215,950 profiles ranked

← Fame through time1920-1929

The 1920s

Whose names filled the books of the 1920s - 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 German books during the 1920s, whenever they lived.

  1. 1Novalis1772-1801 · 19th century · Germany · Writers4.5
  2. 2Jean Paul1763-1825 · 18th century · Germany · Writers3.4
  3. 3Richard Wagner1813-1883 · 19th century · Germany · Musicians1.9
  4. 4Karl Marx1818-1883 · 19th century · Germany · Academics1.8
  5. 5Paracelsus1493-1541 · 16th century · Switzerland · Doctors1.7
  6. 6Max Weber1864-1920 · 19th century · Germany · Academics1.7
  7. 7Maria Theresa1717-1780 · 18th century · Austria · Historical Figures1.6
  8. 8Friedrich Schlegel1772-1829 · 19th century · Germany · Writers1.6
  9. 9Hans Sachs1494-1576 · 16th century · Germany · Writers1.3
  10. 10Gustav Adolph, Duke of Mecklenburg-Güstrow1633-1695 · 17th century · Germany · Writers1.2
  11. 11Thomas Mann1875-1955 · 20th century · United States · Writers1.2
  12. 12Gottfried Keller1819-1890 · 19th century · Switzerland · Writers1.1
  13. 13William IV, Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel1532-1592 · 16th century · Germany · Scientists1.1
  14. 14Charles Augustus, Grand Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach1757-1828 · 18th century · Politicians1.1
  15. 15Frederick William IV of Prussia1795-1861 · 19th century · Politicians1.0
  16. 16Robert Koch1843-1910 · 19th century · Germany · Doctors0.92
  17. 17Gerhart Hauptmann1862-1946 · 19th century · Germany · Writers0.92
  18. 18Tannhäuser1300-1300 · 14th century · Germany · Writers0.92
  19. 19Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperor1316-1378 · 14th century · Historical Figures0.85
  20. 20Emil Fischer1852-1919 · 19th century · Germany · Scientists0.76
  21. 21Karl Kraus1874-1936 · 20th century · Austria · Writers0.69
  22. 22Heinrich Heine1797-1856 · 19th century · France · Writers0.69
  23. 23Rosa Luxemburg1871-1919 · 20th century · Germany · Activists0.68
  24. 24Martin Luther1483-1546 · 16th century · Germany · Religious Figures0.67
  25. 25Albrecht Dürer1471-1528 · 16th century · Germany · Artists0.66
Show 75 more

Lived then

The most notable people whose working lives fell in the 1920s, ranked where coverage and readership agree.

  1. 1Adolf Hitler1889-1945 · Austria · Politicians10 decades
  2. 2Mao Zedong1893-1976 · China · Politicians13 decades
  3. 3Charlie Chaplin1889-1977 · United Kingdom · Actors11 decades
  4. 4Dwight D. Eisenhower1890-1969 · United States · Politicians9 decades
  5. 5J. R. R. Tolkien1892-1973 · United Kingdom · Writers7 decades
  6. 6Charles de Gaulle1890-1970 · France · Politicians9 decades
  7. 7Agatha Christie1890-1976 · United Kingdom · Writers10 decades
  8. 8Nikita Khrushchev1894-1971 · Russia · Politicians10 decades
  9. 9Hermann Göring1893-1946 · Germany · Politicians9 decades
  10. 10Chiang Kai-shek1887-1975 · Taiwan · Politicians4 decades
  11. 11Francisco Franco1892-1975 · Spain · Politicians9 decades
  12. 12Edward VIII1894-1972 · United Kingdom · Historical Figures9 decades
  13. 13Jawaharlal Nehru1889-1964 · India · Politicians10 decades
  14. 14B. R. Ambedkar1891-1956 · India · Academics8 decades
  15. 15Srinivasa Ramanujan1887-1920 · India · Academics0 decades
  16. 16Ho Chi Minh1890-1969 · Politicians8 decades
  17. 17Erwin Rommel1891-1944 · Germany · Historical Figures8 decades
  18. 18Josip Broz Tito1892-1980 · Hungary · Activists8 decades
  19. 19H. P. Lovecraft1890-1937 · United States · Writers6 decades
  20. 20Haile Selassie1892-1975 · Historical Figures0 decades
  21. 21Sergei Yesenin1895-1925 · Russia · Writers11 decades
  22. 22Rudolf Hess1894-1987 · Egypt · Politicians9 decades
  23. 23George S. Patton1885-1945 · United States · Writers8 decades
  24. 24David Ben-Gurion1886-1973 · Israel · Politiciansnot measured-
  25. 25Karl Dönitz1891-1980 · Germany · Politicians8 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.