← 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
Franz Beckenbauer5 decades - 2
Lothar Matthäus3 decades - 3
Gerd Müller7 decades - 4
Jürgen Klinsmann3 decades - 5
Joachim Löw2 decades - 6
Rudi Völler3 decades - 7
Karl-Heinz Rummenigge3 decades - 8
Andreas Brehme2 decades - 9
Berti Vogts3 decades - 10
Jupp Heynckes3 decades - 11
Uli Hoeneß4 decades - 12
Paul Breitner5 decades - 13
Pierre Littbarski1 decades - 14
Sepp Maier5 decades - 15
Bernd Schusternot measured- - 16
Uwe Seeler6 decades - 17
Fritz Walter10 decades - 18
Ralf Rangnicknot measured- - 19
Otto Rehhagelnot measured- - 20
Bert Trautmannnot measured- - 21
Klaus Augenthalernot measured- - 22
Stefan Kuntznot measured- - 23
Felix Magathnot measured- - 24
Udo Latteknot measured- - 25
Günter Netzernot measured- - 26
Ottmar Hitzfeld2 decades - 27
Helmut Hallernot measured- - 28
Helmut Schönnot measured- - 29
Toni Schumachernot measured- - 30
Christoph Daumnot measured- - 31
Eike Immelnot measured- - 32
Dieter Hoeneßnot measured- - 33
Helmut Rahnnot measured- - 34
Wolfgang Overathnot measured- - 35
Andreas Köpkenot measured- - 36
Sepp Herbergernot measured- - 37
Guido Buchwald0 decades - 38
Horst Hrubeschnot measured- - 39
Thomas Bertholdnot measured- - 40
Hans-Peter Briegelnot measured- - 41
Uli Stielikenot measured- - 42
Eberhard Vogelnot measured- - 43
Rainer Bonhofnot measured- - 44
Frank Millnot measured- - 45
Manfred Kaltznot measured- - 46
Klaus Allofsnot measured- - 47
Hansi Müllernot measured- - 48
Klaus Fischernot measured- - 49
Karl-Heinz Schnellingernot measured- - 50
Rudi Assauernot measured- - 51
Ernst Wilimowskinot measured- - 52
Georg Schwarzenbecknot measured- - 53
Reinhard Libudanot measured- - 54
Jupp Derwallnot measured- - 55
Max Morlocknot measured- - 56
Michael Rummeniggenot measured- - 57
Jürgen Grabowskinot measured- - 58Klaus Toppmöllernot measured-
- 59
Gernot Rohrnot measured- - 60
Dieter Heckingnot measured- - 61Dieter Müllernot measured-
- 62Karlheinz Försternot measured-
- 63
Jürgen Sparwassernot measured- - 64
Joachim Streichnot measured- - 65
Sigfried Heldnot measured- - 66
Thomas Schaafnot measured- - 67
Erich Ribbecknot measured- - 68
Bernd Hölzenbeinnot measured- - 69
Rudi Gutendorfnot measured- - 70
Uwe Bein0 decades - 71
Jørn Andersennot measured- - 72
Karl-Heinz Körbelnot measured- - 73Jupp Kapellmannnot measured-
- 74
Hennes Weisweilernot measured- - 75
Bernd Storcknot measured- - 76
Winfried Schäfernot measured- - 77
Hans Schäfernot measured- - 78
Peter Noglynot measured- - 79
Toni Tureknot measured- - 80
Dettmar Cramernot measured- - 81
Oleh Kuznetsovnot measured- - 82
Ewald Lienennot measured- - 83
Hans Tilkowskinot measured- - 84
Lothar Emmerichnot measured- - 85
Heinz Flohenot measured- - 86
Horst-Dieter Höttgesnot measured- - 87
Bernard Dietznot measured- - 88
Wolfgang Webernot measured- - 89
Herbert Wimmernot measured- - 90
Michael Zorcnot measured- - 91
Armin Vehnot measured- - 92
Volker Finkenot measured- - 93Erwin Helmchennot measured-
- 94
Wolfgang Kleffnot measured- - 95
Raimond Aumannnot measured- - 96
Horst Eckelnot measured- - 97
Ottmar Walternot measured- - 98
Uli Steinnot measured- - 99
Friedhelm Funkelnot measured- - 100Bernd Försternot 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.