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 English books during the 20th century, whenever they lived.

  1. 1Jesus5 BC-30 · 1st century · Religious Figures30
  2. 2Aristotle384 BC-322 BC · 1st millennium BC · Academics7.1
  3. 3Plato428 BC-348 BC · 1st millennium BC · Academics7.1
  4. 4Homer900 BC-800 BC · 1st millennium BC · Writers7.1
  5. 5Augustus63 BC-14 · 1st millennium BC · Italy · Politicians4.9
  6. 6Johns Hopkins1795-1873 · 19th century · United States · Founders4.4
  7. 7Cicero106 BC-43 BC · 1st millennium BC · Italy · Politicians4.0
  8. 8George Washington1732-1799 · 18th century · United States · Politicians3.8
  9. 9Socrates470 BC-399 BC · 1st millennium BC · Brazil · Academics3.4
  10. 10Virgil70 BC-19 BC · 1st millennium BC · Italy · Writers3.3
  11. 11Abraham Lincoln1809-1865 · 19th century · United States · Politicians2.0
  12. 12Euclid333 BC-285 BC · 1st millennium BC · Academics1.9
  13. 13Thomas Jefferson1743-1826 · 18th century · United States · Politicians1.6
  14. 14Ovid43 BC-17 · 1st millennium BC · Italy · Writers1.6
  15. 15Mark Twain1835-1910 · 19th century · United States · Writers1.5
  16. 16Plutarch40-120 · 1st century · Academics1.5
  17. 17Cleopatra69 BC-30 BC · 1st millennium BC · Egypt · Historical Figures1.4
  18. 18Theodore Roosevelt1858-1919 · 19th century · United States · Politicians1.4
  19. 19Woodrow Wilson1856-1924 · 19th century · United States · Politicians1.4
  20. 20William Henry1774-1836 · 19th century · Scientists1.3
  21. 21Benjamin Franklin1706-1790 · 18th century · United States · Politicians1.3
  22. 22Herodotus484 BC-425 BC · 1st millennium BC · Turkey · Writers1.3
  23. 23Charlemagne748-814 · 8th century · Historical Figures1.3
  24. 24Rembrandt1606-1669 · 17th century · Netherlands · Artists1.3
  25. 25Euripides480 BC-406 BC · 1st millennium BC · Writers1.2
Show 75 more

Lived then

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

  1. 1Toshiro Mifune1920-1997 · Japan · Actors5 decades
  2. 2Ken Watanabeborn 1959 · Japan · Actors0 decades
  3. 3Hiroyuki Sanadaborn 1960 · Japan · Actorsnot measured-
  4. 4Tatsuya Nakadai1932-2025 · Japan · Actorsnot measured-
  5. 5Momoko Kōchi1932-1998 · Japan · Actorsnot measured-
  6. 6Sonny Chiba1939-2021 · Japan · Actorsnot measured-
  7. 7Sessue Hayakawa1889-1973 · Japan · Actorsnot measured-
  8. 8Setsuko Hara1920-2015 · Japan · Actorsnot measured-
  9. 9Yasuhiro Yamashitaborn 1957 · Japan · Actorsnot measured-
  10. 10Miyoshi Umeki1929-2007 · Japan · Actorsnot measured-
  11. 11Sada Abeborn 1905 · Japan · Actorsnot measured-
  12. 12Mako1933-2006 · Japan · Actorsnot measured-
  13. 13Takashi Shimura1905-1982 · Japan · Actorsnot measured-
  14. 14Sadaharu Ohborn 1940 · Japan · Actorsnot measured-
  15. 15Ken Takakura1931-2014 · Japan · Actorsnot measured-
  16. 16Shintarō Katsu1931-1997 · Japan · Actorsnot measured-
  17. 17Ko Yong-hui1952-2004 · Japan · Actorsnot measured-
  18. 18Hiroshi Abeborn 1964 · Japan · Actorsnot measured-
  19. 19Eiji Aonumaborn 1963 · Japan · Actorsnot measured-
  20. 20Meiko Kajiborn 1947 · Japan · Actorsnot measured-
  21. 21Kōichi Yamaderaborn 1961 · Japan · Actorsnot measured-
  22. 22Akio Ōtsukaborn 1959 · Japan · Actorsnot measured-
  23. 23Yuriko, Princess Mikasa1923-2024 · Japan · Actorsnot measured-
  24. 24Chieko Baishōborn 1941 · Japan · Actorsnot measured-
  25. 25Tetsuko Kuroyanagiborn 1933 · Japan · Actorsnot 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.