← 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
Jannik Sinnernot measured- - 2
Matteo Berrettininot measured- - 3
Jasmine Paolininot measured- - 4
Flavia Pennetta0 decades - 5
Lorenzo Musettinot measured- - 6
Francesca Schiavone0 decades - 7
Camila Giorginot measured- - 8
Flavio Cobollinot measured- - 9
Sara Errani0 decades - 10
Fabio Fognininot measured- - 11
Lorenzo Sonegonot measured- - 12
Luciano Darderinot measured- - 13
Roberta Vincinot measured- - 14
Elisabetta Cocciarettonot measured- - 15
Simone Bolellinot measured- - 16
Marco Cecchinatonot measured- - 17
Andreas Seppinot measured- - 18
Matteo Arnaldinot measured- - 19
Andrea Vavassorinot measured- - 20
Tathiana Garbinnot measured- - 21
Martina Trevisannot measured- - 22
Lucrezia Stefanininot measured- - 23
Mattia Belluccinot measured- - 24
Davide Sanguinettinot measured- - 25
Filippo Volandrinot measured- - 26
Lucia Bronzettinot measured- - 27
Luca Nardinot measured- - 28
Paolo Canènot measured- - 29Andrea Gaudenzinot measured-
- 30
Flavio Cipollanot measured- - 31
Paolo Lorenzinot measured- - 32
Federico Luzzinot measured- - 33
Maria Elena Camerinnot measured- - 34
Gianluca Magernot measured- - 35
Raffaella Regginot measured- - 36
Potito Staracenot measured- - 37
Andrea Pellegrinonot measured- - 38
Mara Santangelonot measured- - 39Simone Vagnozzinot measured-
- 40
Karin Knappnot measured- - 41
Stefano Travaglianot measured- - 42Silvia Farina Elianot measured-
- 43
Francesco Passaronot measured- - 44
Daniele Braccialinot measured- - 45Diego Nargisonot measured-
- 46
Giorgio Galimbertinot measured- - 47
Vincenzo Santopadrenot measured- - 48
Nuria Brancaccionot measured- - 49
Thomas Fabbianonot measured- - 50Renzo Furlannot measured-
- 51Stefano Pescosolidonot measured-
- 52
Alessandro Giannessinot measured- - 53Omar Camporesenot measured-
- 54
Romina Oprandinot measured- - 55
Gianluigi Quinzinot measured- - 56
Salvatore Carusonot measured- - 57
Rita Grandenot measured- - 58Claudio Pistolesinot measured-
- 59
Alberta Briantinot measured- - 60
Corinna Dentoninot measured- - 61
Francesco Maestrellinot measured- - 62Adriana Serra Zanettinot measured-
- 63
Andrea Arnaboldinot measured- - 64Cristiano Carattinot measured-
- 65
Rik de Voestnot measured- - 66Sandra Cecchininot measured-
- 67
Giulio Zeppierinot measured- - 68
Angelica Moratellinot measured- - 69
Stefano Napolitanonot measured- - 70
Nastassja Burnettnot measured- - 71
Filippo Baldinot measured- - 72
Luca Vanninot measured- - 73Gianluca Pozzinot measured-
- 74
Federico Gaionot measured- - 75
Antonella Serra Zanettinot measured- - 76Alessio di Mauronot measured-
- 77Laura Golarsanot measured-
- 78
Camilla Rosatellonot measured- - 79
Federico Cinànot measured- - 80
Gioia Barbierinot measured- - 81
Matteo Violanot measured- - 82
Matteo Gigantenot measured- - 83
Deborah Chiesanot measured- - 84Laurence Tielemannot measured-
- 85
Lorenzo Giustinonot measured- - 86Laura Garronenot measured-
- 87
Giulia Gatto-Monticonenot measured- - 88
Alessandro Mottinot measured- - 89Stefano Galvaninot measured-
- 90
Matteo Trevisannot measured- - 91
Lisa Pigatonot measured- - 92Linda Ferrandonot measured-
- 93Giulia Casoninot measured-
- 94Massimo Bertolininot measured-
- 95Cristian Brandinot measured-
- 96Gianluca Nasonot measured-
- 97
Matteo Donatinot measured- - 98
Anastasia Grymalskanot measured- - 99Gloria Pizzichininot measured-
- 100Marco Crugnolanot 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.