← 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
Tiger Woods3 decades - 2
Mike Tyson4 decades - 3
Lindsey Vonn0 decades - 4
Tom Brady2 decades - 5
Michael Phelps2 decades - 6
Lance Armstrong2 decades - 7
Roman Reigns0 decades - 8
Floyd Mayweather1 decades - 9
The Undertakernot measured- - 10
Simone Biles0 decades - 11
Triple H2 decades - 12
Ronda Rousey0 decades - 13
Rey Mysterio0 decades - 14
Randy Orton0 decades - 15
CM Punk0 decades - 16
Tara Lipinskinot measured- - 17
Kanenot measured- - 18
Peyton Manning2 decades - 19
Shawn Michaels1 decades - 20
Tony Hawk2 decades - 21
Chris Jericho0 decades - 22
Jeff Hardynot measured- - 23
Kurt Angle0 decades - 24
Cody Rhodes0 decades - 25
Jeff Gordon3 decades - 26
Stephanie McMahon0 decades - 27
Tonya Harding3 decades - 28
Chynanot measured- - 29
Paul Wightnot measured- - 30
Bray Wyatt0 decades - 31
Jon Moxleynot measured- - 32
A.J. Styles0 decades - 33
Aaron Rodgersnot measured- - 34
Laila Ali0 decades - 35
Oscar De La Hoya1 decades - 36
Mercedes Monénot measured- - 37
Eddie Guerreronot measured- - 38
John David Washingtonnot measured- - 39
Danica Patricknot measured- - 40
The Miz0 decades - 41
Noah Lylesnot measured- - 42
Patrick Mahomesnot measured- - 43
Bryan Danielson0 decades - 44
Jimmie Johnson1 decades - 45
Ryan Lochte0 decades - 46
Bill Goldbergnot measured- - 47
Charlotte Flairnot measured- - 48
Roy Jones Jr.0 decades - 49
Mark Henrynot measured- - 50
AJ Leenot measured- - 51
Travis Kelcenot measured- - 52
Colin Kaepernicknot measured- - 53
Mick Foleynot measured- - 54
Sha'Carri Richardsonnot measured- - 55
Alex Rodrigueznot measured- - 56
Chloe Kimnot measured- - 57
Derek Jeternot measured- - 58
Kyle Larsonnot measured- - 59
Rob Van Dam0 decades - 60
Deontay Wildernot measured- - 61
Matt Hardy0 decades - 62
Shaun Whitenot measured- - 63
Chase Elliottnot measured- - 64
Nate Diaznot measured- - 65
Brett Favrenot measured- - 66
Allyson Felix0 decades - 67
Michael Johnsonnot measured- - 68
Umaganot measured- - 69
Dustin Poiriernot measured- - 70
Sydney McLaughlin-Levronenot measured- - 71
Max Hollowaynot measured- - 72
Matt Cardonanot measured- - 73
John Morrisonnot measured- - 74
Yokozunanot measured- - 75
Tony Fergusonnot measured- - 76
Eli Manningnot measured- - 77
Ron Killingsnot measured- - 78
Nick Diaznot measured- - 79
Tommy Morrisonnot measured- - 80
Gabby Thomasnot measured- - 81
Big Enot measured- - 82
Patrick Kanenot measured- - 83
Liv Morgannot measured- - 84
Kurt Warnernot measured- - 85
Rikishinot measured- - 86
Drew Breesnot measured- - 87
Russell Wilsonnot measured- - 88
Caeleb Dresselnot measured- - 89
Claressa Shieldsnot measured- - 90
Rob Gronkowskinot measured- - 91
Gus Kenworthynot measured- - 92
Surya Bonalynot measured- - 93
Nikki Garcianot measured- - 94
Ryan Crousernot measured- - 95
Terence Crawfordnot measured- - 96
Demetrious Johnsonnot measured- - 97
Marion Jones2 decades - 98
Akebono Tarōnot measured- - 99
Kyle Buschnot measured- - 100
Johnny Gaudreaunot 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.