← 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
Lewis Hamilton1 decades - 2
Lando Norrisnot measured- - 3
Ronnie O'Sullivan0 decades - 4
Anthony Joshua0 decades - 5
George Russellnot measured- - 6
Tyson Fury0 decades - 7
Jenson Button0 decades - 8
Alexander Albonnot measured- - 9
David Coulthard0 decades - 10
Rory McIlroynot measured- - 11
Mo Farah0 decades - 12
Oliver Bearmannot measured- - 13
Tom Daleynot measured- - 14
Zara Tindall0 decades - 15
Adam Peatynot measured- - 16
Colin McRae0 decades - 17
Mark Cavendish0 decades - 18
Keely Hodgkinsonnot measured- - 19
Bradley Wiggins1 decades - 20
Eddie Irvine0 decades - 21
Arvid Lindbladnot measured- - 22
PACnot measured- - 23
Ricky Hattonnot measured- - 24
Jonathan Edwardsnot measured- - 25
Christian Hornernot measured- - 26
Paigenot measured- - 27
Jessica Ennis-Hillnot measured- - 28
Dina Asher-Smithnot measured- - 29
Luke Littlernot measured- - 30
Josh Kerrnot measured- - 31
Colin Jacksonnot measured- - 32
Drew McIntyrenot measured- - 33
William Regalnot measured- - 34
Chris Hoynot measured- - 35
Susie Wolffnot measured- - 36
Joe Rootnot measured- - 37
Katarina Johnson-Thompsonnot measured- - 38
Joe Calzaghenot measured- - 39
Thomas Pidcocknot measured- - 40
Ellen MacArthurnot measured- - 41
Amy Huntnot measured- - 42
Simon Yatesnot measured- - 43
David Hayenot measured- - 44
Greg Rutherfordnot measured- - 45
Amir Khannot measured- - 46
Zharnel Hughesnot measured- - 47
Geraint Thomas0 decades - 48
Elfyn Evansnot measured- - 49
Matthew Hudson-Smithnot measured- - 50
Naseem Hamednot measured- - 51
Andrew Flintoffnot measured- - 52
Roger Blacknot measured- - 53
Chris Eubanknot measured- - 54
Wade Barrettnot measured- - 55
Michael Pagenot measured- - 56
Laura Muirnot measured- - 57
Sally Gunnellnot measured- - 58
Ben Stokesnot measured- - 59
Layla Elnot measured- - 60
James Toselandnot measured- - 61
Benjamin Whittakernot measured- - 62
Dan Wheldonnot measured- - 63
Laura Kennynot measured- - 64
Sarah Storeynot measured- - 65
Denise Lewisnot measured- - 66
Joseph Joycenot measured- - 67
Georgia Bellnot measured- - 68
Nick Aldisnot measured- - 69
Tony Bellewnot measured- - 70
Adam Yatesnot measured- - 71
Jolyon Palmernot measured- - 72
Alistair Brownleenot measured- - 73
Justin Wilsonnot measured- - 74
Iwan Thomasnot measured- - 75
James Andersonnot measured- - 76
Scott Reddingnot measured- - 77
Jamie Chadwicknot measured- - 78
Jeremiah Azunot measured- - 79
Anthony Davidsonnot measured- - 80
Victoria Pendletonnot measured- - 81
Nikki Crossnot measured- - 82
Eddie Hallnot measured- - 83
Allan McNishnot measured- - 84
Chris Eubank Jrnot measured- - 85
Cal Crutchlownot measured- - 86
Daniel Duboisnot measured- - 87
Dario Franchittinot measured- - 88
Jake Wightmannot measured- - 89
Jason Kennynot measured- - 90
Carl Frochnot measured- - 91
Paul di Restanot measured- - 92
Tao Geoghegan Hartnot measured- - 93
Imani-Lara Lansiquotnot measured- - 94
Jack Aitkennot measured- - 95
Jann Mardenboroughnot measured- - 96
Adam Gemilinot measured- - 97
Daryll Neitanot measured- - 98
Tony Jeffriesnot measured- - 99
Max Chiltonnot measured- - 100
Stuart Broadnot 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.