← 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
Kylie Jenner0 decades - 2
Ivanka Trump1 decades - 3
Kendall Jenner0 decades - 4
Brooke Shields4 decades - 5
Cindy Crawford3 decades - 6
Gigi Hadid0 decades - 7
Bella Hadid0 decades - 8
Kate Upton0 decades - 9
Tiffany Trump0 decades - 10
Kourtney Kardashian0 decades - 11
Hailey Biebernot measured- - 12
Emily Ratajkowski0 decades - 13
Dita Von Teese0 decades - 14
Kaia Gerbernot measured- - 15
Karlie Kloss0 decades - 16
Olivia Culpo0 decades - 17
Brooklyn Decker0 decades - 18
Paris Jacksonnot measured- - 19
Amber Valletta0 decades - 20
Paulina Porizkovanot measured- - 21
Holly Madisonnot measured- - 22
Barbie Ferreiranot measured- - 23
Christy Turlingtonnot measured- - 24
Stephanie Seymournot measured- - 25
Chrissy Teigennot measured- - 26
Amber Rosenot measured- - 27
Kendra Wilkinsonnot measured- - 28
Ashley Grahamnot measured- - 29
Lily Aldridgenot measured- - 30
Marisa Millernot measured- - 31
Chanel Imannot measured- - 32
Adrianne Currynot measured- - 33
Josie Marannot measured- - 34
Lisa Marienot measured- - 35
Brooke Burnsnot measured- - 36
Vivian Wilsonnot measured- - 37
Crystle Stewartnot measured- - 38
Ireland Baldwinnot measured- - 39
Brody Jennernot measured- - 40
Kimora Lee Simmonsnot measured- - 41
Dylan Pennnot measured- - 42
Martha Huntnot measured- - 43
Blac Chynanot measured- - 44
Vanessa Trumpnot measured- - 45
Courtney Stoddennot measured- - 46
Jaime Bergmannot measured- - 47
R'Bonney Gabrielnot measured- - 48
Taylor Marie Hillnot measured- - 49
Elizabeth Jaggernot measured- - 50
Tyson Beckfordnot measured- - 51
Amanda Leporenot measured- - 52
Zuleyka Rivera Mendozanot measured- - 53
Alex Consaninot measured- - 54
Dree Hemingwaynot measured- - 55
Madeleine McGrawnot measured- - 56
Sofia Richienot measured- - 57
Christy Macknot measured- - 58
Erin Heathertonnot measured- - 59
Lauren Bushnot measured- - 60
Sean O'Prynot measured- - 61
Princess Maria-Olympia of Greece and Denmarknot measured- - 62
Candice Michellenot measured- - 63
Lydia Hearst-Shawnot measured- - 64
Joheirry Molanot measured- - 65
Jenny Shimizunot measured- - 66
Karen McDougalnot measured- - 67
Pamela Gidleynot measured- - 68
Cheslie Krystnot measured- - 69
Jasmine Borrero Tookesnot measured- - 70
Carmella DeCesarenot measured- - 71
Mia Tylernot measured- - 72
Charlotte McKinneynot measured- - 73
Kaitlynnot measured- - 74
Brande Rodericknot measured- - 75
Ali Lohannot measured- - 76
Danielle Louise Moinetnot measured- - 77
Amazon Evenot measured- - 78Chelsi Smithnot measured-
- 79
Shaun Rossnot measured- - 80
Lindsey Pelasnot measured- - 81
Jeremy Meeksnot measured- - 82
Carolyn Murphynot measured- - 83
Hilary Rhodanot measured- - 84
Dara Torresnot measured- - 85
Joan Smallsnot measured- - 86
Michele Merkinnot measured- - 87
Air Force Amynot measured- - 88
Havana Rose Liunot measured- - 89
Cindy Burbridgenot measured- - 90
Greg Plittnot measured- - 91
Alyssa Millernot measured- - 92
Brook Leenot measured- - 93
Danni Ashenot measured- - 94
Prince Achileas-Andreas of Denmarknot measured- - 95
Hannah Jeternot measured- - 96Noor Pahlavinot measured-
- 97
Camille Kosteknot measured- - 98
Nia Sancheznot measured- - 99
Allison Harvard (She loves dih)not measured- - 100
Rima Fakihnot 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.