← 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
David Beckham2 decades - 2
Harry Kanenot measured- - 3
Jude Bellinghamnot measured- - 4
Marcus Rashford0 decades - 5
Wayne Rooney2 decades - 6
Frank Lampard1 decades - 7
Jamie Vardy0 decades - 8
Michael Olisenot measured- - 9
Gareth Balenot measured- - 10
Bukayo Sakanot measured- - 11
Raheem Sterling0 decades - 12
Steven Gerrard1 decades - 13
Michael Carrick0 decades - 14
Michael Owennot measured- - 15
Declan Ricenot measured- - 16
Cole Palmernot measured- - 17
Jordan Henderson0 decades - 18
Trent Alexander-Arnoldnot measured- - 19
Alan Shearer1 decades - 20
Dele Alli0 decades - 21
Jadon Sanchonot measured- - 22
Jack Grealishnot measured- - 23
Danny Welbeck0 decades - 24
Ryan Giggs1 decades - 25
Jordan Pickford0 decades - 26
James Milner0 decades - 27
Kyle Walkernot measured- - 28
Harry Maguirenot measured- - 29
Phil Fodennot measured- - 30
Vinnie Jones0 decades - 31
Peter Crouch0 decades - 32
Rio Ferdinand1 decades - 33
Anthony Gordonnot measured- - 34
Jamie Carragher0 decades - 35
John Terrynot measured- - 36
Paul Scholes1 decades - 37
Scott McTominaynot measured- - 38
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain0 decades - 39
Gary Neville1 decades - 40
Ashley Cole1 decades - 41
John Stonesnot measured- - 42
Paul Gascoigne1 decades - 43
Aaron Ramsey0 decades - 44
Ashley Young0 decades - 45
Jesse Lingard0 decades - 46
Noni Maduekenot measured- - 47
Eberechi Ezenot measured- - 48
Mason Mountnot measured- - 49
Mason Greenwoodnot measured- - 50
Joe Hartnot measured- - 51
Gareth Southgate0 decades - 52
Marc Guéhinot measured- - 53
Theo Walcott0 decades - 54
Andy Robertsonnot measured- - 55
Ademola Lookmannot measured- - 56
Ollie Watkinsnot measured- - 57
Luke Shawnot measured- - 58
Jack Wilshere0 decades - 59
Daniel Sturridge0 decades - 60
Darren Fletcher0 decades - 61
Antoine Semenyonot measured- - 62
Eric Dier0 decades - 63
Andy Carroll0 decades - 64
Kieran Trippier0 decades - 65
Kobbie Mainoonot measured- - 66
Jermain Defoe0 decades - 67
Elliot Andersonnot measured- - 68
Brendan Rodgers0 decades - 69
Dominic Calvert-Lewinnot measured- - 70
Micah Richards0 decades - 71
Joey Barton0 decades - 72
Sol Campbell0 decades - 73
Reece Jamesnot measured- - 74
Owen Hargreaves0 decades - 75
Andy Cole0 decades - 76
Tammy Abrahamnot measured- - 77
Joe Colenot measured- - 78
Ben Chilwellnot measured- - 79
Dan Burnnot measured- - 80
Teddy Sheringham0 decades - 81
Conor Gallaghernot measured- - 82
Wilfried Zaha0 decades - 83
Ross Barkley0 decades - 84
Harvey Elliottnot measured- - 85
Gareth Barry0 decades - 86
Emile Heskey0 decades - 87
Kalvin Phillipsnot measured- - 88
Jarrod Bowennot measured- - 89
Aaron Ramsdalenot measured- - 90
Aaron Wan-Bissakanot measured- - 91
Graham Potternot measured- - 92
John McGinnnot measured- - 93
Phil Neville0 decades - 94
Robbie Fowler0 decades - 95
Chris Smalling0 decades - 96
Liam Delapnot measured- - 97
Ivan Toneynot measured- - 98
Shaun Wright-Phillips0 decades - 99
Jobe Bellinghamnot measured- - 100
James Maddisonnot 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.