← 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
Dia Mirza0 decades - 2
Karan Singh Grovernot measured- - 3
Sobhita Dhulipalanot measured- - 4
Diana Pentynot measured- - 5
Harnaaz Sandhunot measured- - 6
Raashi Khannanot measured- - 7
Nidhhi Agerwalnot measured- - 8
Lisa Haydonnot measured- - 9
Anu Aggarwalnot measured- - 10
Shwetha Menonnot measured- - 11
Zoya Afroznot measured- - 12
Prince Narulanot measured- - 13
Meenakshi Chaudharynot measured- - 14Taruni Sachdevnot measured-
- 15
Mohit Rainanot measured- - 16
Gaurav Khannanot measured- - 17
Prachee Shah Pandyanot measured- - 18
Varsha Usgaonkarnot measured- - 19
Puja Guptanot measured- - 20
Nicole Farianot measured- - 21
Himanshi Khurananot measured- - 22
Nafisa Josephnot measured- - 23
Ohanna Shivanandnot measured- - 24
Aashka Goradianot measured- - 25
Sanjjananot measured- - 26
Shubhangi Atre Pooreynot measured- - 27
Niharika Singhnot measured- - 28
Neha Kapurnot measured- - 29
Aditi Aryanot measured- - 30
Vartika Singhnot measured- - 31
Neha Mardanot measured- - 32
Pooja Sharmanot measured- - 33
Asha Bhatnot measured- - 34
Rachel Guptanot measured- - 35
Abhinav Shuklanot measured- - 36
Lopamudra Rautnot measured- - 37
Lin Laishramnot measured- - 38
Kushal Tandonnot measured- - 39
Rukmini Maitranot measured- - 40
Sonali Rautnot measured- - 41
Rhea Pillainot measured- - 42
Manasa Varanasinot measured- - 43
Gurdeep Kohlinot measured- - 44
Arshi Khannot measured- - 45
Rochelle Maria Raonot measured- - 46
Aishwarya Sakhujanot measured- - 47Kuljeet Randhawanot measured-
- 48
Archana Gautamnot measured- - 49
Nausheen Ali Sardarnot measured- - 50
Navneet Kaur Dhillonnot measured- - 51
Neha Khannot measured- - 52
Archita Sahunot measured- - 53
Harshad Aroranot measured- - 54
Andrea Kevichüsanot measured- - 55
Panchi Boranot measured- - 56
Manasvi Mamgainot measured- - 57Suman Raonot measured-
- 58
Palak Jainnot measured- - 59
Jesse Randhawanot measured- - 60
Ujjwala Rautnot measured- - 61
Sushant Divgikarnot measured- - 62
Madhu Saprenot measured- - 63
Nandish Sandhunot measured- - 64
Vaishali Desainot measured- - 65
Shaamnot measured- - 66
Anukreethy Vasnot measured- - 67
Iqbal Khannot measured- - 68
Sushama Reddynot measured- - 69
Adline Castelinonot measured- - 70Divita Rainot measured-
- 71
Nethra Raghuramannot measured- - 72
Hussain Kuwajerwalanot measured- - 73
Vivan Bhatenanot measured- - 74
Umang Jainnot measured- - 75
Diandra Soaresnot measured- - 76
Rohan Mehranot measured- - 77
Dolly Minhasnot measured- - 78
Diganthnot measured- - 79
Rohit Khandelwalnot measured- - 80
Vaishnavi Dhanrajnot measured- - 81
Mehr Jesia Rampalnot measured- - 82
Anukriti Gusainnot measured- - 83
Shubha Poonjanot measured- - 84
Vanya Mishranot measured- - 85Reshma Qureshinot measured-
- 86
Jhatalekanot measured- - 87
Indrajanot measured- - 88
Tarun Aroranot measured- - 89
Soni Singhnot measured- - 90
Kinshuk Mahajannot measured- - 91
Sruthy Sitharanot measured- - 92
Sonia Mannnot measured- - 93
Ranjini Haridasnot measured- - 94
Aditya Redijnot measured- - 95
Pravesh Rananot measured- - 96
Ushoshi Senguptanot measured- - 97
Iris Maitynot measured- - 98
Arti Purinot measured- - 99
Kanishtha Dhankarnot measured- - 100
Esha Kansaranot 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.