215,950 profiles ranked

← Fame through time1950-1959

The 1950s

Whose names filled the books of the 1950s - 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 Spanish books during the 1950s, whenever they lived.

  1. 1Eva Perón1919-1952 · 20th century · Argentina · Actors10
  2. 2Lope de Vega1562-1635 · 16th century · Spain · Writers7.2
  3. 3John of God1495-1550 · 16th century · Portugal6.8
  4. 4Francis Xavier1506-1552 · 16th century · Spain · Religious Figures6.3
  5. 5Rubén Darío1867-1916 · 20th century · Nicaragua · Writers6.0
  6. 6Christopher Columbus1451-1506 · 15th century · Italy · Historical Figures5.1
  7. 7Simón Bolívar1783-1830 · 19th century · Spain · Politicians4.7
  8. 8Andrés Bello1781-1865 · 19th century · Chile · Politicians4.5
  9. 9Porfirio Díaz1830-1915 · 19th century · Mexico · Politicians3.9
  10. 10José de San Martín1778-1850 · 19th century · Argentina · Politicians3.8
  11. 11John of the Cross1542-1591 · 16th century · Spain · Writers3.7
  12. 12Hernán Cortés1485-1547 · 16th century · Spain · Historical Figures3.6
  13. 13Juan Fernández1529-1602 · 16th century · Spain · Historical Figures2.7
  14. 14Gabriela Mistral1889-1957 · 20th century · Chile · Writers2.6
  15. 15Antonio Machado1875-1939 · 20th century · Spain · Writers2.6
  16. 16Miguel de Unamuno1864-1936 · 19th century · Spain · Writers2.5
  17. 17Gonzalo Pizarro1502-1548 · 16th century · Spain · Historical Figures2.4
  18. 18Juan Ramón Jiménez1881-1958 · 20th century · Spain · Writers2.3
  19. 19Bartolomé de las Casas1484-1566 · 16th century · Spain · Writers2.2
  20. 20Francisco Pizarro1478-1541 · 16th century · Spain · Historical Figures2.1
  21. 21Bartolomé Mitre1821-1906 · 19th century · Argentina · Politicians2.1
  22. 22Miguel de Cervantes1547-1616 · 16th century · Spain · Writers2.0
  23. 23Teresa of Ávila1515-1582 · 16th century · Spain · Writers2.0
  24. 24Luis de León1527-1591 · 16th century · Spain · Writers1.9
  25. 25Ignatius of Loyola1491-1556 · 16th century · Spain · Religious Figures1.8
  26. 26Garcilaso de la Vega1503-1536 · 16th century · Spain · Writers1.8
  27. 27Ricardo Palma1833-1919 · 19th century · Peru · Writers1.8
  28. 28John of Austria1547-1578 · 16th century · Spain · Politicians1.7
  29. 29Pedro de Alvarado1486-1541 · 16th century · Spain · Historical Figures1.7
  30. 30Juan Manuel de Rosas1793-1877 · 19th century · Argentina · Politicians1.6
  31. 31Ramón Castilla1797-1867 · 19th century · Peru · Politicians1.6
  32. 32Hipólito Yrigoyen1850-1933 · 19th century · Argentina · Politicians1.6
  33. 33Diego Velázquez1599-1660 · 17th century · Spain · Artists1.5
  34. 34Benito Juárez1806-1872 · 19th century · Mexico · Politicians1.5
  35. 35Tirso de Molina1583-1648 · 17th century · Spain · Writers1.4
  36. 36Venustiano Carranza1859-1920 · 19th century · Mexico · Politicians1.4
  37. 37Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz1651-1695 · 17th century · Mexico · Writers1.4
  38. 38Fernán González of Castile910-970 · 10th century1.4
  39. 39Pope Alexander VI1431-1503 · 15th century · Spain · Religious Figures1.4
  40. 40José Hernández1834-1886 · 19th century · Argentina · Writers1.3
  41. 41Francisco de Vitoria1480-1546 · 16th century · Spain · Academics1.3
  42. 42Bernardo O'Higgins1778-1842 · 19th century · Spain · Politicians1.3
  43. 43John I of France1316-1316 · 14th century · France · Historical Figures1.3
  44. 44Francis Solanus1549-1610 · 16th century · Spain1.3
  45. 45Gonzalo Fernández de Oviedo y Valdés1478-1557 · 16th century · Spain · Writers1.2
  46. 46Juan Andrés1740-1817 · 18th century · Spain · Academics1.2
  47. 47Nicolás Antonio1617-1684 · 17th century · Spain · Politicians1.2
  48. 48Pablo Neruda1904-1973 · 20th century · Chile · Writers1.2
  49. 49Pedro de Valdivia1497-1553 · 16th century · Spain · Politicians1.2
  50. 50Marcelino Menéndez y Pelayo1856-1912 · 19th century · Spain · Academics1.2
  51. 51Francisco de Toledo, Count of Oropesa1515-1582 · 16th century · Spain · Politicians1.1
  52. 52Manuel Belgrano1770-1820 · 19th century · Argentina · Politicians1.1
  53. 53María de Jesús1560-1640 · 16th century · Spain1.1
  54. 54Francisco de Miranda1750-1816 · 18th century · Spain · Politicians1.1
  55. 55Bernardino Rivadavia1780-1845 · 19th century · Argentina · Politicians1.1
  56. 56Diego de Almagro1475-1538 · 16th century · Spain · Historical Figures1.1
  57. 57Juan de la Cosa1450-1510 · 15th century · Historical Figures1.0
  58. 58Domingo Faustino Sarmiento1811-1888 · 19th century · Argentina · Politicians1.0
  59. 59Vincent Ferrer1350-1419 · 14th century · Spain · Religious Figures1.0
  60. 60Federico García Lorca1898-1936 · 20th century · Spain · Writers0.99
  61. 61Lope de Aguirre1510-1561 · 16th century · Spain0.99
  62. 62Bernal Díaz del Brawl1492-1584 · 16th century · Spain · Historical Figures0.99
  63. 63Francisco I. Madero1873-1913 · 20th century · Mexico · Activists0.97
  64. 64Tomás Estrada Palma1835-1908 · 19th century · Cuba · Politicians0.96
  65. 65César Vallejo1892-1938 · 20th century · Peru · Writers0.95
  66. 66José Ortega y Gasset1883-1955 · 20th century · Spain · Academics0.92
  67. 67Jorge Juan y Santacilia1713-1773 · 18th century · Spain · Scientists0.91
  68. 68Victoriano Huerta1850-1916 · 19th century · Mexico · Politicians0.90
  69. 69Pío Baroja1872-1956 · 20th century · Spain · Writers0.89
  70. 70Esteban Echeverría Mamani1805-1851 · 19th century · Argentina · Writers0.89
  71. 71Antonio José de Sucre1795-1830 · 19th century · Politicians0.88
  72. 72Diego Rivera1886-1957 · 20th century · Mexico · Designers0.87
  73. 73Fidel Castro1926-2016 · 20th century · Cuba · Politicians0.87
  74. 74Francisco Suárez1548-1617 · 16th century · Spain · Religious Figures0.87
  75. 75Peter Claver1580-1654 · 17th century0.87
  76. 76Hernando Pizarro1502-1578 · 16th century · Spain · Historical Figures0.85
  77. 77Vasco Núñez de Balboa1475-1519 · 16th century · Spain · Historical Figures0.84
  78. 78Francisco Quevedo1584-1645 · 17th century · Spain · Writers0.84
  79. 79Juan de Castellanos1522-1607 · 16th century · Spain · Writers0.80
  80. 80Roque Sáenz Peña1851-1914 · 19th century · Argentina · Politicians0.79
  81. 81El Greco1541-1614 · 16th century · Artists0.79
  82. 82Francisco Morazán1792-1842 · 19th century · Spain · Politicians0.76
  83. 83Juan Bautista Alberdi1810-1884 · 19th century · Argentina · Politicians0.74
  84. 84Juan de Valdés1505-1541 · 16th century · Spain · Actors0.72
  85. 85Jorge Luis Borges1899-1986 · 20th century · Argentina · Writers0.71
  86. 86Juan Montalvo1832-1889 · 19th century · Ecuador · Writers0.71
  87. 87Mateo Alemán1547-1614 · 16th century · Spain · Writers0.69
  88. 88Hernando de Soto1500-1542 · 16th century · Spain · Historical Figures0.67
  89. 89Gil Vicente1465-1536 · 16th century · Portugal · Writers0.67
  90. 90Juan de Garay1528-1583 · 16th century · Spain0.67
  91. 91Luis de Góngora1561-1627 · 16th century · Spain · Writers0.66
  92. 92Emiliano Zapata1879-1919 · 20th century · Mexico · Activists0.66
  93. 93Juan Ponce de León1460-1521 · 15th century · Spain · Historical Figures0.65
  94. 94Luis de Salazar y Castro1658-1734 · 17th century · Spain · Writers0.65
  95. 95Pancho Villa1878-1923 · 20th century · Mexico · Activists0.65
  96. 96Francisco de Aguirre1507-1581 · 16th century · Spain · Historical Figures0.65
  97. 97Fructuoso Rivera1784-1854 · 19th century · Uruguay · Politicians0.64
  98. 98Vicente Aleixandre1898-1984 · 20th century · Spain · Writers0.64
  99. 99Bernardino de Sahagún1499-1590 · 16th century · Spain · Academics0.64
  100. 100Jose Miguel Carrera1785-1821 · 19th century · Chile · Politicians0.63

Lived then

The most notable people whose working lives fell in the 1950s, ranked where coverage and readership agree.

  1. 1John F. Kennedy1917-1963 · United States · Politicians11 decades
  2. 2Jimmy Carter1924-2024 · United States · Politicians7 decades
  3. 3Pope John Paul II1920-2005 · Poland · Religious Figures5 decades
  4. 4George H. W. Bush1924-2018 · United States · Politicians2 decades
  5. 5Nelson Mandela1918-2013 · South Africa · Politicians6 decades
  6. 6Judy Garland1922-1969 · United States · Actors9 decades
  7. 7Marlon Brando1924-2004 · United States · Actors7 decades
  8. 8Frank Sinatra1915-1998 · United States · Musicians8 decades
  9. 9Indira Gandhi1917-1984 · India · Politicians7 decades
  10. 10Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh1921-2021 · United Kingdom0 decades
  11. 11Mohammad Reza Pahlavi1919-1980 · Historical Figures4 decades
  12. 12Henry Kissinger1923-2023 · United States · Politicians7 decades
  13. 13Christopher Lee1922-2015 · United Kingdom · Actors6 decades
  14. 14Roald Dahl1916-1990 · Norway · Writers6 decades
  15. 15Isaac Asimov1920-1992 · United States · Writers7 decades
  16. 16Ingrid Bergman1915-1982 · Sweden · Actors8 decades
  17. 17James Dean1931-1955 · United States · Actors9 decades
  18. 18Richard Feynman1918-1988 · United States · Scientists4 decades
  19. 19Nicolae Ceaușescu1918-1989 · Politiciansnot measured-
  20. 20Orson Welles1915-1985 · United States · Directors9 decades
  21. 21Lee Kuan Yew1923-2015 · Singapore · Politicians7 decades
  22. 22Kirk Douglas1916-2020 · United States · Actors8 decades
  23. 23Eva Perón1919-1952 · Argentina · Actors8 decades
  24. 24Édith Piaf1915-1963 · France · Musicians6 decades
  25. 25Charles Bronson1921-2003 · United States · Actors5 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.