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. 1Albert Einstein1879-1955 · Switzerland · Scientists11 decades
  2. 2Stephen Hawking1942-2018 · United Kingdom · Scientists4 decades
  3. 3Marie Curie1867-1934 · France · Scientists4 decades
  4. 4J. Robert Oppenheimer1904-1967 · United States · Scientists8 decades
  5. 5Richard Feynman1918-1988 · United States · Scientists4 decades
  6. 6A. P. J. Abdul Kalam1931-2015 · India · Scientists0 decades
  7. 7Werner Heisenberg1901-1976 · Germany · Scientists10 decades
  8. 8Carl Sagan1934-1996 · United States · Scientists6 decades
  9. 9Wernher von Braun1912-1977 · United States · Scientists7 decades
  10. 10Steve Wozniakborn 1950 · United States · Scientists4 decades
  11. 11Howard Hughes1905-1976 · United States · Scientists9 decades
  12. 12Richard Dawkinsborn 1941 · United Kingdom · Scientists4 decades
  13. 13Niels Bohr1885-1962 · Denmark · Scientists10 decades
  14. 14Miguel Díaz-Canelborn 1960 · Cuba · Scientists0 decades
  15. 15Neil deGrasse Tysonborn 1958 · United States · Scientists1 decades
  16. 16Mikhail Kalashnikov1919-2013 · Russia · Scientists4 decades
  17. 17Enrico Fermi1901-1954 · Italy · Scientists10 decades
  18. 18Erwin Schrödinger1887-1961 · Germany · Scientists11 decades
  19. 19Rosalind Franklin1920-1958 · United Kingdom · Scientists4 decades
  20. 20Edward Teller1908-2003 · United States · Scientists8 decades
  21. 21James Watson1928-2025 · United States · Scientistsnot measured-
  22. 22Sergei Korolev1906-1966 · Russia · Scientists6 decades
  23. 23Alexander Fleming1881-1955 · United Kingdom · Scientists8 decades
  24. 24C. V. Raman1888-1970 · India · Scientists0 decades
  25. 25Chen-ning Yang1922-2025 · China · Scientists8 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.