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. 1J. R. R. Tolkien1892-1973 · United Kingdom · Writers7 decades
  2. 2Ernest Hemingway1899-1961 · United States · Writers10 decades
  3. 3Stephen Kingborn 1947 · United States · Writers8 decades
  4. 4Anne Frank1929-1945 · Germany · Writers7 decades
  5. 5Franz Kafka1883-1924 · Czechia · Writers11 decades
  6. 6Agatha Christie1890-1976 · United Kingdom · Writers10 decades
  7. 7Helen Keller1880-1968 · United States · Writers14 decades
  8. 8George Orwell1903-1950 · United Kingdom · Writers9 decades
  9. 9Amelia Earhart1897-1939 · United States · Writers10 decades
  10. 10Michelle Obamaborn 1964 · United States · Writers2 decades
  11. 11George R. R. Martinborn 1948 · United States · Writers1 decades
  12. 12Virginia Woolf1882-1941 · United Kingdom · Writers10 decades
  13. 13C. S. Lewis1898-1963 · United Kingdom · Writers10 decades
  14. 14Roald Dahl1916-1990 · Norway · Writers6 decades
  15. 15Gabriel García Márquez1927-2014 · Colombia · Writers7 decades
  16. 16Isaac Asimov1920-1992 · United States · Writers7 decades
  17. 17Salman Rushdieborn 1947 · United Kingdom · Writers4 decades
  18. 18Ayn Rand1905-1982 · United States · Writers3 decades
  19. 19Mario Vargas Llosa1936-2025 · Spain · Writers7 decades
  20. 20Thomas Mann1875-1955 · United States · Writers12 decades
  21. 21Sylvia Plath1932-1963 · United States · Writers6 decades
  22. 22Stan Lee1922-2018 · United States · Writers3 decades
  23. 23H. P. Lovecraft1890-1937 · United States · Writers6 decades
  24. 24Rudyard Kipling1865-1936 · United Kingdom · Writers13 decades
  25. 25Ian Fleming1908-1964 · United Kingdom · Writers7 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.