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
  26. 26Louis XII of France1462-1515 · 15th century · France · Historical Figures1.7
  27. 27Benjamin Constant1767-1830 · 19th century · Switzerland · Politicians1.6
  28. 28Vincent de Paul1581-1660 · 17th century · France · Religious Figures1.5
  29. 29Charles Marie René Leconte de Lisle1818-1894 · 19th century · France · Writers1.5
  30. 30Romain Rolland1866-1944 · 20th century · France · Writers1.4
  31. 31Théophile Gautier1811-1872 · 19th century · France · Writers1.4
  32. 32Claude Bernard1813-1878 · 19th century · France · Politicians1.4
  33. 33Jean-Jacques Rousseau1712-1778 · 18th century · Switzerland · Academics1.3
  34. 34Jules Ferry1832-1893 · 19th century · France · Politicians1.3
  35. 35Paul Claudel1868-1955 · 20th century · France · Politicians1.3
  36. 36Maine de Biran1766-1824 · 19th century · France · Politicians1.1
  37. 37Jules Verne1828-1905 · 19th century · France · Writers1.1
  38. 38Georges Pompidou1911-1974 · 20th century · France · Politicians1.1
  39. 39Louis Blanc1811-1882 · 19th century · Spain · Politicians1.0
  40. 40Léon Bloy1846-1917 · 19th century · France · Writers1.0
  41. 41Marie de' Medici1575-1642 · 17th century · France · Politicians1.00
  42. 42Paul Bourget1852-1935 · 19th century · France · Writers0.99
  43. 43Valéry Giscard d'Estaing1926-2020 · 20th century · France · Politicians0.98
  44. 44André Breton1896-1966 · 20th century · France · Writers0.97
  45. 45Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor1500-1558 · 16th century · Historical Figures0.97
  46. 46Le Corbusier1887-1965 · 20th century · Switzerland · Architects0.95
  47. 47Philip V of Spain1683-1746 · 18th century · France · Politicians0.94
  48. 48Alfred de Vigny1797-1863 · 19th century · France · Writers0.93
  49. 49Alfred de Musset1810-1857 · 19th century · France · Writers0.92
  50. 50Francis II of France1544-1560 · 16th century · France · Politicians0.91
  51. 51Pierre de Bourdeille, seigneur de Brantôme1540-1614 · 16th century · France · Writers0.91
  52. 52Joseph de Maistre1753-1821 · 18th century · France · Academics0.91
  53. 53François Mauriac1885-1970 · 20th century · France · Writers0.88
  54. 54Pope John XXII1244-1334 · 13th century · France · Religious Figures0.88
  55. 55Gérard de Nerval1808-1855 · 19th century · France · Writers0.84
  56. 56Jean Cocteau1889-1963 · 20th century · France · Writers0.83
  57. 57Charles the Bold1433-1477 · 15th century · France · Politicians0.83
  58. 58Charles Maurras1868-1952 · 20th century · France · Writers0.78
  59. 59André Chénier1762-1794 · 18th century · France · Writers0.76
  60. 60André Malraux1901-1976 · 20th century · France · Writers0.75
  61. 61Alphonse Daudet1840-1897 · 19th century · France · Writers0.74
  62. 62Pierre Laval1883-1945 · 20th century · France · Politicians0.74
  63. 63La Grange1635-1692 · 17th century · France · Actors0.74
  64. 64Max Jacob1876-1944 · 20th century · France · Writers0.72
  65. 65Jules Simon1814-1896 · 19th century · France · Politicians0.71
  66. 66Charles de Gaulle1890-1970 · 20th century · France · Politicians0.69
  67. 67Chrétien de Troyes1135-1181 · 12th century · France · Writers0.67
  68. 68Jules Favre1809-1880 · 19th century · France · Politicians0.66
  69. 69Napoleon1769-1821 · 19th century · France · Historical Figures0.66
  70. 70Alain Juppéborn 1945 · 20th century · France · Politicians0.66
  71. 71Gaston Paris1839-1903 · 19th century · France · Writers0.65
  72. 72Maurice Barrès1862-1923 · 19th century · France · Writers0.65
  73. 73Louis XVII of France1785-1795 · 18th century · France0.64
  74. 74Pope Julius II1443-1513 · 15th century · Italy · Religious Figures0.62
  75. 75Henri de Régnier1864-1936 · 19th century · France · Writers0.62
  76. 76Roland Barthes1915-1980 · 20th century · France · Academics0.61
  77. 77Victor Cousin1792-1867 · 19th century · France · Academics0.60
  78. 78Albert Camus1913-1960 · 20th century · France · Academics0.60
  79. 79Sarah Bernhardt1844-1923 · 19th century · France · Actors0.58
  80. 80Lionel Jospin1937-2026 · 20th century · France · Politicians0.58
  81. 81Jules Lemaître1853-1914 · 19th century · France · Writers0.57
  82. 82Léon Bourgeois1851-1925 · 19th century · France · Politicians0.57
  83. 83Simone de Beauvoir1908-1986 · 20th century · France · Academics0.56
  84. 84Jules Renard1864-1910 · 19th century · France · Writers0.56
  85. 85Pierre Loti1850-1923 · 19th century · France · Writers0.56
  86. 86Vincent Auriol1884-1966 · 20th century · France · Politicians0.56
  87. 87Gustave Flaubert1821-1880 · 19th century · France · Writers0.55
  88. 88Gabriel Marcel1889-1973 · 20th century · France · Academics0.54
  89. 89Charles Péguy1873-1914 · 20th century · France · Writers0.53
  90. 90Robert Schuman1886-1963 · 20th century · France · Politicians0.53
  91. 91Raymond Poincaré1860-1934 · 19th century · France · Politicians0.52
  92. 92Marc Bloch1886-1944 · 20th century · France · Writers0.52
  93. 93Saint-John Perse1887-1975 · 20th century · France · Writers0.52
  94. 94Jacques Cartier1491-1557 · 16th century · France · Historical Figures0.51
  95. 95Michel Foucault1926-1984 · 20th century · France · Academics0.51
  96. 96Simone Weil1909-1943 · 20th century · France · Academics0.50
  97. 97Henri Poincaré1854-1912 · 19th century · France · Academics0.50
  98. 98Raymond Aron1905-1983 · 20th century · France · Academics0.50
  99. 99Aristide Briand1862-1932 · 19th century · France · Politicians0.50
  100. 100Jean Giraudoux1882-1944 · 20th century · France · Writers0.49

Lived then

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

  1. 1Alan Turing1912-1954 · United Kingdom · Academics4 decades
  2. 2Jane Goodall1934-2025 · United Kingdom · Academics5 decades
  3. 3Noam Chomskyborn 1928 · United States · Academics6 decades
  4. 4B. R. Ambedkar1891-1956 · India · Academics8 decades
  5. 5Albert Camus1913-1960 · France · Academics8 decades
  6. 6Srinivasa Ramanujan1887-1920 · India · Academics0 decades
  7. 7Hannah Arendt1906-1975 · United States · Academics8 decades
  8. 8Jean-Paul Sartre1905-1980 · France · Academics9 decades
  9. 9Simone de Beauvoir1908-1986 · France · Academics8 decades
  10. 10Manmohan Singh1932-2024 · India · Academics5 decades
  11. 11Michel Foucault1926-1984 · France · Academics8 decades
  12. 12Jordan Petersonborn 1962 · Canada · Academics0 decades
  13. 13Bertrand Russell1872-1970 · United Kingdom · Academics13 decades
  14. 14T. E. Lawrence1888-1935 · United Kingdom · Academics10 decades
  15. 15John Forbes Nash Jr.1928-2015 · United States · Academics0 decades
  16. 16Ludwig Wittgenstein1889-1951 · United Kingdom · Academics8 decades
  17. 17John von Neumann1903-1957 · Hungary · Academics4 decades
  18. 18Muhammad Yunusborn 1940 · Bangladesh · Academics3 decades
  19. 19Martin Heidegger1889-1976 · Germany · Academics10 decades
  20. 20Antonio Gramsci1891-1937 · Italy · Academics9 decades
  21. 21Milton Friedman1912-2006 · United States · Academics9 decades
  22. 22John Maynard Keynes1883-1946 · United Kingdom · Academics10 decades
  23. 23Dietrich Bonhoeffer1906-1945 · Germany · Academics8 decades
  24. 24Jürgen Habermas1929-2026 · Germany · Academics8 decades
  25. 25Billy Graham1918-2018 · United States · Academics7 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.