← 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
Luc Besson4 decades - 2
Andrei Tarkovskynot measured- - 3
Jean-Luc Godard6 decades - 4
Jacques Cousteau5 decades - 5
François Truffaut7 decades - 6
Roger Vadim7 decades - 7
Alejandro Jodorowsky6 decades - 8
Louis Malle7 decades - 9
Bernard-Henri Lévy5 decades - 10
Claude Lelouch6 decades - 11
Claude Chabrol7 decades - 12
Jean Renoir10 decades - 13
Emir Kusturica2 decades - 14
Jean-Pierre Jeunet3 decades - 15
Jacques Tati8 decades - 16
Costa-Gavras6 decades - 17Robert Bresson8 decades
- 18
Jean-Jacques Annaud4 decades - 19
Éric Rohmer5 decades - 20
Jacques Audiardnot measured- - 21
Michel Gondrynot measured- - 22
Bertrand Taverniernot measured- - 23
Olivier Assayasnot measured- - 24
Mohsen Makhmalbafnot measured- - 25
Kad Meradnot measured- - 26
Claude Sautetnot measured- - 27
Abdellatif Kechichenot measured- - 28
Jean-Paul Rappeneaunot measured- - 29
Bertrand Bliernot measured- - 30
Claire Denisnot measured- - 31
Alain Resnais7 decades - 32
Jean-Pierre Melvillenot measured- - 33
Jacques Demynot measured- - 34
Catherine Breillatnot measured- - 35
Jacques Deraynot measured- - 36
Marcel Camusnot measured-
- 37
Leos Caraxnot measured- - 38
Patrice Lecontenot measured- - 39
Francis Vebernot measured- - 40
Tony Gatlifnot measured- - 41
Alain Corneaunot measured- - 42
Gérard Ourynot measured- - 43
Henri-Georges Clouzotnot measured- - 44
Philippe Garrelnot measured- - 45
Claude Lanzmannnot measured- - 46Maurice Pialatnot measured-
- 47
Nadine Trintignantnot measured- - 48
Patrice Chéreaunot measured- - 49
Cédric Klapischnot measured- - 50
Jacques Rivettenot measured- - 51
Barbet Schroedernot measured- - 52
Antoine de Caunesnot measured- - 53
Bruno Dumontnot measured- - 54
Claude Zidinot measured- - 55
Alice Guy-Blachénot measured- - 56
Jacques Doillonnot measured- - 57
Philippe de Brocanot measured- - 58
Nicolas Hulotnot measured- - 59
Marcel Carnénot measured- - 60
Raymond Loewynot measured- - 61
Georges Lautnernot measured- - 62Chris Markernot measured-
- 63
Jean Lefebvrenot measured- - 64
José Giovanninot measured- - 65
Jean-Jacques Beineixnot measured- - 66
René Clémentnot measured- - 67
Max Ophülsnot measured- - 68
Abel Gancenot measured- - 69
Christophe Gansnot measured- - 70
René Clair10 decades - 71
Jean-Pierre Mockynot measured- - 72
Alain Guiraudienot measured- - 73
Julien Duviviernot measured- - 74
Benoît Jacquotnot measured- - 75
Yves Allégretnot measured- - 76
Yves Robertnot measured- - 77Jacques Tourneurnot measured-
- 78
Trần Anh Hùngnot measured- - 79
Anne Fontainenot measured- - 80
Philippe Claudelnot measured- - 81
Édouard Molinaronot measured- - 82
Noémie Lvovskynot measured- - 83
Jean-Marie Poirénot measured- - 84
André Téchinénot measured- - 85
Jeannot Szwarcnot measured- - 86
Robert Guédiguiannot measured- - 87
Jean Vigonot measured- - 88
Jean Giraultnot measured- - 89
Claude Millernot measured- - 90Walerian Borowczyknot measured-
- 91
Ariane Mnouchkinenot measured- - 92
Coline Serreaunot measured- - 93
Alexandre Arcadynot measured- - 94
Otar Iosselianinot measured- - 95
Patrick Timsitnot measured- - 96
Yves Ciampinot measured- - 97
Gilles Grangiernot measured- - 98
Bruno Nuyttennot measured- - 99
Pierre Morelnot measured- - 100
Sólveig Anspachnot 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.