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

  1. 1Leo Tolstoy1828-1910 · 19th century · Russia · Writers2.6
  2. 2Patriarch Nikon of Moscow1605-1681 · 17th century · Religious Figures2.2
  3. 3Peter the Great1672-1725 · 18th century · Russia · Politicians1.8
  4. 4Macarius, Metropolitan of Moscow1482-1563 · 16th century · Writers1.5
  5. 5Boris Godunov1552-1605 · 16th century · Politicians1.4
  6. 6Vladimir Lenin1870-1924 · 20th century · Russia · Politicians1.4
  7. 7Nicholas I of Russia1796-1855 · 19th century · Russia · Models1.3
  8. 8Ivan the Terrible1530-1584 · 16th century · Politicians1.1
  9. 9Alexander I of Russia1777-1825 · 19th century · Russia · Historical Figures1.1
  10. 10Alexander II of Russia1818-1881 · 19th century · Russia · Historical Figures0.99
  11. 11Nicholas II of Russia1868-1918 · 20th century · Russia · Historical Figures0.99
  12. 12Maxim Gorky1868-1936 · 20th century · Russia · Writers0.98
  13. 13Alexei Nikolaevich, Tsarevich of Russia1904-1918 · 20th century · Russia · Historical Figures0.97
  14. 14Ivan I of Tver1357-1425 · 14th century · Historical Figures0.92
  15. 15Alexis of Russia1629-1676 · 17th century · Historical Figures0.86
  16. 16Grand Duke Michael Nikolaevich of Russia1832-1909 · 19th century · Russia · Politicians0.86
  17. 17Alexei Petrovich, Tsarevich of Russia1690-1718 · 18th century · Politicians0.78
  18. 18Andrei Bely1880-1934 · 20th century · Russia · Writers0.74
  19. 19Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich of Russia1847-1909 · 19th century · Russia · Politicians0.72
  20. 20Sergo Ordzhonikidze1886-1937 · 20th century · Russia · Politicians0.72
  21. 21Ivan I Aleksandrovich, Prince of Smolenskdied 1359 · 14th century0.72
  22. 22Grand Duchess Maria Nikolaevna of Russia1899-1918 · 20th century · Russia · Historical Figures0.70
  23. 23Grand Duke Konstantin Nikolayevich of Russia1827-1892 · 19th century · Russia · Historical Figures0.65
  24. 24Grand Duke Peter Nikolaevich of Russia1864-1931 · 19th century · Russia · Historical Figures0.64
  25. 25Alexander III of Russia1845-1894 · 19th century · Russia · Historical Figures0.63
Show 75 more

Lived then

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

  1. 1Brigitte Bardot1934-2025 · France · Actors7 decades
  2. 2Marie Curie1867-1934 · France · Scientists4 decades
  3. 3Charles de Gaulle1890-1970 · France · Politicians9 decades
  4. 4Nicolas Sarkozyborn 1955 · France · Politicians5 decades
  5. 5Albert Camus1913-1960 · France · Academics8 decades
  6. 6Alain Delon1935-2024 · France · Actors6 decades
  7. 7Édith Piaf1915-1963 · France · Musicians6 decades
  8. 8Jacques Chirac1932-2019 · France · Politicians8 decades
  9. 9Coco Chanel1883-1971 · France · Designers6 decades
  10. 10François Mitterrand1916-1996 · France · Politicians8 decades
  11. 11Jean-Paul Sartre1905-1980 · France · Academics9 decades
  12. 12François Hollandeborn 1954 · France · Politicians4 decades
  13. 13Simone de Beauvoir1908-1986 · France · Academics8 decades
  14. 14Charles Aznavour1924-2018 · France · Musicians8 decades
  15. 15Michel Foucault1926-1984 · France · Academics8 decades
  16. 16Gérard Depardieuborn 1948 · France · Actors5 decades
  17. 17Luc Bessonborn 1959 · France · Directors4 decades
  18. 18Jean-Marie Le Pen1928-2025 · France · Politicians8 decades
  19. 19Isabelle Adjaniborn 1955 · France · Actors5 decades
  20. 20Andrei Tarkovsky1932-1986 · France · Directorsnot measured-
  21. 21Marcel Proust1871-1922 · France · Writers12 decades
  22. 22Antoine de Saint-Exupéry1900-1944 · France · Writers9 decades
  23. 23Catherine Deneuveborn 1943 · France · Actors6 decades
  24. 24Michel Platiniborn 1955 · France · Footballers5 decades
  25. 25Arsène Wengerborn 1949 · France · Footballers2 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.