← 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
Valentino Rossi3 decades - 2
Andrea Kimi Antonellinot measured- - 3
Alex Zanardinot measured- - 4
Marco Pantani3 decades - 5
Giancarlo Fisichella1 decades - 6
Dorothea Wierernot measured- - 7
Marco Simoncelli1 decades - 8
Marcell Jacobsnot measured- - 9
Vincenzo Nibali1 decades - 10
Antonio Giovinazzinot measured- - 11
Francesco Bagnaianot measured- - 12
Filippo Gannanot measured- - 13
Paola Egonunot measured- - 14
Elisa Longo Borghininot measured- - 15
Loris Capirossinot measured- - 16
Jarno Trulli0 decades - 17
Marco Melandrinot measured- - 18
Giulio Cicconenot measured- - 19
Max Biagginot measured- - 20
Andrea Doviziosonot measured- - 21
Marco Bezzecchinot measured- - 22
Leonardo Fabbrinot measured- - 23
Alberto Tombanot measured- - 24
Jonathan Milannot measured- - 25
Filippo Tortunot measured- - 26
Mario Cipollininot measured- - 27
Ivan Bassonot measured- - 28
Mattia Furlaninot measured- - 29
Massimo Stanonot measured- - 30
Vitantonio Liuzzinot measured- - 31
Andrea Iannonenot measured- - 32
Fabio Arunot measured- - 33
Valentina Vezzalinot measured- - 34
Luca Badoernot measured- - 35
Fausto Desalunot measured- - 36
Clemente Russonot measured- - 37
Yemaneberhan Crippanot measured- - 38
Rossella Fiamingonot measured- - 39
Fabrizio Donatonot measured- - 40
Paolo Bettininot measured- - 41
Franco Morbidellinot measured- - 42
Margherita Granbassinot measured- - 43
Riccardo Riccònot measured- - 44
Marvin Vettorinot measured- - 45
Danilo Petruccinot measured- - 46
Aldo Montanonot measured- - 47
Sonny Colbrellinot measured- - 48
Michele Scarponinot measured- - 49
Enea Bastianininot measured- - 50
Alessandro Petacchinot measured- - 51
Letizia Paternosternot measured- - 52
Alessandro Ballannot measured- - 53
Arianna Errigonot measured- - 54
Roberto Cammarellenot measured- - 55
Davide Valsecchinot measured- - 56
Luca Marininot measured- - 57
Stefano Baldininot measured- - 58
Lorenzo Pattanot measured- - 59
Nicolò Buleganot measured- - 60
Damiano Cunegonot measured- - 61
Fabio Di Giannantonionot measured- - 62
Alex Schwazernot measured- - 63
Davide Rebellinnot measured- - 64
Sara Fantininot measured- - 65
Irma Testanot measured- - 66
Andrew Howenot measured- - 67
Leonardo Fornarolinot measured- - 68
Elisa Balsamonot measured- - 69
Gianni Morbidellinot measured- - 70
Gilberto Simoninot measured- - 71
Damiano Carusonot measured- - 72
Danilo Di Lucanot measured- - 73
Max Papisnot measured- - 74
Lisa Vittozzinot measured- - 75
Elia Vivianinot measured- - 76
Matteo Trentinnot measured- - 77
Zaynab Dossonot measured- - 78
Martina Favarettonot measured- - 79
Romano Fenatinot measured- - 80
Antonietta Di Martinonot measured- - 81
Francesco Fariolinot measured- - 82
Paolo Savoldellinot measured- - 83
Vicky Pirianot measured- - 84
Giorgio Pantanonot measured- - 85
Domenico Pozzovivonot measured- - 86
Alessio Sakaranot measured- - 87
Gianni Mosconnot measured- - 88
Jacopo Moscanot measured- - 89
Antonio Fuoconot measured- - 90
Maurizio Fondriestnot measured- - 91Annarita Sidotinot measured-
- 92
Michele Pirronot measured- - 93
Moreno Mosernot measured- - 94
Giuseppe Gibilisconot measured- - 95
Frankie Dettorinot measured- - 96
Giovanni Viscontinot measured- - 97
Angela Carininot measured- - 98
Diego Ulissinot measured- - 99
Stefano Garzellinot measured- - 100
Ayomide Folorunsonot 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.