Agatha Christie

About Agatha Christie

Agatha Christie (1890–1976) holds a significant place in global cultural history, evidenced by her Historical Popularity Index (HPI) rank of #346 out of roughly 15,000 figures tracked by MIT's Pantheon project. As the best-selling fiction writer of all time, her nearly 70 detective novels and 14 short story collections, featuring iconic characters like Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple, have achieved unprecedented global reach across countless languages and time periods. Her contributions fundamentally shaped the modern mystery genre.

Despite this profound historical importance, her modern digital footprint suggests an attention gap. In 2025, Christie garnered 2.0 million Wikipedia pageviews, which translates to an 'overattention' factor of +5x relative to her historical rank-indicating she is significantly more recognized online than her historical ranking might suggest. This level of attention places her well above contemporaries like Bob Dylan (#736 importance, 12.0M views) and John Lennon (#591 importance, 4.2M views) in terms of pure pageview volume, showing her continued cultural currency on the internet.

However, the momentum is not entirely positive. Her 2025 annualized pageviews showed a decline of -2.5% year-over-year, and the momentum dropped by -8% between Q1 and Q3, hinting that while she remains highly visible, the rate of new interest may be slowly diminishing in the digital sphere.