← 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
Christopher Nolan2 decades - 2
Guy Ritchie2 decades - 3
Sam Mendes3 decades - 4
Princess Eugenie of Yorknot measured- - 5
Emma Thomasnot measured- - 6
Jonathan Nolan0 decades - 7
Emerald Fennellnot measured- - 8
Edgar Wrightnot measured- - 9
Paul W. S. Andersonnot measured- - 10
Matthew Vaughn0 decades - 11
Mark Selbynot measured- - 12
Joe Wrightnot measured- - 13
Duncan Jonesnot measured- - 14
Sam Taylor-Johnsonnot measured- - 15
Jonathan Glazernot measured- - 16
Tom Hooper0 decades - 17
Rob Knoxnot measured- - 18
Peter Safrannot measured- - 19
Gareth Evansnot measured- - 20
Lynne Ramsaynot measured- - 21
Neil Marshallnot measured- - 22
Rupert Sandersnot measured- - 23
Ol Parkernot measured- - 24
Ben Wheatleynot measured- - 25
David Mackenzienot measured- - 26
David Sladenot measured- - 27
Leslie Benziesnot measured- - 28
Miguel Sapochniknot measured- - 29
Kevin Macdonaldnot measured- - 30
Chris Cunninghamnot measured- - 31
Andrew Haighnot measured- - 32
Asif Kapadianot measured- - 33
John Michael McDonaghnot measured- - 34
Shane Meadowsnot measured- - 35
Hannah Harpernot measured- - 36
Garth Jenningsnot measured- - 37
Euros Lynnot measured- - 38
Mark Mylodnot measured- - 39
Seamus McGarveynot measured- - 40
Marianna Palkanot measured- - 41
Amma Asantenot measured- - 42
Vanessa Branchnot measured- - 43
Johannes Robertsnot measured- - 44
Andrew Macdonaldnot measured- - 45
Danny Dnot measured- - 46
Jake Scottnot measured- - 47
Rhys Frake-Waterfieldnot measured- - 48
Amelia Dimoldenbergnot measured- - 49
Lucy Brownnot measured- - 50
Danny Millernot measured- - 51
Danny Cannonnot measured- - 52
Justin Chadwicknot measured- - 53
Thea Sharrocknot measured- - 54
Sean Ellisnot measured- - 55
Hamish Hamiltonnot measured- - 56
Peter Webbernot measured- - 57
Peter Stricklandnot measured- - 58
Jordan Scottnot measured- - 59
Pete Travisnot measured- - 60
Jamie Kingnot measured- - 61
Christopher Smithnot measured- - 62
Mark Cousinsnot measured- - 63
Akram Khannot measured- - 64
Charlotte Wellsnot measured- - 65
Bart Laytonnot measured- - 66
Tom Harpernot measured- - 67
Tom Ackerleynot measured- - 68
Sophie Andersonnot measured- - 69
Christian Colsonnot measured- - 70
Philip Barantininot measured- - 71
James Bobinnot measured- - 72
David Bowersnot measured- - 73
S. J. Clarksonnot measured- - 74
Rose Glassnot measured- - 75
Rowan Joffénot measured- - 76
Jesse V. Johnsonnot measured- - 77
Nick Lovenot measured- - 78
Lucy Walkernot measured- - 79James Millernot measured-
- 80
Corin Hardynot measured- - 81
Jake Navanot measured- - 82
Jon Harrisnot measured- - 83
Steve Boxnot measured- - 84
Iain Canningnot measured- - 85
Michael C. Foxnot measured- - 86
Julie Gardnernot measured- - 87
Sacha Gervasinot measured- - 88
Matthew Warchusnot measured- - 89
Nima Nourizadehnot measured- - 90
Gavin Freenot measured- - 91
Joanna Jetnot measured- - 92Tom Vaughannot measured-
- 93
Mary Nighynot measured- - 94
Peter Rodgernot measured- - 95
Otto Bathurstnot measured- - 96
Ashley McKenzienot measured- - 97
Sarah Gavronnot measured- - 98
Hugh Welchmannot measured- - 99
Simon J. Smithnot measured- - 100
Sophie Fiennesnot 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.