← 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
Eva Braun8 decades - 2
Max Ernst12 decades - 3
Franz Marc11 decades - 4
Gerhard Richter9 decades - 5
Otto Dix10 decades - 6
Joseph Beuys6 decades - 7
Käthe Kollwitz12 decades - 8
Sophie, Duchess of Hohenbergnot measured- - 9Anselm Kiefer4 decades
- 10
Max Beckmann11 decades - 11
Gerda Taronot measured- - 12
Elisabeth of Bavaria, Queen of Belgiumnot measured- - 13
Georg Baselitz5 decades - 14
Emil Nolde11 decades - 15
Astrid Kirchherrnot measured- - 16
Heinrich Hoffmannnot measured- - 17
Robert Rauschenbergnot measured- - 18
Helmut Newtonnot measured- - 19
Paula Modersohn-Beckernot measured- - 20
Kurt Schwittersnot measured- - 21
Arno Brekernot measured- - 22
August Macke11 decades - 23
Duke Henry of Mecklenburg-Schwerinnot measured- - 24
Gabriele Münternot measured- - 25
Gunther von Hagensnot measured- - 26
Hannah Höchnot measured-
- 27
Gretl Braunnot measured- - 28
Josef Albers7 decades - 29
Heinz Lingenot measured- - 30
Ernst Barlachnot measured- - 31
John Heartfieldnot measured- - 32
Karl Schmidt-Rottluffnot measured- - 33
Ulaynot measured- - 34
Meret Oppenheimnot measured- - 35
Oskar Schlemmernot measured- - 36
Gunter Demnignot measured- - 37
Alfred Eisenstaedtnot measured- - 38Eva Hessenot measured-
- 39
Elsa von Freytag-Loringhovennot measured- - 40
Igor Mitorajnot measured- - 41
Andreas Gurskynot measured- - 42
Neo Rauchnot measured- - 43Jörg Immendorffnot measured-
- 44
Peter Lindberghnot measured- - 45
Max Pechsteinnot measured- - 46
Guillermo Kahlonot measured- - 47
Erich Heckelnot measured- - 48
Elfriede Lohse-Wächtlernot measured- - 49
Sigmar Polkenot measured- - 50
Wolsnot measured- - 51
Otl Aichernot measured- - 52
Otto Muellernot measured- - 53
Anni Albersnot measured- - 54
Heinrich Vogelernot measured- - 55
Martin Kippenbergernot measured- - 56
Hans Hofmannnot measured- - 57August Sandernot measured-
- 58
Konrad Kujaunot measured- - 59
Ellen von Unwerthnot measured- - 60
Franz Hösslernot measured- - 61
Wolfgang Beltracchinot measured- - 62
Clara Westhoffnot measured- - 63
Wolf Vostellnot measured- - 64
Hans Hartungnot measured- - 65
Markus Lüpertznot measured- - 66
Max Slevogtnot measured- - 67
Heinz Stückenot measured- - 68
A. R. Pencknot measured- - 69
Rebecca Hornnot measured- - 70Maria Reiternot measured-
- 71
Karl Blosfeldtnot measured- - 72
Jutta Hippnot measured- - 73
Princess Alexandra Victoria of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburgnot measured- - 74
Wilhelm Lehmbrucknot measured- - 75Hans Richternot measured-
- 76
Thomas Struthnot measured- - 77
Marianne Brandtnot measured- - 78
Fritz Koenignot measured- - 79Heinrich Schwarznot measured-
- 80
Adolf Zieglernot measured- - 81
Käthe Krusenot measured- - 82
Georg Kolbenot measured- - 83
Grete Sternnot measured- - 84
Sascha Schneidernot measured- - 85
Otto Freundlichnot measured- - 86
Hans-Diedrich von Tiesenhausennot measured- - 87
Christian Schadnot measured- - 88
Heinrich Campendonknot measured- - 89
Anita Réenot measured- - 90
Princess Irmingard of Bavarianot measured- - 91
Wolfgang Joopnot measured- - 92
Bärbel Bohleynot measured- - 93
Karl Wallendanot measured- - 94Bill Brandtnot measured-
- 95
Horst P. Horstnot measured- - 96
Gunta Stölzlnot measured- - 97
Günther Ueckernot measured- - 98
Gerhard Marcksnot measured- - 99
Thomas Schüttenot measured- - 100
Lotte Lasersteinnot 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.