← 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
Marcel Proust12 decades - 2
Antoine de Saint-Exupéry9 decades - 3
Ivan Bunin11 decades - 4
Jean Cocteau11 decades - 5
Anaïs Nin1 decades - 6
Louis-Ferdinand Céline9 decades - 7
Annie Ernaux4 decades - 8
Michel Houellebecq3 decades - 9
André Gide13 decades - 10
Aleksey Tolstoy13 decades - 11
Marguerite Duras8 decades - 12
Milan Kundera6 decades - 13
Guillaume Apollinaire12 decades - 14
Jacques Lacan7 decades - 15Romain Gary8 decades
- 16
Marc Bloch12 decades - 17
André Malraux11 decades - 18
Marcel Pagnol10 decades - 19
Marguerite Yourcenar9 decades - 20
Colettenot measured- - 21
Georges Bataille9 decades - 22
Françoise Sagan8 decades - 23
Thích Nhất Hạnhnot measured- - 24
André Breton10 decades - 25
Boris Vian8 decades - 26
Louis Aragon10 decades - 27
Eugène Ionesco7 decades - 28
Paul Éluard8 decades - 29
Alexander Alekhine0 decades - 30
Jean Genet8 decades - 31
Antonin Artaud10 decades - 32
Patrick Modiano5 decades - 33
François Mauriac11 decades - 34
Paul Valéry12 decades - 35
Romain Rolland13 decades - 36
J. M. G. Le Clézio5 decades - 37
Jacques Prévert8 decades - 38
Gisèle Pelicotnot measured- - 39
Fernand Braudel9 decades - 40
René Guénon10 decades - 41
Ismail Kadare4 decades - 42
Tristan Tzara10 decades - 43
Sacha Guitry12 decades - 44
Jean Anouilh9 decades - 45
Edmond Rostand13 decades - 46
René Girardnot measured- - 47
Charles Maurras13 decades - 48
Georges Bernanos10 decades - 49
Gaston Bachelard9 decades - 50
Aimé Césaire8 decades - 51
Henri Barbusse12 decades - 52
Saint-John Perse8 decades - 53
André Maurois11 decades - 54
Jean Giraudnot measured- - 55
Claude Simon11 decades - 56
Charles Péguy12 decades - 57
Gaston Leroux12 decades - 58
Boualem Sansalnot measured- - 59
Alain Badiou6 decades - 60
Henri Charrièrenot measured- - 61
Raymond Queneau9 decades - 62
Eduard Limonovnot measured- - 63
Roger Martin du Gard11 decades - 64
Alain Robbe-Grillet8 decades - 65
Fred Vargasnot measured- - 66
Jean Giraudoux11 decades - 67
Georges Perec6 decades - 68
Savitri Devinot measured- - 69
Pierre Lemaitrenot measured- - 70
Marc Levynot measured- - 71
Paul Morandnot measured- - 72
Emmanuel Carrèrenot measured- - 73
Pierre Drieu La Rochellenot measured- - 74
Pierre Noranot measured- - 75
Renaud Camusnot measured- - 76
Jacques Vergèsnot measured- - 77
Philippe Petitnot measured- - 78
Guy Debord5 decades - 79
Paul Celan6 decades - 80
Pierre Boulle8 decades - 81
Ève Curienot measured- - 82
Yasmina Rezanot measured- - 83
Matthieu Ricardnot measured- - 84
Jean Raspailnot measured- - 85
Jean Giono10 decades - 86
Gabriel Matzneffnot measured- - 87
Éric-Emmanuel Schmittnot measured- - 88
Bernard Werbernot measured- - 89
Emmanuel Toddnot measured- - 90
Brigitte Fontainenot measured- - 91
Maurice Druon8 decades - 92
Henri Verneuilnot measured- - 93
Maurice Béjart7 decades - 94
Gérard de Villiersnot measured- - 95
Jean d'Ormessonnot measured- - 96
Claude Berrinot measured- - 97
George Balanchinenot measured- - 98
Irène Némirovskynot measured- - 99
Hélène Carrère d'Encaussenot measured- - 100
Daniel Pennacnot 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.