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

  1. 1Rav Ashi352-427 · 4th century16
  2. 2Ahad Ha'am1856-1927 · 19th century · Russia · Writers12
  3. 3Haggaiborn 550 BC · 1st millennium BC · Religious Figures12
  4. 4Sabbatai Zevi1626-1676 · 17th century · Turkey · Religious Figures8.2
  5. 5Saadia Gaon882-942 · 10th century · Academics8.1
  6. 6Johanan ben Zakai50 BC-70 · 1st millennium BC5.5
  7. 7Josephus37-100 · 1st century · Writers5.5
  8. 8Habakkuk626 BC-600 BC · 1st millennium BC · Religious Figures5.3
  9. 9Hai Gaon939-1038 · 10th century · Writers4.8
  10. 10Simeon ben Gamliel IIborn 100 · 2nd century4.8
  11. 11Menachem Begin1913-1992 · 20th century · Israel · Politicians4.4
  12. 12Nathan the Babylonianborn 101 · 2nd century3.8
  13. 13Shimon Peres1923-2016 · 20th century · Israel · Politicians3.6
  14. 14Paul the Apostle5-66 · 1st century · Turkey · Writers3.3
  15. 15Samuel ibn Naghrillah993-1055 · 11th century · Writers3.2
  16. 16Moshe Dayan1915-1981 · 20th century · Israel · Politicians3.2
  17. 17Judah ben Samuel of Regensburg1150-1217 · 12th century · Academics3.1
  18. 18Hillel the Elder50 BC-100 · 1st millennium BC3.1
  19. 19Simeon ben Zomadied 200 · 2nd century2.8
  20. 20Judas Maccabeus500 BC-160 BC · 1st millennium BC · Religious Figures2.7
  21. 21Yitzhak Rabin1922-1995 · 20th century · Israel · Politicians2.7
  22. 22Golda Meir1898-1978 · 20th century · Israel · Politicians2.6
  23. 23Yanaiborn 600 · 7th century · Writers2.5
  24. 24Moshe Sharett1894-1965 · 20th century · Israel · Politicians2.2
  25. 25Isaac Abrabanel1437-1508 · 15th century · Academics2.1
Show 75 more

Lived then

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

  1. 1Werner Heisenberg1901-1976 · Germany · Scientists10 decades
  2. 2Erwin Schrödinger1887-1961 · Germany · Scientists11 decades
  3. 3Fritz Haber1868-1934 · Germany · Scientists11 decades
  4. 4Ferdinand Porsche1875-1951 · Germany · Scientists9 decades
  5. 5Otto Hahn1879-1968 · Germany · Scientists14 decades
  6. 6Konrad Zuse1910-1995 · Germany · Scientists6 decades
  7. 7Leo Szilard1898-1964 · Germany · Scientists0 decades
  8. 8Maria Goeppert Mayer1906-1972 · Germany · Scientists0 decades
  9. 9Carl Bosch1874-1940 · Germany · Scientists10 decades
  10. 10Arnold Sommerfeld1868-1951 · Germany · Scientists11 decades
  11. 11Max von Laue1879-1960 · Germany · Scientists10 decades
  12. 12Fritz Todt1891-1942 · Germany · Scientistsnot measured-
  13. 13Johannes Stark1874-1957 · Germany · Scientists12 decades
  14. 14Otto Stern1888-1969 · Germany · Scientistsnot measured-
  15. 15Christiane Nüsslein-Volhardborn 1942 · Germany · Scientists2 decades
  16. 16Arno Allan Penzias1933-2024 · Germany · Scientists0 decades
  17. 17Walther Bothe1891-1957 · Germany · Scientists6 decades
  18. 18Ernst Ruska1906-1988 · Germany · Scientists4 decades
  19. 19Rudolf Mössbauer1929-2011 · Germany · Scientists0 decades
  20. 20Wolfgang Ketterleborn 1957 · Germany · Scientists0 decades
  21. 21Hermann Staudinger1881-1965 · Germany · Scientists9 decades
  22. 22Hermann Tilkeborn 1954 · Germany · Scientistsnot measured-
  23. 23Joachim Sauerborn 1949 · Germany · Scientistsnot measured-
  24. 24Peter Grünberg1939-2018 · Germany · Scientists0 decades
  25. 25Theodor W. Hänschborn 1941 · Germany · Scientists0 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.