215,950 profiles ranked

← Fame through time1930-1939

The 1930s

Whose names filled the books of the 1930s - 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 1930s, whenever they lived.

  1. 1Voltaire1694-1778 · 18th century · France · Writers20
  2. 2Louis XIV of France1638-1715 · 17th century · France · Historical Figures16
  3. 3Molière1622-1673 · 17th century · France · Writers12
  4. 4Victor Hugo1802-1885 · 19th century · France · Writers11
  5. 5Stendhal1783-1842 · 19th century · France · Writers8.5
  6. 6Louis XVI of France1754-1793 · 18th century · France · Historical Figures6.8
  7. 7Louis XV of France1710-1774 · 18th century · France · Historical Figures6.4
  8. 8François Fénelon1651-1715 · 17th century · France · Religious Figures4.8
  9. 9Montesquieu1689-1755 · 18th century · France · Academics4.8
  10. 10Napoleon III1808-1873 · 19th century · France · Politicians4.4
  11. 11Joan of Arc1412-1431 · 15th century · France3.5
  12. 12George Sand1804-1876 · 19th century · France · Writers3.1
  13. 13Louis XVIII of France1755-1824 · 18th century · France · Politicians3.1
  14. 14Anatole France1844-1924 · 19th century · France · Writers2.6
  15. 15Marie Antoinette1755-1793 · 18th century · France · Historical Figures2.6
  16. 16Léon Blum1872-1950 · 20th century · France · Politicians2.6
  17. 17Vincent de Paul1581-1660 · 17th century · France · Religious Figures2.5
  18. 18Francis de Sales1567-1622 · 17th century · France · Religious Figures2.3
  19. 19Charles X of France1757-1836 · 18th century · France · Politicians2.1
  20. 20Auguste Comte1798-1857 · 19th century · France · Academics2.1
  21. 21Paul Valéry1871-1945 · 20th century · France · Writers1.9
  22. 22Marcel Proust1871-1922 · 20th century · France · Writers1.8
  23. 23Louis XII of France1462-1515 · 15th century · France · Historical Figures1.8
  24. 24Jules Ferry1832-1893 · 19th century · France · Politicians1.7
  25. 25Benjamin Constant1767-1830 · 19th century · Switzerland · Politicians1.6
Show 75 more

Lived then

The most notable people whose working lives fell in the 1930s, ranked where coverage and readership agree.

  1. 1Ernest Hemingway1899-1961 · United States · Writers10 decades
  2. 2Alfred Hitchcock1899-1980 · United Kingdom · Directors9 decades
  3. 3Walt Disney1901-1966 · United States · Directors10 decades
  4. 4J. Robert Oppenheimer1904-1967 · United States · Scientists8 decades
  5. 5Ruhollah Khomeini1902-1989 · Iran · Politicians5 decades
  6. 6George VI1895-1952 · United Kingdom · Historical Figures10 decades
  7. 7Joseph Goebbels1897-1945 · Germany · Politicians9 decades
  8. 8George Orwell1903-1950 · United Kingdom · Writers9 decades
  9. 9Heinrich Himmler1900-1945 · Germany · Politicians9 decades
  10. 10Hirohito1901-1989 · Japan · Historical Figures10 decades
  11. 11Deng Xiaoping1904-1997 · China · Politicians11 decades
  12. 12Amelia Earhart1897-1939 · United States · Writers10 decades
  13. 13Salvador Dalí1904-1989 · Spain · Artists10 decades
  14. 14Al Capone1899-1947 · United States9 decades
  15. 15C. S. Lewis1898-1963 · United Kingdom · Writers10 decades
  16. 16Cary Grant1904-1986 · United States · Actors9 decades
  17. 17Marlene Dietrich1901-1992 · United States · Actors9 decades
  18. 18Humphrey Bogart1899-1957 · United States · Actors9 decades
  19. 19Georgy Zhukov1896-1974 · Russia · Politicians6 decades
  20. 20Louis Armstrong1901-1971 · United States · Musicians9 decades
  21. 21Pope Paul VI1897-1978 · Italy · Religious Figures6 decades
  22. 22Bing Crosby1903-1977 · United States · Musicians9 decades
  23. 23Clark Gable1901-1960 · United States · Actors9 decades
  24. 24Werner Heisenberg1901-1976 · Germany · Scientists10 decades
  25. 25John Steinbeck1902-1968 · United States · Writers9 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.