← 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
Werner Herzog6 decades - 2
Leni Riefenstahl9 decades - 3
Wim Wenders5 decades - 4
Roland Emmerich3 decades - 5
Fritz Lang9 decades - 6
Rainer Werner Fassbinder5 decades - 7
Wolfgang Petersen4 decades - 8
Pina Bauschnot measured- - 9
F. W. Murnau4 decades - 10
Ernst Lubitsch8 decades - 11
Volker Schlöndorffnot measured- - 12
Lotte Reinigernot measured- - 13
Bernd Eichingernot measured- - 14
Christian Petzoldnot measured- - 15
Margarethe von Trottanot measured- - 16
Douglas Sirknot measured- - 17
Christoph Schlingensiefnot measured- - 18
Doris Dörrienot measured- - 19
Rosa von Praunheimnot measured- - 20
Michael Verhoevennot measured- - 21
Bernhard Grzimeknot measured- - 22
Wolfgang Wagnernot measured- - 23
Helmut Dietlnot measured- - 24
Robert Siodmaknot measured- - 25
Veit Harlannot measured- - 26
Percy Adlonnot measured- - 27
Oliver Hirschbiegelnot measured- - 28
Erwin Piscatornot measured- - 29
Wolfgang Beckernot measured- - 30
Uli Edelnot measured- - 31
Michael Ballhausnot measured- - 32
Oskar Roehlernot measured- - 33
Konrad Wolfnot measured- - 34
William Dieterlenot measured- - 35
Wolfgang Staudtenot measured- - 36
Cordula Trantownot measured- - 37
Detlev Bucknot measured- - 38
Sönke Wortmannnot measured- - 39
Joseph Vilsmaiernot measured- - 40
Frank Beyernot measured- - 41
Caroline Linknot measured- - 42
Marcus Nispelnot measured- - 43
Karl Freundnot measured- - 44
Henry Kosternot measured- - 45
Werner Schroeternot measured- - 46
Artur Braunernot measured- - 47
Edgar Reitznot measured- - 48
Helmut Käutnernot measured- - 49
O. E. Hassenot measured- - 50
Oskar Fischingernot measured- - 51
Rudolf Schündlernot measured- - 52
Peter Zadeknot measured- - 53
Jörg Buttgereitnot measured- - 54
Ulrike Ottingernot measured- - 55Peter Carstennot measured-
- 56
Dominik Grafnot measured- - 57Harry S. Morgannot measured-
- 58
Hans-Jürgen Syberbergnot measured- - 59
Jan Harlannot measured- - 60
Andreas Dresennot measured- - 61
Michael Pflegharnot measured- - 62
Arnold Fancknot measured- - 63
Erich Pommernot measured- - 64
Claus Peymannnot measured- - 65
Angela Schanelecnot measured- - 66
Elisabeth Flickenschildtnot measured- - 67Fritz Hipplernot measured-
- 68
Wolfgang Liebeneinernot measured- - 69
Walter Frentznot measured- - 70
Reinhold Schünzelnot measured- - 71
Paul Leninot measured- - 72
Ulrich Theinnot measured- - 73
Johannes Schaafnot measured- - 74
Harry Pielnot measured- - 75
Heinz Sielmannnot measured- - 76
Thomas Harlannot measured- - 77
Carl-Heinz Schrothnot measured- - 78
Kurt Neumannnot measured- - 79
Hans W. Geißendörfernot measured- - 80
Karl Ritternot measured- - 81
Frank Reichernot measured- - 82
Helmut Ringelmannnot measured- - 83
Peter Fleischmannnot measured- - 84
Bernd Michael Ladenot measured- - 85
Sasha Waltznot measured- - 86
Henrik Galeennot measured- - 87
Alfred Vohrernot measured- - 88
Kurt Hoffmannnot measured- - 89
Max Färberböcknot measured- - 90
Helma Sanders-Brahmsnot measured- - 91
Axel von Ambessernot measured- - 92
Götz Friedrichnot measured- - 93
Peter Schamoninot measured- - 94
Josef Rusnaknot measured- - 95
Kurt Maetzignot measured- - 96
Sigi Rothemundnot measured- - 97
Monika Treutnot measured- - 98
Gernot Rollnot measured- - 99
Egon Günthernot measured- - 100
Erik Charellnot 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.