Google’s Ngram Viewer graphs how often a search term appears over time in the text corpus associated with Google Books. Its front page currently displays a graph for the terms Frankenstein, Albert Einstein, and Sherlock Holmes from 1800 to 2000. Note, because Frankenstein is not just the title of an 1818 novel but also a surname, unlike the other two terms, its graph begins with a positive value in the year 1800.

If there is one thing that set Howard Stern apart from the crowd during his rise to superstardom, it’s the range of topics he was willing to discuss on the air. One such topic was his celebrity ranking: he liked to compare the “bigness” of his celebrity with that of others.

So when I discovered the Ngram Viewer several years ago, I decided to enter head‑to‑head matches between Howard and other celebrities. The results are presented below, including the graphs.


Howard dominates Howard close above too close to call Howard close below Howard dominated by
George Carlin
Jon Bon Jovi
Carlos Santana
Angus Young
Bon Scott
Denise Richards
Jenna Jameson
Robin Quivers
Jackie Martling
Jerry Seinfeld
Pamela Anderson
Ringo Starr
Celine Dion
Mia Farrow
Rudy Giuliani
Jennifer Lopez
Sylvester Stallone
Laura Bush
Wilt Chamberlain
Keith Richards
Lenny Bruce
Johnny Carson
David Letterman
Barbara Bush
Nancy Reagan
George Harrison
Arnold Schwarzenegger
Marilyn Monroe
Jimmy Carter
Jesus Christ
John Lennon
Paul McCartney
Donald Trump
Mick Jagger
Britney Spears
Woody Allen

Johnny Carson:
howard

David Letterman:
howard

Rudy Giuliani:
howard

George Carlin:
howard

Jerry Seinfeld:
howard

Arnold:
howard

Jennifer Lopez:
howard

Pamela Anderson:
howard

Marilyn Monroe:
howard

Sylvester Stallone:
howard

Barbara Bush:
howard

Laura Bush:
howard

Nancy Reagan:
howard

Jimmy Carter:
howard

Wilt Chamberlain:
howard

Jon Bon Jovi:
howard

Jesus Christ:
howard

John Lennon:
howard

Paul McCartney:
howard

George Harrison:
howard

Ringo Starr:
howard

Carlos Santana:
howard

Donald Trump:
howard

Mick Jagger:
howard

Keith Richards:
howard

Angus Young:
howard

Bon Scott:
howard

Celine Dion:
howard

Britney Spears:
howard

Woody Allen:
howard

Mia Farrow:
howard

Denise Richards:
howard

Jenna Jameson:
howard

Robin Quivers:
howard

Jackie Martling:
howard

Lenny Bruce:
howard