← 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 English books during the 20th century, whenever they lived.
- 1
Jesus30 - 2
Aristotle7.1 - 3
Plato7.1 - 4
Homer7.1 - 5
Augustus4.9 - 6
Johns Hopkins4.4 - 7
Cicero4.0 - 8
George Washington3.8 - 9
Socrates3.4 - 10
Virgil3.3 - 11
Abraham Lincoln2.0 - 12
Euclid1.9 - 13
Thomas Jefferson1.6 - 14
Ovid1.6 - 15
Mark Twain1.5 - 16
Plutarch1.5 - 17
Cleopatra1.4 - 18
Theodore Roosevelt1.4 - 19
Woodrow Wilson1.4 - 20
William Henry1.3 - 21
Benjamin Franklin1.3 - 22
Herodotus1.3 - 23
Charlemagne1.3 - 24
Rembrandt1.3 - 25
Euripides1.2
Lived then
The most notable people whose working lives fell in the 20th century, ranked where coverage and readership agree.
- 1
Albert Camus8 decades - 2
Jean-Paul Sartre9 decades - 3
Simone de Beauvoir8 decades - 4
Michel Foucault8 decades - 5
Simone Weil9 decades - 6
Jacques Derrida6 decades - 7
Gilles Deleuze7 decades - 8
Pierre Bourdieu7 decades - 9
Dominique Strauss-Kahn4 decades - 10
Claude Lévi-Strauss8 decades - 11
Jean Baudrillard6 decades - 12
Roland Barthes8 decades - 13
Louis Althusser6 decades - 14
Pierre Teilhard de Chardin8 decades - 15
Alexander Grothendieck0 decades - 16
Benoit Mandelbrot4 decades - 17
Edgar Morinnot measured- - 18
Nikolai Berdyaev12 decades - 19
Julia Kristeva6 decades - 20
Emmanuel Levinas7 decades - 21
Maurice Merleau-Ponty8 decades - 22
Jean Monnet13 decades - 23
Yann Le Cunnot measured- - 24
Jacques Delors7 decades - 25
Philippe Aghionnot measured- - 26
Michel Onfraynot measured- - 27
Jean Tirole2 decades - 28
Jacques Attalinot measured- - 29
Alain Finkielkrautnot measured- - 30
Jean-Pierre Serrenot measured- - 31
Marcel Mauss11 decades - 32
André Glucksmannnot measured- - 33
Félix Guattarinot measured- - 34
Henri Lefebvrenot measured- - 35
Jacques Ellulnot measured- - 36
Maurice Allais8 decades - 37
Jacques Rancièrenot measured- - 38
Paul Ricœur7 decades - 39
Raymond Aron9 decades - 40
Bruno Latour4 decades - 41
Alain de Benoistnot measured- - 42
Jean-François Lyotard5 decades - 43
Jacques Maritain11 decades - 44
André Weilnot measured- - 45
Alexandre Kojèvenot measured- - 46
Hélène Cixous6 decades - 47Vladimir Jankélévitchnot measured-
- 48
Alainnot measured- - 49
Gabriel Marcel14 decades - 50
Laurent Schwartznot measured- - 51Roger Garaudy8 decades
- 52
Mikhail Gromovnot measured- - 53
Michel Serresnot measured- - 54
Georges Dumézilnot measured- - 55
Cornelius Castoriadisnot measured- - 56
Sergei Bulgakovnot measured- - 57
Philippe Sollersnot measured- - 58
Samir Aminnot measured- - 59
Maxim Kontsevichnot measured- - 60Nikos Poulantzasnot measured-
- 61
François Jacob6 decades - 62
Jean-Pierre Vernantnot measured- - 63
Jean-Claude Trichetnot measured- - 64
Alain Connesnot measured- - 65
Jean-Luc Nancynot measured- - 66
Henri Lebesguenot measured- - 67
Bernard Stieglernot measured- - 68Henry Corbinnot measured-
- 69
Yves Lacostenot measured- - 70Henri de Lubacnot measured-
- 71
Eva Illouznot measured- - 72
Jacques Hadamard12 decades - 73
Élie Cartannot measured- - 74
André Gorznot measured- - 75
Émile Borel11 decades - 76
Paul Virilionot measured- - 77
René Thomnot measured- - 78
Jean Rostandnot measured- - 79
Maurice Halbwachsnot measured- - 80
Henri Cartannot measured- - 81Michel de Certeaunot measured-
- 82
Paul Nizannot measured- - 83
Étienne Balibarnot measured- - 84
Emmanuel Mouniernot measured- - 85
Jean-Luc Marionnot measured- - 86
Georges Canguilhemnot measured- - 87
Germaine Tillionnot measured- - 88
Reginald Garrigou-Lagrangenot measured- - 89
André Comte-Sponvillenot measured- - 90
Pierre Hadotnot measured- - 91
Philippe Arièsnot measured- - 92
Michael Löwynot measured- - 93
Michel Marcel Navratilnot measured- - 94
Serge Langnot measured- - 95
Barbara Cassinnot measured- - 96
Pierre-Louis Lionsnot measured- - 97
Louis Massignonnot measured- - 98
Alain Tourainenot measured- - 99
Bernard Marisnot measured- - 100Alexandre Koyrénot measured-
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.