215,950 profiles ranked

← Fame through time1880-1889

The 1880s

Whose names filled the books of the 1880s - anyone at all, however long dead - counted as mentions per million words printed, so a period that simply published more does not inflate anyone.

Talked about then

Whose names appeared most in French books during the 1880s, whenever they lived.

  1. 1Voltaire1694-1778 · 18th century · France · Writers32
  2. 2Louis XIV of France1638-1715 · 17th century · France · Historical Figures31
  3. 3Molière1622-1673 · 17th century · France · Writers29
  4. 4Louis XVI of France1754-1793 · 18th century · France · Historical Figures13
  5. 5Louis XV of France1710-1774 · 18th century · France · Historical Figures11
  6. 6Victor Hugo1802-1885 · 19th century · France · Writers9.7
  7. 7François Fénelon1651-1715 · 17th century · France · Religious Figures6.6
  8. 8Montesquieu1689-1755 · 18th century · France · Academics6.0
  9. 9Louis XVIII of France1755-1824 · 18th century · France · Politicians4.5
  10. 10Napoleon III1808-1873 · 19th century · France · Politicians3.8
  11. 11Louis XII of France1462-1515 · 15th century · France · Historical Figures3.8
  12. 12Jules Ferry1832-1893 · 19th century · France · Politicians3.8
  13. 13Joan of Arc1412-1431 · 15th century · France3.6
  14. 14Jules Simon1814-1896 · 19th century · France · Politicians3.0
  15. 15Marie Antoinette1755-1793 · 18th century · France · Historical Figures3.0
  16. 16Charles X of France1757-1836 · 18th century · France · Politicians2.8
  17. 17Pierre de Marivaux1688-1763 · 18th century · France · Writers2.6
  18. 18Vincent de Paul1581-1660 · 17th century · France · Religious Figures2.4
  19. 19Francis de Sales1567-1622 · 17th century · France · Religious Figures2.3
  20. 20Pierre de Bourdeille, seigneur de Brantôme1540-1614 · 16th century · France · Writers2.2
  21. 21Louis Blanc1811-1882 · 19th century · Spain · Politicians2.0
  22. 22Jules Favre1809-1880 · 19th century · France · Politicians1.9
  23. 23Théophile Gautier1811-1872 · 19th century · France · Writers1.9
  24. 24George Sand1804-1876 · 19th century · France · Writers1.8
  25. 25Claude Bernard1813-1878 · 19th century · France · Politicians1.8
Show 75 more

Lived then

The most notable people whose working lives fell in the 1880s, ranked where coverage and readership agree.

  1. 1Vincent van Gogh1853-1890 · Netherlands · Artists12 decades
  2. 2Oscar Wilde1854-1900 · Ireland · Writers14 decades
  3. 3Thomas Edison1847-1931 · United States · Scientists13 decades
  4. 4Alexander Graham Bell1847-1922 · United States · Scientists15 decades
  5. 5Arthur Rimbaud1854-1891 · France · Writers14 decades
  6. 6Antoni Gaudí1852-1926 · Spain · Architects5 decades
  7. 7Robert Louis Stevenson1850-1894 · United Kingdom · Writers15 decades
  8. 8Guy de Maupassant1850-1893 · France · Writers14 decades
  9. 9Paul von Hindenburg1847-1934 · Germany · Politicians10 decades
  10. 10Alexander III of Russia1845-1894 · Russia · Historical Figures16 decades
  11. 11Paul Gauguin1848-1903 · France · Artists13 decades
  12. 12Bram Stoker1847-1912 · Ireland · Writers12 decades
  13. 13Emperor Meiji1852-1912 · Japan · Historical Figures11 decades
  14. 14Ivan Pavlov1849-1936 · Russia · Scientists16 decades
  15. 15Cecil Rhodes1853-1902 · United Kingdom · Politicians12 decades
  16. 16Wilhelm Röntgen1845-1923 · Germany · Scientists11 decades
  17. 17Pope Benedict XV1854-1922 · Italy · Religious Figures11 decades
  18. 18José Martí1853-1895 · Spain · Writers16 decades
  19. 19Ludwig II of Bavaria1845-1886 · Germany · Historical Figuresnot measured-
  20. 20Billy the Kid1859-1881 · United States12 decades
  21. 21Henri Poincaré1854-1912 · France · Academics13 decades
  22. 22H. H. Asquith1852-1928 · United Kingdom · Politicians11 decades
  23. 23Ferdinand Foch1851-1929 · France · Historical Figures7 decades
  24. 24Annie Besant1847-1933 · United Kingdom · Activists15 decades
  25. 25George I of Greece1845-1913 · Denmark · Historical Figures0 decades
Show 75 more

How to read these rankings

  • Attention, not reputation. A place on these lists reflects the attention a person still draws in the public record. It is not a judgement on the life.
  • Fame in print. The curves show how often a name appeared in the books of each decade from 1800 to 2019, drawn from the Google Books Ngram corpus.
  • Gaps are left as gaps. Where the record is too thin to be fair, we would rather show nothing than guess.