215,950 profiles ranked

← Fame through time1900-1999

The 20th century

Whose names filled the books of the 20th century - 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 German books during the 20th century, whenever they lived.

  1. 1Thomas Mann1875-1955 · 20th century · United States · Writers6.1
  2. 2Novalis1772-1801 · 19th century · Germany · Writers5.5
  3. 3Karl Marx1818-1883 · 19th century · Germany · Academics4.7
  4. 4Jean Paul1763-1825 · 18th century · Germany · Writers4.3
  5. 5Adolf Hitler1889-1945 · 20th century · Austria · Politicians2.6
  6. 6Maria Theresa1717-1780 · 18th century · Austria · Historical Figures2.5
  7. 7Max Weber1864-1920 · 19th century · Germany · Academics2.5
  8. 8Paracelsus1493-1541 · 16th century · Switzerland · Doctors2.5
  9. 9Richard Wagner1813-1883 · 19th century · Germany · Musicians2.4
  10. 10Friedrich Engels1820-1895 · 19th century · United Kingdom · Academics2.3
  11. 11Friedrich Schlegel1772-1829 · 19th century · Germany · Writers1.8
  12. 12Erich Honecker1912-1994 · 20th century · Germany · Politicians1.7
  13. 13Heinrich Mann1871-1950 · 20th century · Germany · Writers1.7
  14. 14Martin Luther1483-1546 · 16th century · Germany · Religious Figures1.6
  15. 15Heinrich Heine1797-1856 · 19th century · France · Writers1.6
  16. 16Charles Augustus, Grand Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach1757-1828 · 18th century · Politicians1.5
  17. 17Karl Kraus1874-1936 · 20th century · Austria · Writers1.5
  18. 18Walter Ulbricht1893-1973 · 20th century · Politicians1.4
  19. 19Hans Sachs1494-1576 · 16th century · Germany · Writers1.4
  20. 20William IV, Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel1532-1592 · 16th century · Germany · Scientists1.4
  21. 21Gottfried Keller1819-1890 · 19th century · Switzerland · Writers1.4
  22. 22Rosa Luxemburg1871-1919 · 20th century · Germany · Activists1.4
  23. 23Gerhart Hauptmann1862-1946 · 19th century · Germany · Writers1.4
  24. 24Gustav Adolph, Duke of Mecklenburg-Güstrow1633-1695 · 17th century · Germany · Writers1.3
  25. 25Tannhäuser1300-1300 · 14th century · Germany · Writers1.3
Show 75 more

Lived then

The most notable people whose working lives fell in the 20th century, ranked where coverage and readership agree.

  1. 1Donna Stricklandborn 1959 · Canada · Scientists0 decades
  2. 2David Suzukiborn 1936 · Canada · Scientistsnot measured-
  3. 3Louis Slotin1910-1946 · Canada · Scientistsnot measured-
  4. 4Arthur B. McDonaldborn 1943 · Canada · Scientists0 decades
  5. 5Willard Boyle1924-2011 · Canada · Scientists0 decades
  6. 6Gerald Bull1928-1990 · Canada · Scientistsnot measured-
  7. 7Hubert Reeves1932-2023 · Canada · Scientistsnot measured-
  8. 8Ludwig von Bertalanffy1901-1972 · Canada · Scientistsnot measured-
  9. 9Rudolph A. Marcus1923-2026 · Canada · Scientists0 decades
  10. 10Roberta Bondarborn 1945 · Canada · Scientistsnot measured-
  11. 11Ralph M. Steinman1943-2011 · Canada · Scientists0 decades
  12. 12Jim Peeblesborn 1935 · Canada · Scientists0 decades
  13. 13Gerhard Herzberg1904-1999 · Canada · Scientists2 decades
  14. 14Joseph-Armand Bombardier1907-1964 · Canada · Scientistsnot measured-
  15. 15Peter Wattsborn 1958 · Canada · Scientistsnot measured-
  16. 16Walter Kohn1923-2016 · Canada · Scientists0 decades
  17. 17Reginald Fessenden1866-1932 · Canada · Scientistsnot measured-
  18. 18Richard S. Suttonborn 1950 · Canada · Scientistsnot measured-
  19. 19John Polanyiborn 1929 · Canada · Scientistsnot measured-
  20. 20Michael Smith1932-2000 · Canada · Scientists8 decades
  21. 21Paul Hellyer1923-2021 · Canada · Scientistsnot measured-
  22. 22Ursula Franklin1921-2016 · Canada · Scientistsnot measured-
  23. 23John Garand1888-1974 · Canada · Scientistsnot measured-
  24. 24Maud Menten1879-1960 · Canada · Scientistsnot measured-
  25. 25Helen Sawyer Hogg1905-1993 · Canada · Scientistsnot measured-
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.