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. 1J. R. R. Tolkien1892-1973 · United Kingdom · Writers7 decades
  2. 2Ernest Hemingway1899-1961 · United States · Writers10 decades
  3. 3Stephen Kingborn 1947 · United States · Writers8 decades
  4. 4Anne Frank1929-1945 · Germany · Writers7 decades
  5. 5Franz Kafka1883-1924 · Czechia · Writers11 decades
  6. 6Agatha Christie1890-1976 · United Kingdom · Writers10 decades
  7. 7Helen Keller1880-1968 · United States · Writers14 decades
  8. 8George Orwell1903-1950 · United Kingdom · Writers9 decades
  9. 9Amelia Earhart1897-1939 · United States · Writers10 decades
  10. 10Michelle Obamaborn 1964 · United States · Writers2 decades
  11. 11George R. R. Martinborn 1948 · United States · Writers1 decades
  12. 12Virginia Woolf1882-1941 · United Kingdom · Writers10 decades
  13. 13C. S. Lewis1898-1963 · United Kingdom · Writers10 decades
  14. 14Roald Dahl1916-1990 · Norway · Writers6 decades
  15. 15Gabriel García Márquez1927-2014 · Colombia · Writers7 decades
  16. 16Isaac Asimov1920-1992 · United States · Writers7 decades
  17. 17Salman Rushdieborn 1947 · United Kingdom · Writers4 decades
  18. 18Ayn Rand1905-1982 · United States · Writers3 decades
  19. 19Mario Vargas Llosa1936-2025 · Spain · Writers7 decades
  20. 20Thomas Mann1875-1955 · United States · Writers12 decades
  21. 21Sylvia Plath1932-1963 · United States · Writers6 decades
  22. 22Stan Lee1922-2018 · United States · Writers3 decades
  23. 23H. P. Lovecraft1890-1937 · United States · Writers6 decades
  24. 24Rudyard Kipling1865-1936 · United Kingdom · Writers13 decades
  25. 25Ian Fleming1908-1964 · United Kingdom · Writers7 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.