| Tradition | Register | Date | How someone gets in | Approx. count |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| African Christian | Dictionary of African Christian Biography | Begun 1995 | Editors accept submitted biographies meeting standards. It records, it does not certify. | Count not confirmed. |
| Anglican and Protestant | Church of England calendar; Episcopal Lesser Feasts and Fasts | Current; updated 2024 | Vote of a church assembly. Not a declaration of sainthood in the Roman sense. | Not counted. |
| Buddhist (Burmese) | Weizza (weikza) cults | Modern | Followers. Teachers can have large followings. | No register found. |
| Buddhist (Chinese) | Gaoseng zhuan series | c. 530 to 1617 | A monk compiler chooses; the state sometimes commissioned. | First collection: 257 major biographies (Wikipedia). Other counts not confirmed. |
| Buddhist (Thai) | Thai forest saints | c. 1900 onward | Nobody certifies. Lay and monastic acclaim, sometimes with amulets. Claiming attainment is sensitive in Theravada. | No register exists that I could find. Count unknown. |
| Buddhist (Tibetan) | Blue Annals (Deb ther sngon po) | 1476 | Author selects. | unknown |
| Buddhist (Tibetan) | Tulku recognition: tradition, Golden Urn, and State Order No. 5 | Golden Urn 1793; Order No. 5 effective 1 September 2007 | Traditionally senior lamas use signs, oracles and tests. Since 2007 PRC law requires government approval. | CECC estimate: more than 1,000, possibly over 2,000 teachers in Tibetan areas of China. |
| Buddhist (Tibetan) | PRC online Living Buddha database | Launched January 2016 | State approval. | 870 at launch (Al Jazeera), 1,311 by April 2016 (Tibetan Review). |
| Buddhist (Tibetan) | Buddhist Digital Resource Center and Treasury of Lives | Current | Scholarly. | unknown |
| Buddhist (general) | The Arhats (16, 18, 500) | Early to medieval | Closed. | 16, 18 or 500. |
| Byzantine (scholarly) | Dumbarton Oaks Hagiography Database | Released 1998 on floppy disks, now online | Scholarly selection. | unknown |
| Catholic | Acta Sanctorum and the Bollandists | Society founded 1630; first volumes 1643; series ran to 1940 | Scholars decide. A saint enters if a cult and documents exist. The test is critical, not juridical: the Bollandists edit sources and do not make saints. | Number of people unknown. 67 folio volumes and more than 60,000 pages (Bollandists website); Wikipedia says 68 volumes. |
| Catholic | Bibliotheca Hagiographica Latina (BHL) | First issued c. 1898 to 1901 (date from memory, not checked) | Any Latin text about a saint qualifies. | unknown |
| Catholic | Roman Martyrology (Martyrologium Romanum) | Revised edition 2001; corrected edition 2004 | Entry follows papal canonization or beatification, or long-standing recognised cult. | About 7,000 saints and blesseds in the updated edition, as quoted by Wikipedia. It also says the 2004 revision added 117 people canonized or beatified between 2001 and 2004. |
| Catholic | Dicastery for the Causes of Saints (formerly Congregation of Rites) | 1588 to present; Congregation for the Causes of Saints from 1969; present rules 1983 and 2007 | The local bishop opens an inquiry no sooner than five years after death, and only if an authentic reputation of holiness exists. If more than thirty years have passed the delay must be explained. Rome then tests heroic virtue or martyrdom. The Pope decides. Martyrs need no miracle for beatification; a further miracle is required for canonization. | Vatican lists: 482 saints and 1,341 blesseds under John Paul II alone (see next entries). Barro and McCleary count 307 canonized and 371 beatified but not yet canonized by 2009, confessors only, martyrs excluded. |
| Catholic | Consulta Medica (medical board) and the miracle review | Board required by the 1983 constitution; rules of 1976 replaced in 2016 | The 2016 rules need a qualified majority of at least 5 of 7 or 4 of 6 to proceed. A case can be re-examined no more than three times, and re-examination needs a board of nine. | Duffin studied 1,400 canonization miracles over four centuries: more than 95 per cent were healings, rising to 99 per cent in the twentieth century (her own summary). |
| Catholic | Dicastery online lists: Canonizations, Beatifications, Venerables, Decrees | Canonization list reaches back to 1594 in its year index and forward to 2025; decrees to 2026 | As above. | Unknown as a total. Page per year. |
| Catholic | Vatican lists of saints and blesseds proclaimed by John Paul II | 1978 to 2005 | Papal act. | 482 saints in 52 celebrations. 1,341 blesseds in 147 celebrations. Both totals are as stated on the Vatican pages. |
| Catholic | Index ac Status Causarum | 2nd edition 1999 | Any cause formally introduced. | unknown |
| Catholic | Hagiography Circle (independent online catalogue) | Current to 24 October 2026 when opened | Follows Vatican acts. | unknown |
| Colonial and state files (accidental registers) | Surveillance and court files on holy figures | 19th and 20th centuries | The state noticed them as threats. | No count. |
| Confucian and Chinese state | Confucian temple spirit tablets | Imperial China | State decision. | unknown |
| Coptic Orthodox | Coptic Synaxarium (Synaxarium Alexandrinum) | Medieval core, still read daily | Entry in the book marks recognition. | unknown |
| Coptic Orthodox | Holy Synod recognition of saints | Modern; decisions of 2013 and 2022 seen | Synod vote. A waiting period is traditional, but my sources disagree: a 2013 blog says 50 years, and a 2018 Watani report in search results said 40, but that page returned 403. No official text found. | unknown |
| Cross-tradition aggregator | Wikidata property P411, canonization status | Live; queried 2026-11-05 | Volunteers edit. Not a religious authority. | My own SPARQL counts on 2026-11-05: 3,179 people who died in 1600 or later hold the status saint, Catholic saint, canonized saint or blessed. Also 393 Servants of God and 369 Venerable, plus 306 under a second Venerable item. |
| Daoist | Liexian zhuan | Attributed to Liu Xiang, later in fact | Literary. | About 70. |
| Daoist | Shenxian zhuan | Attributed to Ge Hong (283 to 343) | Literary. | Count not confirmed. |
| Daoist | Quanzhen Longmen lineage records | Qing period | Ordination lineage. | unknown |
| Eastern Orthodox | Synaxaria, including the Synaxarion of Constantinople | Middle Byzantine onward | Inclusion by liturgical use. No single authority. | unknown |
| Eastern Orthodox | Menologion of Basil II | c. 1000 | Imperial and liturgical selection. | About 430 miniatures. Number of people unknown. |
| Eastern Orthodox | Glorification in the Russian Orthodox Church | Muscovite councils; Holy Synod 1721 to 1917; modern commission | Orthodox churches do not use a court model. Veneration usually comes first, and the hierarchy then confirms it. Criteria reported for the OCA are veneration, martyrdom, miracles, holiness, orthodoxy of teaching and spiritual impact, and not all are required in every case. | Greene: seven canonizations in the last two decades of Romanov rule, against four in the two centuries before. The 2000 council then added more than one thousand New Martyrs (OCA). |
| Eastern Orthodox | New Martyrs and Confessors of Russia | Glorified by the Bishops Council of 2000, with additions since | Commission review of each case, using state security and archive files. | More than one thousand numbered among the saints (OCA). |
| Eastern Orthodox | "Za Khrista postradavshie" database (Those Who Suffered for Christ) | Online; 2014 figure | Documented persecution. Inclusion does not imply sainthood. | About 35,000 people as of the 2014 report. A Somin article reportedly models the wider total at 109,756, but the DOAJ page returned 403, so that estimate is unverified. |
| Eastern Orthodox | Ecumenical Patriarchate decisions | Modern examples 1961 and 2015 | Synod act following veneration. | unknown |
| Eastern Orthodox | OCA Lives of the Saints (online) | Current | Follows church calendars. | unknown |
| Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo | Ethiopian Synaxarium (Mashafa Senkessar) | Budge translation 1928 | Entry by church tradition. | unknown |
| Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo | Gadlat (saints' Acts, singular gadl) | Medieval to modern | No central process found. A monastery produces and preserves the text. | Unknown. Kinefe-Rigb Zelleke's 1975 bibliography exists; the highest item number I saw cited is 178, which is not a total. |
| Folk saints | Latin American folk saints: no register | Modern | Devotees. Not recognised by the Catholic Church. | No register. The blurb in search results mentions comparison with some hundred others. |
| Hindu | Nabhadas, Bhaktamal, with Priyadas commentary | c. 1585 (Wikipedia); Priyadas commentary 1712 from memory, not checked | The poet's and sect's choice. | Count not confirmed. |
| Hindu | Periya Puranam (Nayanars) | 12th century | A closed canon. The number no longer grows. | 63. |
| Hindu | Alvars | Canon formed by about the 10th century; dating from memory | Closed canon. | Twelve, or ten in some traditional lists (Wikipedia). |
| Hindu | Mahipati, Bhaktavijaya and related works | 1757 to 1774 | Performer's selection from oral tradition. | Bhaktavijaya has 57 chapters and 9,916 ovis (verses). Number of people not confirmed. |
| Hindu | Akhil Bharatiya Akhara Parishad and the akharas | Modern | The nearest thing to Hindu certification, but only for ascetic orders. There is no general Hindu register. | 13 akharas. |
| Hindu | Modern devotee hagiography, example Shri Sai Satcharita | c. 1920s (date from memory) | Devotees write the record. | Single person. |
| Hindu and Buddhist | The 84 Siddhas | Abhayadatta list, 12th century | Tradition. | 84 by convention. Lopez found only 34 names shared between two lists. |
| Indigenous | North American prophets: no register | 19th century onward | Community memory. No outside body certifies, and many peoples would reject the idea of a list. | No register exists. |
| Indigenous | Maori prophets: no register | 19th century onward | Followers. | No register found. |
| Jain | Kalpa Sutra | Ascribed to Bhadrabahu; redaction 980 or 993 years after Mahavira | Scriptural. | unknown |
| Jain | Tirthankaras, and Hemachandra's Lives | Hemachandra 12th century | Closed by cosmology. | 24. |
| Jain | Pattavali (monastic lineage lists) | Medieval to present | Succession within an order. | unknown |
| Japanese | Engishiki Jinmyocho | 927 by common dating (from memory) | Court recognition. | 2,861 shrines, 3,131 kami (Wikipedia). |
| Japanese | Genko Shakusho | 1322 | Author selects. | unknown |
| Japanese | Yasukuni register | 1869 onward | Death in state service, by shrine decision. | 2,466,532 names (Wikipedia). |
| Japanese | Modern persons enshrined as kami | 20th century examples | Shrine foundation. No single register found. | unknown |
| Japanese | Sokushinbutsu (self-mummified monks) | 11th to 19th centuries, mainly Yamagata | Temple and local veneration. Modern scholars doubt live burial. | Count not confirmed. |
| Jewish | Talmudic sages (tannaim and amoraim), via Iggeret Rav Sherira Gaon and generation lists | Letter of 987; modern generation lists | No certification. A sage is someone whose teaching the rabbinic texts transmit. | Unknown. I found no authoritative total, and name variants make any count unsafe. |
| Jewish | Shem HaGedolim | Part 1 1774; part 2 1786 (search summary; the encyclopedia page confirms part 1) | The author's scholarly judgment. | Unknown total. A search summary says it added about 1,300 references to about 2,200 in an earlier work, but I could not confirm that on the pages I opened. |
| Jewish | Hasidic shevachim (praise) literature, beginning with Shivhei ha-Besht | First printed Kopys 1814 | No certification. A tzaddik is acclaimed by followers and a court, and the tale literature spreads the reputation. | About 200 stories in Shivhei ha-Besht (JTS Library blog). Size of the genre unknown. |
| Jewish | Moroccan Jewish saint veneration and hillulot (Ben-Ami's list) | Book in English 1998 | No authority. Tomb, dream and pilgrimage make the saint. The main rite is the hillula on the death anniversary. | 656 saints, 25 of them women, per the publisher listing. The brief said 652, and I could not confirm that figure. Check the book. |
| Jewish | Hillula (yom hillula) calendar | Modern practice | Community custom. | unknown |
| New movements | Bahai: Letters of the Living, Hands of the Cause, Memorials of the Faithful | 1844 to 2007 | Appointment by the head of the faith. Closed. | 18 Letters of the Living. 50 Hands of the Cause (4 + 4 + 42). Memorials of the Faithful: sources say 69 or about 80, not 77. The Gutenberg contents list has about 64 headings, some naming more than one person, which fits 69 best. |
| New movements | Latter-day Saints: presidents as prophets | 1830 to present | Succession by seniority (from memory). | See list. |
| New movements | Cao Dai saints and Tenrikyo foundress: new religions and their holy figures | 1926; Nakayama Miki died 1887 | Revelation or seance within the movement. | No register found. |
| Shia Islam | Imamzadeh shrines and the Iranian Endowment Organization | Modern state register | The state endowment body registers the site. The test is a claimed descent from an Imam. | Radio Farda (2020): about 1,500 before 1979, more than 11,000 identified and officially registered by 2020. A search summary of Iran Open Data gives more than 8,000, but the page returned 403. |
| Sikh | The ten Gurus | Line closed 1708 | Succession by the prior Guru. Closed in 1708. | Ten. |
| Sikh | Bhagats of the Guru Granth Sahib | Adi Granth compiled under Guru Arjan, c. 1604 (date from memory) | Inclusion in scripture by the Guru. | 15 bhagats among 36 authors (Wikipedia). |
| Sikh | Janamsakhi tradition | Late 16th to 19th centuries | Community writing. | Handful of traditions. |
| Sufi Islam | Sulami, Tabaqat al-Sufiyya, and Dhikr al-niswa | Sulami died 1021 | Author selects by reputation and transmission. | Women: Fons Vitae says eighty; other blurbs in search results say 82. Tabaqat total not confirmed. |
| Sufi Islam | Abu Nuaym, Hilyat al-Awliya | Abu Nuaym died 1038 | Author selects. | 695 biographies, ten volumes (Wikipedia). |
| Sufi Islam | Hujwiri, Kashf al-Mahjub | Hujwiri died c. 1072 to 1077 | Author selects. | unknown |
| Sufi Islam | Attar, Tadhkirat al-Awliya | c. 1210s | Author selects. | Count not confirmed. |
| Sufi Islam | Jami, Nafahat al-Uns | 15th century | Author selects. | Count not confirmed. I could not verify the figure of 614 or of 34 women, and Iranica returned 403. |
| Sufi Islam (Levant) | Yusuf al-Nabhani, Jami Karamat al-Awliya | Nabhani died 1932 | Author selects. | unknown |
| Sufi Islam (Maghrib) | Al-Kattani, Salwat al-Anfas | Lithographed 1898 | Burial and reputation in Fez. | unknown |
| Sufi Islam (South Asia) | Abd al-Haqq Dihlawi, Akhbar al-Akhyar | Completed c. 999 to 1001 AH, about 1591 to 1593 | Author selects. Search summaries say Iranica calls it the most reliable early tadhkira, but that page returned 403. | Count not confirmed. |
| Sufi Islam (South Asia) | Ghawthi Shattari, Gulzar-i Abrar | Early 17th century by common dating (not checked) | Author selects. | Over 500 Chishti and Shattari saints, per a search summary of a Cambridge article; the same article, which I opened, cites the edition (ed. Zaki, Patna 1994) but I did not confirm the count there. |
| Sufi Islam (South Asia) | Mughal tazkirahs: Majma al-Awliya, Safinat al-Awliya, Mirat al-Asrar | 1633 to 1655 by the dates in search results | Compiler selects. | Majma al-Awliya: about 1,500 lives, per a search summary of Iranica that I could not open. |
| Zoroastrian | Farvardin Yasht (fravashi commemoration) | Ancient | Scriptural. | unknown |
Compiled for this project. Counts and dates vary in reliability, and some rest on reference works. Check them before citing.