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. 1Steven Spielbergborn 1946 · United States · Directors5 decades
  2. 2Woody Allenborn 1935 · United States · Directors6 decades
  3. 3Alfred Hitchcock1899-1980 · United Kingdom · Directors9 decades
  4. 4Walt Disney1901-1966 · United States · Directors10 decades
  5. 5Stanley Kubrick1928-1999 · United States · Directors6 decades
  6. 6Quentin Tarantinoborn 1963 · United States · Directors3 decades
  7. 7James Cameronborn 1954 · Canada · Directors7 decades
  8. 8David Lynch1946-2025 · United States · Directors4 decades
  9. 9Martin Scorseseborn 1942 · United States · Directors5 decades
  10. 10Roman Polanskiborn 1933 · Poland · Directors6 decades
  11. 11George Lucasborn 1944 · United States · Directors6 decades
  12. 12Francis Ford Coppolaborn 1939 · United States · Directors5 decades
  13. 13Orson Welles1915-1985 · United States · Directors9 decades
  14. 14Tim Burtonborn 1958 · United States · Directors3 decades
  15. 15Hayao Miyazakiborn 1941 · Japan · Directors2 decades
  16. 16Ridley Scottborn 1937 · United Kingdom · Directors4 decades
  17. 17Akira Kurosawa1910-1998 · Japan · Directors6 decades
  18. 18Peter Jacksonborn 1961 · New Zealand · Directors6 decades
  19. 19Luc Bessonborn 1959 · France · Directors4 decades
  20. 20Rob Reiner1947-2025 · United States · Directors5 decades
  21. 21Andrei Tarkovsky1932-1986 · France · Directorsnot measured-
  22. 22Guillermo del Toroborn 1964 · Mexico · Directors3 decades
  23. 23Werner Herzogborn 1942 · Germany · Directors6 decades
  24. 24Ingmar Bergman1918-2007 · Sweden · Directors6 decades
  25. 25Buster Keaton1895-1966 · United States · Directors10 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.