Jesus has beaten off William Shakespeare, Napoleon, and Adolf Hitler to be history's most significant figure.

That is the finding of a study by computer scientists Professor Steven Skiena, of Stony Brook University, and Charles Ward.

They used an algorithmic analysis system focusing on the English language Wikipedia and "other data sources" to rank historical figures "just as Google ranks web pages".

Notably, the top 10 includes no women and only one Briton – Shakespeare – makes it.

The top 10 is as follows:

1. Jesus
2. Napoleon
3. William Shakespeare
4. Mohammad
5. Abraham Lincoln
6. George Washington
7. Adolf Hitler
8. Aristotle
9. Alexander the Great
10. Thomas Jefferson

However, the list does go far enough down to note that Justin Bieber ranks 8633rd.

Professor Skiena told Pacific Standard magazine: "We would call Jesus 'the most significant person ever'. We measure meme strength, how successfully is the idea of this person being propagated through time. With over two billion followers a full 2,000 years after his death, Jesus is an incredibly successful historical meme."

The highest ranking woman on the list is Queen Elizabeth I at 13th, just beating out Karl Marx at number 14, and Queen Victoria two places further down at 16th.

Significant non-divine figures in the history of Christianity include:
• Henry VIII (11th)
• Martin Luther (17th)
• Paul the Apostle (34th)
• King David (57th)
• Saint Peter (65th)
• Emperor Constantine (67th)
• Augustine of Hippo (72nd)
• Thomas Aquinas (90th)
• Joan of Arc (95th)
• John Calvin (99th)