← 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
Giorgia Meloni2 decades - 2
Matteo Salvini2 decades - 3
Matteo Renzi2 decades - 4
Federica Mogherini1 decades - 5
Luigi Di Maio1 decades - 6
Enrico Letta3 decades - 7
Maria Elena Boschi1 decades - 8
Elly Schleinnot measured- - 9
Virginia Raggi1 decades - 10
Silvia Salisnot measured- - 11
Roberto Gualtierinot measured- - 12
Luigi de Magistrisnot measured- - 13
Mara Carfagnanot measured- - 14
Lia Quartapellenot measured- - 15
Nicola Zingarettinot measured- - 16
Angelino Alfanonot measured- - 17
Carlo Calendanot measured- - 18
Giancarlo Giorgettinot measured- - 19
Ilaria Salisnot measured- - 20
Chiara Appendinonot measured- - 21
Luca Zaianot measured- - 22
Alessandro Di Battistanot measured- - 23
Lorenzo Fontananot measured- - 24
Nunzia De Girolamonot measured- - 25
Mariastella Gelmininot measured- - 26
Francesco Lollobrigidanot measured- - 27
Anna Maria Bernininot measured- - 28
Stefano Bonaccininot measured- - 29
Beatrice Lorenzinnot measured- - 30
Roberto Ficonot measured- - 31
Raffaele Fittonot measured- - 32
Roberto Speranzanot measured- - 33
Debora Serracchianinot measured- - 34
Marianna Madia1 decades - 35
Giuseppe Civatinot measured- - 36
Michela Vittoria Brambillanot measured- - 37
Giuseppina Piciernonot measured- - 38
Licia Ronzullinot measured- - 39
Alberto Cirionot measured- - 40
Antonio Rossinot measured- - 41
Jole Santellinot measured- - 42
Dario Nardellanot measured- - 43
Marta Fascinanot measured- - 44
Alessandro Zannot measured- - 45
Andrea Orlandonot measured- - 46
Massimiliano Fedriganot measured- - 47
Susanna Ceccardinot measured- - 48
Paola De Michelinot measured- - 49
Nicola Fratoianninot measured- - 50
Lorenzo Guerininot measured- - 51
Lucia Azzolinanot measured- - 52
Elena Bonettinot measured- - 53
Arno Kompatschernot measured- - 54
Giulia Bongiornonot measured- - 55
Stefano Patuanellinot measured- - 56
Marco Cappatonot measured- - 57
Sandro Gozinot measured- - 58
Isabella Tovaglierinot measured- - 59
Alessandra Locatellinot measured- - 60
Daniele Capezzonenot measured- - 61
Marco Zanninot measured- - 62
Stefania Prestigiacomonot measured- - 63
Laura Mattarellanot measured- - 64
Nicola Procaccininot measured- - 65
Gianluca Buonannonot measured- - 66
Maurizio Martinanot measured- - 67
Anna Ascaninot measured- - 68
Alessandra Toddenot measured- - 69
Ilaria Capuanot measured- - 70
Benedetta Scuderinot measured- - 71
Vincenzo Sofonot measured- - 72
Roberto Occhiutonot measured- - 73
Alfonso Bonafedenot measured- - 74
Irene Tinaglinot measured- - 75
Laura Ravettonot measured- - 76
Vito Criminot measured- - 77
Danilo Toninellinot measured- - 78
Carlo Fidanzanot measured- - 79
Massimo Garavaglianot measured- - 80
Vincenzo Spadaforanot measured- - 81
Fabio Massimo Castaldonot measured- - 82
Erika Stefaninot measured- - 83
Pierfrancesco Majorinonot measured- - 84
Enrico Costanot measured- - 85
Gregorio de Falconot measured- - 86
Sonia Alfanonot measured- - 87
Maurizio Acerbonot measured- - 88
Luca Lottinot measured- - 89
Lara Cominot measured- - 90
Enrico Zanettinot measured- - 91
Fabiana Dadonenot measured- - 92
Stefano Lo Russonot measured- - 93
Massimiliano Salininot measured- - 94
Giulia Grillonot measured- - 95
Simona Bonafènot measured- - 96
Barbara Lezzinot measured- - 97
Flavio Tosinot measured- - 98
Lara Magoninot measured- - 99
Luca Cirianinot measured- - 100
Piera Aiellonot 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.