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

  1. 1Voltaire1694-1778 · 18th century · France · Writers23
  2. 2Louis XIV of France1638-1715 · 17th century · France · Historical Figures15
  3. 3Molière1622-1673 · 17th century · France · Writers12
  4. 4Stendhal1783-1842 · 19th century · France · Writers10
  5. 5Victor Hugo1802-1885 · 19th century · France · Writers9.4
  6. 6Louis XVI of France1754-1793 · 18th century · France · Historical Figures7.0
  7. 7Montesquieu1689-1755 · 18th century · France · Academics6.4
  8. 8Louis XV of France1710-1774 · 18th century · France · Historical Figures6.2
  9. 9François Fénelon1651-1715 · 17th century · France · Religious Figures4.6
  10. 10Joan of Arc1412-1431 · 15th century · France4.0
  11. 11Napoleon III1808-1873 · 19th century · France · Politicians3.6
  12. 12George Sand1804-1876 · 19th century · France · Writers3.4
  13. 13Louis XVIII of France1755-1824 · 18th century · France · Politicians3.1
  14. 14François Mitterrand1916-1996 · 20th century · France · Politicians2.3
  15. 15Pierre de Marivaux1688-1763 · 18th century · France · Writers2.2
  16. 16Anatole France1844-1924 · 19th century · France · Writers2.2
  17. 17Marie Antoinette1755-1793 · 18th century · France · Historical Figures2.1
  18. 18Francis de Sales1567-1622 · 17th century · France · Religious Figures2.0
  19. 19André Gide1869-1951 · 20th century · France · Writers1.9
  20. 20Léon Blum1872-1950 · 20th century · France · Politicians1.9
  21. 21Jacques Chirac1932-2019 · 20th century · France · Politicians1.8
  22. 22Charles X of France1757-1836 · 18th century · France · Politicians1.8
  23. 23Paul Valéry1871-1945 · 20th century · France · Writers1.7
  24. 24Auguste Comte1798-1857 · 19th century · France · Academics1.7
  25. 25Marcel Proust1871-1922 · 20th century · France · Writers1.7
Show 75 more

Lived then

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

  1. 1Yukio Mishima1925-1970 · Japan · Writers6 decades
  2. 2Haruki Murakamiborn 1949 · Japan · Writers2 decades
  3. 3Shigeru Miyamotoborn 1952 · Japan · Writers0 decades
  4. 4Hiroo Onoda1922-2014 · Japan · Writers0 decades
  5. 5Osamu Dazai1909-1948 · Japan · Writers0 decades
  6. 6Ryūnosuke Akutagawa1892-1927 · Japan · Writers0 decades
  7. 7Shōkō Asahara1955-2018 · Japan · Writersnot measured-
  8. 8Yasunari Kawabata1899-1972 · Japan · Writers1 decades
  9. 9Ryū Murakami1952-2026 · Japan · Writersnot measured-
  10. 10Kenzaburō Ōe1935-2023 · Japan · Writers0 decades
  11. 11Natsume Sōseki1867-1916 · Japan · Writers0 decades
  12. 12Rumiko Takahashiborn 1957 · Japan · Writersnot measured-
  13. 13Kōbō Abe1924-1993 · Japan · Writers0 decades
  14. 14Banana Yoshimotoborn 1964 · Japan · Writersnot measured-
  15. 15Gosho Aoyamaborn 1963 · Japan · Writersnot measured-
  16. 16Shūsaku Endō1923-1996 · Japan · Writersnot measured-
  17. 17Junji Itōborn 1963 · Japan · Writersnot measured-
  18. 18Tadamichi Kuribayashi1891-1945 · Japan · Writersnot measured-
  19. 19Mas Oyama1923-1994 · Japan · Writersnot measured-
  20. 20Masaoka Shiki1867-1902 · Japan · Writersnot measured-
  21. 21Kazuki Takahashi1961-2022 · Japan · Writersnot measured-
  22. 22Jun'ichirō Tanizaki1886-1965 · Japan · Writersnot measured-
  23. 23Edogawa Ranpo1894-1965 · Japan · Writersnot measured-
  24. 24Tsugumi Ohbaborn 1950 · Japan · Writersnot measured-
  25. 25Daisaku Ikeda1928-2023 · Japan · Writersnot 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.