215,950 profiles ranked

← Fame through time1940-1949

The 1940s

Whose names filled the books of the 1940s - 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 Russian books during the 1940s, whenever they lived.

  1. 1Peter the Great1672-1725 · 18th century · Russia · Politicians3.3
  2. 2Leo Tolstoy1828-1910 · 19th century · Russia · Writers3.0
  3. 3Alexei Nikolaevich, Tsarevich of Russia1904-1918 · 20th century · Russia · Historical Figures2.4
  4. 4Patriarch Nikon of Moscow1605-1681 · 17th century · Religious Figures2.3
  5. 5Nicholas I of Russia1796-1855 · 19th century · Russia · Models2.2
  6. 6Ivan the Terrible1530-1584 · 16th century · Politicians2.2
  7. 7Boris Godunov1552-1605 · 16th century · Politicians1.9
  8. 8Vladimir Lenin1870-1924 · 20th century · Russia · Politicians1.8
  9. 9Alexander I of Russia1777-1825 · 19th century · Russia · Historical Figures1.7
  10. 10Alexander II of Russia1818-1881 · 19th century · Russia · Historical Figures1.5
  11. 11Maxim Gorky1868-1936 · 20th century · Russia · Writers1.4
  12. 12Fyodor Volkov1729-1763 · 18th century · Russia · Actors1.3
  13. 13Macarius, Metropolitan of Moscow1482-1563 · 16th century · Writers1.2
  14. 14Alexei Petrovich, Tsarevich of Russia1690-1718 · 18th century · Politicians1.2
  15. 15Ivan I of Tver1357-1425 · 14th century · Historical Figures1.1
  16. 16Joseph Stalin1878-1953 · 20th century · Russia · Politicians1.1
  17. 17Sergo Ordzhonikidze1886-1937 · 20th century · Russia · Politicians1.1
  18. 18Aleksey Tolstoy1882-1945 · 20th century · France · Writers1.1
  19. 19Aleksey Konstantinovich Tolstoy1817-1875 · 19th century · Russia · Writers1.00
  20. 20Denis Davydov1784-1839 · 19th century · Russia · Writers0.98
  21. 21Nicholas II of Russia1868-1918 · 20th century · Russia · Historical Figures0.89
  22. 22Grand Duke Alexei Alexandrovich of Russia1850-1908 · 19th century · Russia · Historical Figures0.87
  23. 23Alexis of Russia1629-1676 · 17th century · Historical Figures0.84
  24. 24Grand Duchess Maria Nikolaevna of Russia1899-1918 · 20th century · Russia · Historical Figures0.80
  25. 25Vladimir Mayakovsky1893-1930 · 20th century · Russia · Writers0.79
Show 75 more

Lived then

The most notable people whose working lives fell in the 1940s, ranked where coverage and readership agree.

  1. 1Ronald Reagan1911-2004 · United States · Politicians9 decades
  2. 2Richard Nixon1913-1994 · United States · Politicians8 decades
  3. 3Frida Kahlo1907-1954 · Mexico · Artists8 decades
  4. 4Lyndon B. Johnson1908-1973 · United States · Politicians8 decades
  5. 5Alan Turing1912-1954 · United Kingdom · Academics4 decades
  6. 6Gerald Ford1913-2006 · United States · Politicians6 decades
  7. 7Anne Frank1929-1945 · Germany · Writers7 decades
  8. 8Mother Teresa1910-1997 · Albania · Musicians9 decades
  9. 9Leonid Brezhnev1906-1982 · Russia · Politicians7 decades
  10. 10John Wayne1907-1979 · United States · Actors9 decades
  11. 11Albert Camus1913-1960 · France · Academics8 decades
  12. 12Pope John Paul I1912-1978 · Italy · Religious Figures2 decades
  13. 13Katharine Hepburn1907-2003 · United States · Actors9 decades
  14. 14Rosa Parks1913-2005 · United States · Activists6 decades
  15. 15Ayn Rand1905-1982 · United States · Writers3 decades
  16. 16James Stewart1908-1997 · United States · Actorsnot measured-
  17. 17Adolf Eichmann1906-1962 · Austria · Politicians8 decades
  18. 18Hedy Lamarr1914-2000 · Austria · Actors3 decades
  19. 19Bette Davis1908-1989 · United States · Actors9 decades
  20. 20Wernher von Braun1912-1977 · United States · Scientists7 decades
  21. 21Hannah Arendt1906-1975 · United States · Academics8 decades
  22. 22Jean-Paul Sartre1905-1980 · France · Academics9 decades
  23. 23Ian Fleming1908-1964 · United Kingdom · Writers7 decades
  24. 24Vivien Leigh1913-1967 · United Kingdom · Actors8 decades
  25. 25Akira Kurosawa1910-1998 · Japan · Directors6 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.