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

  1. 1John of God1495-1550 · 16th century · Portugal6.9
  2. 2Lope de Vega1562-1635 · 16th century · Spain · Writers6.6
  3. 3Francis Xavier1506-1552 · 16th century · Spain · Religious Figures5.4
  4. 4Rubén Darío1867-1916 · 20th century · Nicaragua · Writers4.5
  5. 5Simón Bolívar1783-1830 · 19th century · Spain · Politicians4.2
  6. 6Christopher Columbus1451-1506 · 15th century · Italy · Historical Figures3.5
  7. 7Andrés Bello1781-1865 · 19th century · Chile · Politicians3.5
  8. 8Porfirio Díaz1830-1915 · 19th century · Mexico · Politicians3.2
  9. 9Fidel Castro1926-2016 · 20th century · Cuba · Politicians3.0
  10. 10Hernán Cortés1485-1547 · 16th century · Spain · Historical Figures2.9
  11. 11Juan Fernández1529-1602 · 16th century · Spain · Historical Figures2.4
  12. 12John of the Cross1542-1591 · 16th century · Spain · Writers2.3
  13. 13Bartolomé Mitre1821-1906 · 19th century · Argentina · Politicians2.3
  14. 14Gonzalo Pizarro1502-1548 · 16th century · Spain · Historical Figures2.2
  15. 15Benito Juárez1806-1872 · 19th century · Mexico · Politicians2.2
  16. 16Antonio Machado1875-1939 · 20th century · Spain · Writers2.1
  17. 17José de San Martín1778-1850 · 19th century · Argentina · Politicians2.0
  18. 18Teresa of Ávila1515-1582 · 16th century · Spain · Writers1.9
  19. 19Francisco Pizarro1478-1541 · 16th century · Spain · Historical Figures1.8
  20. 20Miguel de Cervantes1547-1616 · 16th century · Spain · Writers1.7
  21. 21Eva Perón1919-1952 · 20th century · Argentina · Actors1.7
  22. 22Bartolomé de las Casas1484-1566 · 16th century · Spain · Writers1.7
  23. 23Miguel de Unamuno1864-1936 · 19th century · Spain · Writers1.6
  24. 24Juan Ramón Jiménez1881-1958 · 20th century · Spain · Writers1.6
  25. 25Venustiano Carranza1859-1920 · 19th century · Mexico · Politicians1.6
Show 75 more

Lived then

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

  1. 1Pope Benedict XVI1927-2022 · Germany · Religious Figures2 decades
  2. 2Anne Frank1929-1945 · Germany · Writers7 decades
  3. 3Joseph Goebbels1897-1945 · Germany · Politicians9 decades
  4. 4Hermann Göring1893-1946 · Germany · Politicians9 decades
  5. 5Angela Merkelborn 1954 · Germany · Politicians3 decades
  6. 6Heinrich Himmler1900-1945 · Germany · Politicians9 decades
  7. 7Friedrich Merzborn 1955 · Germany · Politicians3 decades
  8. 8Ursula von der Leyenborn 1958 · Germany · Politicians2 decades
  9. 9Erwin Rommel1891-1944 · Germany · Historical Figures8 decades
  10. 10Olaf Scholzborn 1958 · Germany · Politicians2 decades
  11. 11Hans Zimmerborn 1957 · Germany · Musicians3 decades
  12. 12Werner Heisenberg1901-1976 · Germany · Scientists10 decades
  13. 13Konrad Adenauer1876-1967 · Germany · Politicians8 decades
  14. 14Eva Braun1912-1945 · Germany · Artists8 decades
  15. 15Rosa Luxemburg1871-1919 · Germany · Activists13 decades
  16. 16Franz Beckenbauer1945-2024 · Germany · Footballers5 decades
  17. 17Christoph Waltzborn 1956 · Germany · Actors1 decades
  18. 18Karl Dönitz1891-1980 · Germany · Politicians8 decades
  19. 19Josef Mengele1911-1979 · Germany · Doctors4 decades
  20. 20Reinhard Heydrich1904-1942 · Germany · Politicians8 decades
  21. 21Frank-Walter Steinmeierborn 1956 · Germany · Politicians3 decades
  22. 22Oskar Schindler1908-1974 · Germany · Founders4 decades
  23. 23Werner Herzogborn 1942 · Germany · Directors6 decades
  24. 24Willy Brandt1913-1992 · Germany · Politicians8 decades
  25. 25Albert Speer1905-1981 · Germany · Architects9 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.