← 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
Niccolò Ammanitinot measured- - 2
Donato Carrisinot measured- - 3
Michela Murgianot measured- - 4
Ali Hazelwoodnot measured- - 5
Paolo Giordanonot measured- - 6
Paolo Cognettinot measured- - 7
Antonio Scuratinot measured- - 8
Roberto Vannaccinot measured- - 9
Melissa Panarellonot measured- - 10Luca Attanasionot measured-
- 11
Nicolai Lilinnot measured- - 12
Nicola Lagioianot measured- - 13
Melania Mazzucconot measured- - 14
Massimo Polidoronot measured- - 15
Viola Ardonenot measured- - 16
Silvia Avallonenot measured- - 17Barbara Fralenot measured-
- 18
Andrea Segrenot measured- - 19
Ivan Cotroneonot measured- - 20
Massimiliano Brunonot measured- - 21
Marco Calvaninot measured- - 22
Antonio Spadaronot measured- - 23
Leo Ortolaninot measured- - 24
Geppi Cucciarinot measured- - 25
Andrea Bajaninot measured- - 26
Rosella Postorinonot measured- - 27
Michelle Ferrarinot measured- - 28
Francesca Cavallonot measured- - 29
Igiaba Scegonot measured- - 30
Alessandro D'Avenianot measured- - 31
Valeria Parrellanot measured- - 32
Alessia Gazzolanot measured- - 33
Alessandro Pipernonot measured- - 34
Cristina Ali Farahnot measured- - 35Simona Sparaconot measured-
- 36
Fausto Paravidinonot measured- - 37
Gabriele Tintinot measured- - 38
Stefania Aucinot measured- - 39
Luigi Roberto Conanot measured- - 40Lara Cardellanot measured-
- 41
Marco Malvaldinot measured- - 42
Matteo Roverenot measured- - 43
Cecilia Stradanot measured- - 44
Marcello Simoninot measured- - 45Nicodemo Gentilenot measured-
- 46
Roan Johnsonnot measured- - 47
Ignazio Ceffalianot measured- - 48
Gabriella Ghermandinot measured- - 49
Ludovica Rampoldinot measured- - 50
Sydney Sibilianot measured- - 51
Graziano D'Ursonot measured- - 52
Chiara Gamberalenot measured- - 53
Stefano Massininot measured- - 54Luca Zanforlinnot measured-
- 55
Francesco Munzinot measured- - 56
Piero Messinanot measured- - 57
Alda Teodoraninot measured- - 58Giorgio Fontananot measured-
- 59
Silvia Ballestranot measured- - 60
Alberto Marininot measured- - 61Pierluigi Cappellonot measured-
- 62
Giuseppe Catozzellanot measured- - 63
Antonella Lattanzinot measured- - 64
Matteo Strukulnot measured- - 65
Giuseppe Laterzanot measured- - 66
Volfango De Biasinot measured- - 67
Paola Barbatonot measured- - 68
Marco Balzanonot measured- - 69
Barbara Baraldinot measured- - 70
Andrea Marcolongonot measured- - 71
Carlo Maria Polvaninot measured- - 72
Nadia Terranovanot measured- - 73
Gotami Therinot measured- - 74
Tessa Gelisionot measured- - 75
Walter Fasanonot measured- - 76
Carlo Virzìnot measured- - 77
Ilaria Ramellinot measured- - 78
Tiziana Terranovanot measured- - 79
Cinzia Giorgionot measured- - 80
Simona Vincinot measured- - 81Gioacchino Criaconot measured-
- 82Luca D’Andreanot measured-
- 83
Flavio Soriganot measured- - 84
Elena Favillinot measured- - 85
Guia Risarinot measured- - 86
Benedetta Parodinot measured- - 87
Chiara Valerionot measured- - 88
Luca Visentininot measured- - 89
Alessandro Ghebreigziabihernot measured- - 90
Roberto De Feonot measured- - 91
Marco Missirolinot measured- - 92Sara Rattaronot measured-
- 93
Claudio Cupellininot measured- - 94
Aminata Aidaranot measured- - 95
Valentina D'Urbanonot measured- - 96
Fabio Gedanot measured- - 97
Massimo Maugerinot measured- - 98
Alessandro Pivanot measured- - 99Angelo Iannellinot measured-
- 100Randa Ghazynot 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.