William IV of the United Kingdom

About William IV of the United Kingdom

William IV of the United Kingdom reigned as monarch from 1830 until his death in 1837, ascending to the throne relatively late in life following the death of his elder brother, George IV. As a politician and head of state, his reign was characterized by significant parliamentary reform, most notably the passage of the Great Reform Act of 1832, which substantially altered the franchise and structure of the House of Commons. His earlier career as a naval officer, earning the nickname ‘the Sailor King,’ also informed his later, more constitutional role. This historical weight places him at Pantheon Rank #261 among the most influential figures globally.

Despite this strong historical positioning, William IV currently exhibits a considerable attention gap online. In 2025, his annualized Wikipedia views stand at a modest 67K, resulting in an attention gap factor of -7x relative to his historical importance. To contextualize this underattention, a figure with significantly lower historical importance, Justinian I (#363), garners approximately 15 times more attention with 810K views. Another contemporary politician in the comparison pool, Philip IV of France (#626), receives nearly six times the online traffic.

While the overall interest is low, the latest quarterly data suggests a slight upward trend, with 2025 Momentum showing a +4% shift between Q1 and Q3, though the Year-over-Year change remains negative at -11.0%.