← 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
Martin Heidegger10 decades - 2
Dietrich Bonhoeffer8 decades - 3
Jürgen Habermas8 decades - 4
Mileva Marić0 decades - 5
Carl Schmitt11 decades - 6
Emmy Noether7 decades - 7
Erich Fromm9 decades - 8
Edith Stein10 decades - 9
Herbert Marcuse8 decades - 10
Klaus Schwabnot measured- - 11
Alfred Wegener12 decades - 12
Martin Buber12 decades - 13
Hans-Georg Gadamer8 decades - 14
Max Horkheimer9 decades - 15
Max Scheler11 decades - 16
Hermann Weyl11 decades - 17
Ernst Bloch12 decades - 18
Walther Funknot measured- - 19
Kurt Lewin9 decades - 20
Ernst Cassirer12 decades - 21
Rudolf Carnap9 decades - 22
Paul Tillich10 decades - 23
Wassily Leontief7 decades - 24
Peter Sloterdijknot measured- - 25
Thilo Sarrazinnot measured- - 26
Max Delbrücknot measured- - 27
Otto Ohlendorfnot measured- - 28
Harald zur Hausen4 decades - 29
Karl Rahnernot measured- - 30
Herman Grefnot measured- - 31
Jörg Meuthennot measured- - 32
Hans Reichenbachnot measured- - 33
Hans-Hermann Hoppenot measured- - 34
Richard David Prechtnot measured- - 35
Niklas Luhmannnot measured- - 36
Hans Jonasnot measured- - 37
Karl Haushofernot measured- - 38
Theodore von Kármánnot measured- - 39
Bernd Luckenot measured- - 40
Victor Klemperernot measured- - 41
Maria Reichenot measured- - 42
Gerd Faltingsnot measured- - 43
Hans Speidelnot measured- - 44
Günther Andersnot measured- - 45
Moritz Schlick11 decades - 46
Rudolf Bultmann10 decades - 47
Luigi Colaninot measured- - 48
Eugen Drewermannnot measured- - 49
Romano Guardininot measured- - 50
Aby Warburgnot measured- - 51
Gottfried Federnot measured- - 52
Erich Auerbachnot measured- - 53
Carl Claubergnot measured- - 54
Dietmar Bartschnot measured- - 55
Jürgen Moltmannnot measured- - 56
Charles Proteus Steinmetznot measured- - 57E. F. Schumachernot measured-
- 58
Uta Frithnot measured- - 59
Richard Courantnot measured- - 60
Martin Winterkornnot measured- - 61
Ernst Zermelonot measured- - 62
Axel Honnethnot measured- - 63
Hans Gerhard Creutzfeldtnot measured- - 64Arnold Gehlennot measured-
- 65
Ernest Mandelnot measured- - 66
Robert Michelsnot measured- - 67
Konstantinos Carathéodorynot measured- - 68
Max Wertheimernot measured- - 69Hans Blumenbergnot measured-
- 70
Jan Assmannnot measured- - 71
Dietrich von Hildebrandnot measured- - 72
Franz Rosenzweignot measured- - 73
Majid Samiinot measured- - 74
Hans F. K. Günthernot measured- - 75
Wolfgang Köhlernot measured- - 76
Margot Käßmannnot measured- - 77
Ludwig Klagesnot measured- - 78
Nicolai Hartmannnot measured- - 79
Philipp von Boeselagernot measured- - 80
Annemarie Schimmelnot measured- - 81
Hans-Georg Maaßennot measured- - 82
Theodor Lessingnot measured- - 83
Rüdiger Safranskinot measured- - 84Karl Löwithnot measured-
- 85Joseph B. Soloveitchiknot measured-
- 86
Josef Piepernot measured- - 87
Mary Wigmannot measured- - 88
Hermann Zapfnot measured- - 89
Arthur Scherbiusnot measured- - 90
Rudolf Arnheimnot measured- - 91
Hans Albertnot measured- - 92
Wilhelm Röpkenot measured- - 93Franz Leopold Neumannnot measured-
- 94
Reinhard Selten6 decades - 95
Eugen Fischernot measured- - 96Walter Kaufmannnot measured-
- 97
Eugen Finknot measured- - 98
Ernst Kretschmernot measured- - 99
Franz Sixnot measured- - 100
Alfred Webernot 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.