← 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
Carla Bruni3 decades - 2
Laura Pausini3 decades - 3
Noeminot measured- - 4
Damiano Davidnot measured- - 5
Alessia Caranot measured- - 6
Sarah Toscanonot measured- - 7
Sabrina Salerno4 decades - 8
Tiziano Ferro2 decades - 9
Francesco Gabbani0 decades
- 10
Marco Mengoni1 decades - 11
Mahmoodnot measured- - 12
Robert Milesnot measured- - 13
Emmanot measured- - 14
Sal Da Vincinot measured- - 15
Achille Lauronot measured- - 16
Cecilia Bartoli2 decades - 17
Gigi D'Agostinonot measured- - 18
Ermal Metanot measured- - 19
Benny Benassinot measured- - 20
Angelina Mangonot measured- - 21
Neknot measured- - 22
Nina Zillinot measured- - 23
Elisanot measured- - 24
Cristina Scabbianot measured- - 25
Jovanottinot measured- - 26
Fedeznot measured- - 27
Francesca Michielinnot measured- - 28
Blanconot measured- - 29
Galanot measured-
- 30
Anna Tatangelonot measured- - 31
Victoria De Angelisnot measured- - 32
Annalisanot measured- - 33
Fabrizio Moronot measured- - 34
Lucio Corsinot measured- - 35
Diodatonot measured- - 36
Raphael Gualazzinot measured- - 37
Alessandra Melenot measured- - 38
In-Gridnot measured- - 39
Giusy Ferrerinot measured- - 40
Fabri Fibranot measured- - 41
Caparezzanot measured- - 42
Arisanot measured- - 43
Ambra Angiolininot measured- - 44
Calogeronot measured- - 45
Gabry Pontenot measured- - 46
Fabio Rovazzinot measured- - 47
Giorgianot measured- - 48
Michele Bravinot measured- - 49
Elodienot measured- - 50
Cristina Scuccianot measured- - 51
Carmen Consolinot measured- - 52
Alessandra Amorosonot measured- - 53
Malika Ayanenot measured- - 54
Alborosienot measured- - 55
Alexianot measured- - 56
Ultimonot measured- - 57
Ruggero Pasquarellinot measured- - 58
Alex Gaudinonot measured- - 59
Cesare Cremonininot measured- - 60
Vittorio Grigolonot measured- - 61
Emis Killanot measured- - 62
Ghalinot measured- - 63
Marco Cartanot measured- - 64
Max Pezzalinot measured- - 65
Senhitnot measured- - 66
J-Axnot measured- - 67
Baby Knot measured- - 68
Elettra Lamborghininot measured- - 69
Dolceneranot measured- - 70
Samuele Bersaninot measured- - 71
Geoliernot measured- - 72
Gianluca Grignaninot measured- - 73
Simone Cristicchinot measured- - 74
Mario Biondinot measured- - 75
Neffanot measured- - 76
Irene Grandinot measured- - 77
Povianot measured- - 78
Chiara Galiazzonot measured- - 79
Luca Turillinot measured- - 80
Ollynot measured- - 81
Lorenzo Fragolanot measured- - 82
Fabio Lionenot measured- - 83
Francesco Renganot measured- - 84
Guènot measured- - 85
The Bloody Beetrootsnot measured- - 86
Renzo Rubinonot measured- - 87
Tananainot measured- - 88
Alex Brittinot measured- - 89
Daniele Silvestrinot measured- - 90
Ezio Bossonot measured- - 91
Iramanot measured- - 92
Marco Misciagnanot measured- - 93
Gigi D'Alessionot measured- - 94
Tecla Insolianot measured- - 95
Stefano Bollaninot measured- - 96
Serena Autierinot measured- - 97
Jeffrey Jeynot measured- - 98
Pier Gonellanot measured- - 99
Giovanni Allevinot measured- - 100
Sara Jonot 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.