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← Fame through time1900-1909

The 1900s

Whose names filled the books of the 1900s - 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 1900s, whenever they lived.

  1. 1Louis XIV of France1638-1715 · 17th century · France · Historical Figures20
  2. 2Voltaire1694-1778 · 18th century · France · Writers20
  3. 3Victor Hugo1802-1885 · 19th century · France · Writers13
  4. 4Molière1622-1673 · 17th century · France · Writers13
  5. 5Louis XVI of France1754-1793 · 18th century · France · Historical Figures11
  6. 6Louis XV of France1710-1774 · 18th century · France · Historical Figures9.0
  7. 7François Fénelon1651-1715 · 17th century · France · Religious Figures5.5
  8. 8Louis XVIII of France1755-1824 · 18th century · France · Politicians5.0
  9. 9Montesquieu1689-1755 · 18th century · France · Academics4.8
  10. 10Joan of Arc1412-1431 · 15th century · France4.7
  11. 11Napoleon III1808-1873 · 19th century · France · Politicians4.2
  12. 12George Sand1804-1876 · 19th century · France · Writers3.6
  13. 13Stendhal1783-1842 · 19th century · France · Writers3.6
  14. 14Marie Antoinette1755-1793 · 18th century · France · Historical Figures3.0
  15. 15Auguste Comte1798-1857 · 19th century · France · Academics2.8
  16. 16Louis XII of France1462-1515 · 15th century · France · Historical Figures2.5
  17. 17Francis de Sales1567-1622 · 17th century · France · Religious Figures2.4
  18. 18Charles X of France1757-1836 · 18th century · France · Politicians2.2
  19. 19Vincent de Paul1581-1660 · 17th century · France · Religious Figures2.1
  20. 20Jules Ferry1832-1893 · 19th century · France · Politicians1.9
  21. 21Jules Simon1814-1896 · 19th century · France · Politicians1.8
  22. 22Charles Marie René Leconte de Lisle1818-1894 · 19th century · France · Writers1.7
  23. 23Anatole France1844-1924 · 19th century · France · Writers1.7
  24. 24Benjamin Constant1767-1830 · 19th century · Switzerland · Politicians1.6
  25. 25Louis Blanc1811-1882 · 19th century · Spain · Politicians1.6
  26. 26Philip V of Spain1683-1746 · 18th century · France · Politicians1.5
  27. 27Marie de' Medici1575-1642 · 17th century · France · Politicians1.5
  28. 28Alfred de Musset1810-1857 · 19th century · France · Writers1.5
  29. 29Claude Bernard1813-1878 · 19th century · France · Politicians1.4
  30. 30Jules Favre1809-1880 · 19th century · France · Politicians1.4
  31. 31Gaston Paris1839-1903 · 19th century · France · Writers1.4
  32. 32Louis XVII of France1785-1795 · 18th century · France1.3
  33. 33Paul Bourget1852-1935 · 19th century · France · Writers1.3
  34. 34Charles the Bold1433-1477 · 15th century · France · Politicians1.2
  35. 35Théophile Gautier1811-1872 · 19th century · France · Writers1.2
  36. 36Alfred de Vigny1797-1863 · 19th century · France · Writers1.2
  37. 37Pope John XXII1244-1334 · 13th century · France · Religious Figures1.2
  38. 38Jean-Jacques Rousseau1712-1778 · 18th century · Switzerland · Academics1.2
  39. 39Joseph de Maistre1753-1821 · 18th century · France · Academics1.2
  40. 40Francis II of France1544-1560 · 16th century · France · Politicians1.1
  41. 41Léon Bourgeois1851-1925 · 19th century · France · Politicians1.1
  42. 42Pierre de Marivaux1688-1763 · 18th century · France · Writers1.1
  43. 43Pierre de Bourdeille, seigneur de Brantôme1540-1614 · 16th century · France · Writers1.1
  44. 44André Chénier1762-1794 · 18th century · France · Writers1.0
  45. 45Napoleon1769-1821 · 19th century · France · Historical Figures0.94
  46. 46Salomon Reinach1858-1932 · 19th century · France · Writers0.91
  47. 47Jules Lemaître1853-1914 · 19th century · France · Writers0.88
  48. 48Pope Julius II1443-1513 · 15th century · Italy · Religious Figures0.87
  49. 49Sully Prudhomme1839-1907 · 19th century · France · Writers0.79
  50. 50Pierre Leroux1797-1871 · 19th century · France · Academics0.75
  51. 51Louis Bonaparte1778-1846 · 19th century · France · Politicians0.74
  52. 52Paul Adam1862-1920 · 19th century · France · Writers0.72
  53. 53Sarah Bernhardt1844-1923 · 19th century · France · Actors0.68
  54. 54Félix Faure1841-1899 · 19th century · France · Politicians0.68
  55. 55La Grange1635-1692 · 17th century · France · Actors0.68
  56. 56Frédéric Passy1822-1912 · 19th century · France · Academics0.66
  57. 57Camille Desmoulins1760-1794 · 18th century · France · Journalists0.66
  58. 58Catulle Mendès1841-1909 · 19th century · France · Writers0.64
  59. 59Victor Cousin1792-1867 · 19th century · France · Academics0.64
  60. 60Pope Clement V1264-1314 · 13th century · France · Religious Figures0.63
  61. 61François Coppée1842-1908 · 19th century · France · Writers0.62
  62. 62Arsène Arnaud Claretie1840-1913 · 19th century · France · Journalists0.60
  63. 63Anne of Brittany1477-1514 · 16th century · France0.59
  64. 64Alphonse Daudet1840-1897 · 19th century · France · Writers0.59
  65. 65César Franck1822-1890 · 19th century · France · Musicians0.55
  66. 66Maurice Barrès1862-1923 · 19th century · France · Writers0.55
  67. 67René Bazin1853-1932 · 19th century · France · Writers0.55
  68. 68Maine de Biran1766-1824 · 19th century · France · Politicians0.54
  69. 69Ernest Renan1823-1892 · 19th century · France · Academics0.54
  70. 70Odilon Barrot1791-1873 · 19th century · France · Politicians0.53
  71. 71Charles Nodier1780-1844 · 19th century · France · Writers0.50
  72. 72Casimir Delavigne1793-1843 · 19th century · France · Writers0.50
  73. 73Edgar Quinet1803-1875 · 19th century · France · Writers0.50
  74. 74Margaret of Valois1553-1615 · 16th century · France · Writers0.48
  75. 75Pierre Corneille1606-1684 · 17th century · France · Writers0.48
  76. 76Victorien Sardou1831-1908 · 19th century · France · Writers0.48
  77. 77Pierre Loti1850-1923 · 19th century · France · Writers0.46
  78. 78Jules Verne1828-1905 · 19th century · France · Writers0.46
  79. 79Antoine Quentin Fouquier-Tinville1746-1795 · 18th century · France · Politicians0.44
  80. 80Charlotte Corday1768-1793 · 18th century · France · Historical Figures0.44
  81. 81Augustin Thierry1795-1856 · 19th century · France · Writers0.43
  82. 82Paul Deschanel1855-1922 · 19th century · France · Politicians0.43
  83. 83Margaret of Austria, Duchess of Savoy1480-1530 · 16th century · Spain · Artists0.42
  84. 84Jules Guesde1845-1922 · 19th century · France · Journalists0.42
  85. 85Françoise d'Aubigné, Marquise de Maintenon1635-1719 · 17th century · France · Academics0.42
  86. 86Ferdinand Buisson1841-1932 · 19th century · France · Politicians0.42
  87. 87David d'Angers1788-1856 · 19th century · France · Artists0.41
  88. 88Gustave Moreau1826-1898 · 19th century · France · Artists0.41
  89. 89Henri de Régnier1864-1936 · 19th century · France · Writers0.40
  90. 90Marcel Prévost1862-1941 · 19th century · France · Writers0.40
  91. 91Guy de Maupassant1850-1893 · 19th century · France · Writers0.38
  92. 92Gustave Flaubert1821-1880 · 19th century · France · Writers0.38
  93. 93Émile Ollivier1825-1913 · 19th century · France · Politicians0.38
  94. 94Jean du Bellay1492-1560 · 16th century · Writers0.37
  95. 95Lucien Bonaparte1775-1840 · 19th century · France · Politicians0.37
  96. 96Eugène Sue1804-1857 · 19th century · France · Writers0.37
  97. 97Pierre Janet1859-1947 · 19th century · France · Academics0.37
  98. 98Joseph Bonaparte1768-1844 · 19th century · France · Politicians0.36
  99. 99Gérard de Nerval1808-1855 · 19th century · France · Writers0.36
  100. 100Ambroise Paré1510-1590 · 16th century · France · Doctors0.36

Lived then

The most notable people whose working lives fell in the 1900s, ranked where coverage and readership agree.

  1. 1Winston Churchill1874-1965 · United Kingdom · Politicians13 decades
  2. 2Vladimir Lenin1870-1924 · Russia · Politicians12 decades
  3. 3Mahatma Gandhi1869-1948 · India · Activists10 decades
  4. 4Marie Curie1867-1934 · France · Scientists4 decades
  5. 5George V1865-1936 · United Kingdom · Historical Figures16 decades
  6. 6Grigori Rasputin1869-1916 · Russia · Politicians11 decades
  7. 7Herbert Hoover1874-1964 · United States · Politicians11 decades
  8. 8Nicholas II of Russia1868-1918 · Russia · Historical Figures14 decades
  9. 9Sun Yat-sen1866-1925 · China · Politicians12 decades
  10. 10Calvin Coolidge1872-1933 · United States · Politicians11 decades
  11. 11Warren G. Harding1865-1923 · United States · Politicians11 decades
  12. 12Rudyard Kipling1865-1936 · United Kingdom · Writers13 decades
  13. 13Frank Lloyd Wright1867-1959 · United States · Architects12 decades
  14. 14Rosa Luxemburg1871-1919 · Germany · Activists13 decades
  15. 15Neville Chamberlain1869-1940 · United Kingdom · Politicians16 decades
  16. 16H. G. Wells1866-1946 · United Kingdom · Writers16 decades
  17. 17Bertrand Russell1872-1970 · United Kingdom · Academics13 decades
  18. 18Harry Houdini1874-1926 · United States · Actors7 decades
  19. 19Marcel Proust1871-1922 · France · Writers12 decades
  20. 20Henri Matisse1869-1954 · France · Artists12 decades
  21. 21Sergei Rachmaninoff1873-1943 · United States · Musiciansnot measured-
  22. 22Robert Frost1874-1963 · United States · Writers13 decades
  23. 23W. B. Yeats1865-1939 · Writers12 decades
  24. 24G. K. Chesterton1874-1936 · United Kingdom · Writers12 decades
  25. 25Beatrix Potter1866-1943 · United Kingdom · Writers10 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.