1837 - 1884
Paul Charles Morphy (June 22, 1837 – July 10, 1884) was an American chess player. He is considered to have been the greatest chess master of his era and is often considered the unofficial World Chess Champion. A chess prodigy, he was called "The Pride and Sorrow of Chess" because he had a brilliant chess career but retired from the game while still young. Read more on Wikipedia
Since 2007, the English Wikipedia page of Paul Morphy has received more than 1,397,286 page views. His biography is available in 50 different languages on Wikipedia (up from 49 in 2019). Paul Morphy is the 18th most popular chess player (down from 15th in 2019), the 794th most popular biography from United States (down from 573rd in 2019) and the 2nd most popular American Chess Player.
Paul Morphy is most famous for being the first world champion of chess, and for being a chess prodigy.
Page Views (PV)
Historical Popularity Index (HPI)
Languages Editions (L)
Effective Languages (L*)
Coefficient of Variation (CV)
Among chess players, Paul Morphy ranks 18 out of 376. Before him are Garry Kasparov, François-André Danican Philidor, Viktor Korchnoi, Vasily Smyslov, Adolf Anderssen, and Samuel Reshevsky. After him are Paul Keres, Siegbert Tarrasch, Richard Réti, Ruy López de Segura, Vera Menchik, and David Bronstein.
1963 - Present
HPI: 73.98
Rank: 12
1726 - 1795
HPI: 73.39
Rank: 13
1931 - 2016
HPI: 72.80
Rank: 14
1921 - 2010
HPI: 72.66
Rank: 15
1818 - 1879
HPI: 72.58
Rank: 16
1911 - 1992
HPI: 71.98
Rank: 17
1837 - 1884
HPI: 71.98
Rank: 18
1916 - 1975
HPI: 71.51
Rank: 19
1862 - 1934
HPI: 71.02
Rank: 20
1889 - 1929
HPI: 69.85
Rank: 21
1530 - 1580
HPI: 69.07
Rank: 22
1906 - 1944
HPI: 68.89
Rank: 23
1924 - 2006
HPI: 68.83
Rank: 24
Among people born in 1837, Paul Morphy ranks 16. Before him are Adam Opel, Fredrik Bajer, Tokugawa Yoshinobu, Louis IV, Grand Duke of Hesse, Pedro V of Portugal, and Prince Philippe, Count of Flanders. After him are Ivan Kramskoi, Georges Ernest Boulanger, John Newlands, Vasil Levski, Rosalía de Castro, and Empress Dowager Ci'an. Among people deceased in 1884, Paul Morphy ranks 6. Before him are Gregor Mendel, Bedřich Smetana, Marie Taglioni, Maria Anna of Savoy, and Elias Lönnrot. After him are Johann Gustav Droysen, Marie Bashkirtseff, Jean-Baptiste Dumas, Alfred Brehm, Prince Leopold, Duke of Albany, and Allan Pinkerton.
1837 - 1895
HPI: 74.21
Rank: 10
1837 - 1922
HPI: 74.01
Rank: 11
1837 - 1913
HPI: 73.24
Rank: 12
1837 - 1892
HPI: 72.78
Rank: 13
1837 - 1861
HPI: 72.59
Rank: 14
1837 - 1905
HPI: 72.25
Rank: 15
1837 - 1884
HPI: 71.98
Rank: 16
1837 - 1887
HPI: 71.80
Rank: 17
1837 - 1891
HPI: 70.33
Rank: 18
1837 - 1898
HPI: 70.16
Rank: 19
1837 - 1873
HPI: 70.03
Rank: 20
1837 - 1885
HPI: 69.33
Rank: 21
1837 - 1881
HPI: 69.29
Rank: 22
1822 - 1884
HPI: 86.31
Rank: 1
1824 - 1884
HPI: 83.88
Rank: 2
1804 - 1884
HPI: 73.75
Rank: 3
1803 - 1884
HPI: 73.45
Rank: 4
1802 - 1884
HPI: 72.78
Rank: 5
1837 - 1884
HPI: 71.98
Rank: 6
1808 - 1884
HPI: 71.70
Rank: 7
1858 - 1884
HPI: 71.63
Rank: 8
1800 - 1884
HPI: 70.41
Rank: 9
1829 - 1884
HPI: 70.20
Rank: 10
1853 - 1884
HPI: 69.37
Rank: 11
1819 - 1884
HPI: 69.34
Rank: 12
Among people born in United States, Paul Morphy ranks 794 out of 15,968. Before him are John Fante (1909), Rodney King (1965), Tobin Bell (1942), Bob Beamon (1946), Edward C. Tolman (1886), and John Jacob Astor IV (1864). After him are Robert Wagner (1930), George Cukor (1899), Linda Lovelace (1949), Gena Rowlands (1930), James Earl Jones (1931), and Lee Marvin (1924).
1909 - 1983
HPI: 72.03
Rank: 788
1965 - 2012
HPI: 72.03
Rank: 789
1942 - Present
HPI: 72.01
Rank: 790
1946 - Present
HPI: 72.01
Rank: 791
1886 - 1959
HPI: 72.01
Rank: 792
1864 - 1912
HPI: 72.00
Rank: 793
1837 - 1884
HPI: 71.98
Rank: 794
1930 - Present
HPI: 71.97
Rank: 795
1899 - 1983
HPI: 71.97
Rank: 796
1949 - 2002
HPI: 71.97
Rank: 797
1930 - Present
HPI: 71.96
Rank: 798
1931 - Present
HPI: 71.95
Rank: 799
1924 - 1987
HPI: 71.95
Rank: 800
Among chess players born in United States, Paul Morphy ranks 2. Before him are Bobby Fischer (1943). After him are Frank Marshall (1877), Harry Nelson Pillsbury (1872), Reuben Fine (1914), William Lombardy (1937), Jackson Showalter (1860), Isaac Kashdan (1905), Robert Byrne (1928), Arnold Denker (1914), Nick de Firmian (1957), and Fabiano Caruana (1992).
1943 - 2008
HPI: 79.31
Rank: 1
1837 - 1884
HPI: 71.98
Rank: 2
1877 - 1944
HPI: 67.15
Rank: 3
1872 - 1906
HPI: 64.15
Rank: 4
1914 - 1993
HPI: 63.87
Rank: 5
1937 - 2017
HPI: 61.60
Rank: 6
1860 - 1935
HPI: 60.42
Rank: 7
1905 - 1985
HPI: 56.56
Rank: 8
1928 - 2013
HPI: 55.62
Rank: 9
1914 - 2005
HPI: 55.57
Rank: 10
1957 - Present
HPI: 54.62
Rank: 11
1992 - Present
HPI: 53.31
Rank: 12