215,950 profiles ranked

← Fame through time1990-1999

The 1990s

Whose names filled the books of the 1990s - 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 1990s, whenever they lived.

  1. 1Patriarch Nikon of Moscow1605-1681 · 17th century · Religious Figures4.5
  2. 2Peter the Great1672-1725 · 18th century · Russia · Politicians3.7
  3. 3Macarius, Metropolitan of Moscow1482-1563 · 16th century · Writers3.1
  4. 4Nicholas II of Russia1868-1918 · 20th century · Russia · Historical Figures2.8
  5. 5Alexis of Russia1629-1676 · 17th century · Historical Figures2.5
  6. 6Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich of Russia1847-1909 · 19th century · Russia · Politicians2.5
  7. 7Alexander I of Russia1777-1825 · 19th century · Russia · Historical Figures2.3
  8. 8Nicholas I of Russia1796-1855 · 19th century · Russia · Models2.3
  9. 9Leo Tolstoy1828-1910 · 19th century · Russia · Writers2.2
  10. 10Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich of Russia1857-1905 · 19th century · Russia · Politicians2.0
  11. 11Ivan the Terrible1530-1584 · 16th century · Politicians1.9
  12. 12Boris Godunov1552-1605 · 16th century · Politicians1.9
  13. 13Ivan I of Tver1357-1425 · 14th century · Historical Figures1.7
  14. 14Alexander II of Russia1818-1881 · 19th century · Russia · Historical Figures1.7
  15. 15Alexei Nikolaevich, Tsarevich of Russia1904-1918 · 20th century · Russia · Historical Figures1.7
  16. 16Andrei Bely1880-1934 · 20th century · Russia · Writers1.5
  17. 17Ivan I Aleksandrovich, Prince of Smolenskdied 1359 · 14th century1.4
  18. 18Grand Duke Michael Nikolaevich of Russia1832-1909 · 19th century · Russia · Politicians1.4
  19. 19Alexander III of Russia1845-1894 · 19th century · Russia · Historical Figures1.3
  20. 20Alexei Petrovich, Tsarevich of Russia1690-1718 · 18th century · Politicians1.3
  21. 21Michael of Russia1596-1645 · 17th century · Historical Figures1.2
  22. 22Boris Yeltsin1931-2007 · 20th century · Russia · Politicians1.2
  23. 23Maria Feodorovna1847-1928 · 19th century · Denmark · Historical Figures1.2
  24. 24Elizabeth of Russia1709-1761 · 18th century · Russia · Historical Figures1.1
  25. 25Marina Tsvetaeva1892-1941 · 20th century · Russia · Writers1.1
Show 75 more

Lived then

The most notable people whose working lives fell in the 1990s, ranked where coverage and readership agree.

  1. 1Michael Jackson1958-2009 · United States · Musicians5 decades
  2. 2Barack Obamaborn 1961 · United States · Politicians2 decades
  3. 3Steve Jobs1955-2011 · United States · Founders4 decades
  4. 4Pope Leo XIVborn 1955 · United States · Religious Figures0 decades
  5. 5Madonnaborn 1958 · United States · Musiciansnot measured-
  6. 6Osama bin Laden1957-2011 · Saudi Arabia · Historical Figures3 decades
  7. 7Diego Maradona1960-2020 · Argentina · Footballers4 decades
  8. 8Bill Gatesborn 1955 · United States · Founders4 decades
  9. 9Brad Pittborn 1963 · United States · Actors3 decades
  10. 10Nicolás Maduroborn 1962 · Venezuela · Politicians2 decades
  11. 11Michael Jordanborn 1963 · United States · Basketball Players4 decades
  12. 12Diana, Princess of Wales1961-1997 · United Kingdom · Historical Figures0 decades
  13. 13Kamala Harrisborn 1964 · United States · Politicians1 decades
  14. 14Johnny Deppborn 1963 · United States · Actors3 decades
  15. 15Tom Cruiseborn 1962 · United States · Actors4 decades
  16. 16Tom Hanksborn 1956 · United States · Actors4 decades
  17. 17Tupac Shakur1971-1996 · United States · Musicians3 decades
  18. 18Keanu Reevesborn 1964 · Canada · Actors3 decades
  19. 19Whitney Houston1963-2012 · United States · Musicians4 decades
  20. 20Keir Starmerborn 1962 · United Kingdom · Politicians0 decades
  21. 21Sandra Bullockborn 1964 · United States · Actors3 decades
  22. 22Jim Carreyborn 1962 · United States · Actors3 decades
  23. 23George Clooneyborn 1961 · United States · Actors3 decades
  24. 24Bruce Willisborn 1955 · United States · Actors4 decades
  25. 25Jeff Bezosborn 1964 · United States · Founders2 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.