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 Russian books during the 1950s, whenever they lived.

  1. 1Peter the Great1672-1725 · 18th century · Russia · Politicians3.6
  2. 2Leo Tolstoy1828-1910 · 19th century · Russia · Writers3.6
  3. 3Vladimir Lenin1870-1924 · 20th century · Russia · Politicians2.2
  4. 4Boris Godunov1552-1605 · 16th century · Politicians2.1
  5. 5Nicholas I of Russia1796-1855 · 19th century · Russia · Models2.0
  6. 6Patriarch Nikon of Moscow1605-1681 · 17th century · Religious Figures1.5
  7. 7Ivan the Terrible1530-1584 · 16th century · Politicians1.4
  8. 8Maxim Gorky1868-1936 · 20th century · Russia · Writers1.3
  9. 9Alexander I of Russia1777-1825 · 19th century · Russia · Historical Figures1.2
  10. 10Alexei Petrovich, Tsarevich of Russia1690-1718 · 18th century · Politicians1.2
  11. 11Alexander II of Russia1818-1881 · 19th century · Russia · Historical Figures1.1
  12. 12Alexis of Russia1629-1676 · 17th century · Historical Figures1.1
  13. 13Alexei Nikolaevich, Tsarevich of Russia1904-1918 · 20th century · Russia · Historical Figures1.0
  14. 14Grand Duchess Maria Nikolaevna of Russia1899-1918 · 20th century · Russia · Historical Figures0.96
  15. 15Ivan I of Tver1357-1425 · 14th century · Historical Figures0.88
  16. 16Macarius, Metropolitan of Moscow1482-1563 · 16th century · Writers0.84
  17. 17Ivan I Aleksandrovich, Prince of Smolenskdied 1359 · 14th century0.78
  18. 18Sergo Ordzhonikidze1886-1937 · 20th century · Russia · Politicians0.76
  19. 19Grand Duke Alexei Alexandrovich of Russia1850-1908 · 19th century · Russia · Historical Figures0.75
  20. 20Vladimir Mayakovsky1893-1930 · 20th century · Russia · Writers0.72
  21. 21Grand Duke Peter Nikolaevich of Russia1864-1931 · 19th century · Russia · Historical Figures0.71
  22. 22Nicholas II of Russia1868-1918 · 20th century · Russia · Historical Figures0.70
  23. 23Ivan Fyodorov1510-1583 · 16th century0.65
  24. 24Alexandra Velyaminova1301-1364 · 14th century0.58
  25. 25Joseph Stalin1878-1953 · 20th century · Russia · Politicians0.55
Show 75 more

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.