - 7
Nele Neuhausnot measured- - 8
Alexander Graf Lambsdorffnot measured- - 9
WestBamnot measured- - 10
Marie Bäumernot measured- - 11
Saša Stanišićnot measured- - 12
Pascal Hensnot measured- - 13
Ilija Trojanownot measured- - 14
Wladimir Kaminernot measured- - 15
Nino Haratischwilinot measured- - 16
Dieter Baumannnot measured- - 17
Judith Hermannnot measured- - 18
Marina Weisbandnot measured- - 19
Benedict Wellsnot measured- - 20
Wolfgang Herrndorfnot measured- - 21
Kerstin Giernot measured- - 22
Hamed Abdel-Samadnot measured- - 23
Leonie Swannnot measured- - 24
Judith Schalanskynot measured- - 25
Andrea Wulfnot measured- - 26Christoph Luxenbergnot measured-
- 27
David Safiernot measured- - 28
Uwe Tellkampnot measured- - 29
Julia Francknot measured- - 30
Daniel Domscheit-Bergnot measured- - 31
Katrin Himmlernot measured- - 32
Timur Vermesnot measured- - 33
Bettina Wulffnot measured- - 34
Andreas Umlandnot measured- - 35
Giulia Endersnot measured- - 36
Jantje Friesenot measured- - 37
Andrea Haugennot measured- - 38Torsten Haßnot measured-
- 39
Alexander Hubernot measured- - 40
Anna Brüggemannnot measured- - 41Jan Udo Holeynot measured-
- 42
Marco Kreuzpaintnernot measured- - 43Marius von Mayenburgnot measured-
- 44
Marcel Beyernot measured- - 45
Siba Shakibnot measured- - 46
Kristof Magnussonnot measured- - 47
Clemens Meyernot measured- - 48
Olga Grjasnowanot measured- - 49
Markus Heitznot measured- - 50
Helene Hegemannnot measured- - 51
Zsuzsa Bánknot measured- - 52
Sven Beckertnot measured- - 53
Abbas Khidernot measured- - 54
Magdalena Parysnot measured- - 55
Shida Bazyarnot measured- - 56
Alina Bronskynot measured- - 57
Robert Gerwarthnot measured- - 58
Marianna Salzmannnot measured- - 59
Jan-Werner Müllernot measured- - 60
Achim von Borriesnot measured- - 61Sabine Kueglernot measured-
- 62
Ariadne von Schirachnot measured- - 63
Jan Wagnernot measured- - 64
Bernhard Hennennot measured- - 65
Reyhan Şahinnot measured- - 66
Peter Schlickenriedernot measured- - 67
Falk Richternot measured- - 68
Sönke Neitzelnot measured- - 69
Kai Meyernot measured- - 70
Marie Sophie Hingstnot measured- - 71
Marica Bodrožićnot measured- - 72
Margarete Stokowskinot measured- - 73
Annette Hessnot measured- - 74
Thees Uhlmannnot measured- - 75
Antje Rávic Strubelnot measured- - 76
Sebastian Seidlnot measured- - 77
Oliver Graunot measured- - 78
Isabel Abedinot measured- - 79
Jörg Guido Hülsmannnot measured- - 80
Ilko-Sascha Kowalczuknot measured- - 81
Marion Poschmannnot measured- - 82Zana Ramadaninot measured-
- 83
Katharina Hackernot measured- - 84
Ursula Reutnernot measured- - 85
Nora Bossongnot measured- - 86Jens Söringnot measured-
- 87
Inger-Maria Mahlkenot measured- - 88
Dietmar Dathnot measured- - 89
Benjamin Lebertnot measured- - 90
Jan Costin Wagnernot measured- - 91Nikolaus Wachsmannnot measured-
- 92
Grigorije (Durić)not measured- - 93Wulf Dornnot measured-
- 94
Laura Karaseknot measured- - 95
Jörg Bongnot measured- - 96
Ulrike Schweikertnot measured- - 97
Jan Weilernot measured- - 98
Martin Schäublenot measured- - 99
Thomas Girstnot measured- - 100Princess Maria Theresia of Thurn and Taxisnot 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.