← 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
OG Anunobynot measured- - 2
Ben Gordonnot measured- - 3
John Amaechinot measured- - 4
Kendall Gillnot measured- - 5
Robert Archibaldnot measured- - 6Neil Fingletonnot measured-
- 7
Temi Fagbenlenot measured- - 8
Pops Mensah-Bonsunot measured- - 9
Joel Freelandnot measured- - 10Kieron Acharanot measured-
- 11
Tosan Evbuomwannot measured- - 12
Ovie Sokonot measured- - 13Andrew Bettsnot measured-
- 14
Devon Van Oostrumnot measured- - 15Ryan Richardsnot measured-
- 16
Aaron Geramipoornot measured- - 17Steve Bucknallnot measured-
- 18
Daniel Clarknot measured- - 19
Robert Loenot measured- - 20
Gabriel Olaseninot measured- - 21
Amari Williamsnot measured- - 22
Myles Hessonnot measured- - 23
Luke Nelsonnot measured- - 24
Paul Sturgessnot measured- - 25
Eric Boatengnot measured- - 26
Kavell Bigby-Williamsnot measured- - 27
Johannah Leedhamnot measured- - 28
Peter Ezugwunot measured- - 29Azania Stewartnot measured-
- 30
Mikiah Herbert Harrigannot measured- - 31Phill Jonesnot measured-
- 32Drew Sullivannot measured-
- 33
Ade Adepitannot measured- - 34Spencer Dunkleynot measured-
- 35
Nick Spiresnot measured- - 36
Tomos Williamsnot measured- - 37Quinn Ellisnot measured-
- 38Rose Andersonnot measured-
- 39Nick Georgenot measured-
- 40Dominique Allennot measured-
- 41
Matthew Bryan-Amaningnot measured- - 42Kyle Johnsonnot measured-
- 43Darren Phillipnot measured-
- 44
Gaz Choudhrynot measured- - 45
Teddy Okereafornot measured- - 46
Chantelle Handynot measured- - 47Mike Lenzlynot measured-
- 48Gareth Murraynot measured-
- 49
Julie Pagenot measured- - 50Stef Collinsnot measured-
- 51Andrea Congreavesnot measured-
- 52Darius Defoenot measured-
- 53Natalie Staffordnot measured-
- 54
Liam Carpenternot measured- - 55
Jenaya Wade-Fraynot measured- - 56Kareem Queeleynot measured-
- 57Ben Mockfordnot measured-
- 58Rachael Vanderwalnot measured-
- 59Roger Hugginsnot measured-
- 60Dee Ayubanot measured-
- 61Steve Levennot measured-
- 62
Jamie Vanderbekennot measured- - 63Kojo Mensah-Bonsunot measured-
- 64Arek Dengnot 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.