← 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 Heisenberg10 decades - 2
Erwin Schrödinger11 decades - 3
Fritz Haber11 decades - 4
Ferdinand Porsche9 decades - 5
Otto Hahn14 decades - 6
Konrad Zuse6 decades - 7
Leo Szilard0 decades - 8
Maria Goeppert Mayer0 decades - 9
Carl Bosch10 decades - 10
Arnold Sommerfeld11 decades - 11
Max von Laue10 decades
- 12
Fritz Todtnot measured- - 13
Johannes Stark12 decades - 14
Otto Sternnot measured- - 15
Christiane Nüsslein-Volhard2 decades - 16
Arno Allan Penzias0 decades - 17
Walther Bothe6 decades - 18
Ernst Ruska4 decades - 19
Rudolf Mössbauer0 decades - 20
Wolfgang Ketterle0 decades - 21
Hermann Staudinger9 decades - 22
Hermann Tilkenot measured- - 23
Joachim Sauernot measured- - 24
Peter Grünberg0 decades - 25
Theodor W. Hänsch0 decades - 26
Hans Fischer14 decades - 27
Gerd Binnig2 decades - 28
Georg Bednorz0 decades - 29
Kurt Alder2 decades - 30
J. Hans D. Jensennot measured- - 31
Carl Friedrich von Weizsäckernot measured- - 32
Hermann Oberth7 decades - 33
Willy Messerschmittnot measured- - 34
Ralph H. Baernot measured- - 35
Katherine Oppenheimernot measured- - 36
Otto Diels4 decades - 37
August Horchnot measured- - 38
Clara Immerwahrnot measured- - 39
Horst Ludwig Störmernot measured- - 40
Kurt Tanknot measured- - 41
Gustave Whiteheadnot measured- - 42
Kurt Gersteinnot measured- - 43
Heinz Lammerdingnot measured- - 44
Manfred von Ardennenot measured- - 45
Hans Geiger9 decades - 46
Herbert Kapplernot measured- - 47Hugo Schmeissernot measured-
- 48
Felix Wankelnot measured- - 49
Ludwig Prandtlnot measured- - 50
Robert Havemannnot measured- - 51
Uziel Galnot measured- - 52
Reinhard Genzel0 decades - 53Fritz Strassmannnot measured-
- 54
Walter Dornbergernot measured- - 55
Andy Bechtolsheimnot measured- - 56Rudolf von Sebottendorfnot measured-
- 57
Jan Czochralskinot measured- - 58
Felix Hoffmannnot measured- - 59
Hans von Ohainnot measured- - 60
Pascual Jordannot measured- - 61
Harald Leschnot measured- - 62
Stefan Hell0 decades - 63Wolfgang Paul8 decades
- 64
Adolf Butenandt9 decades - 65
Elisabeth Noelle-Neumannnot measured- - 66
Klaus von Klitzing3 decades - 67
Karl Ziegler11 decades - 68
Wolfgang Eggernot measured- - 69Maria Koepckenot measured-
- 70Klaus Hasselmannnot measured-
- 71
Ulf Merboldnot measured- - 72
Jack Steinberger0 decades - 73
Arthur Rudolphnot measured- - 74
Friedrich Hundnot measured- - 75
Didi Senftnot measured- - 76
Richard Willstätter12 decades - 77
Kurt H. Debusnot measured- - 78
Ernst Schäfernot measured- - 79
Alexander Lippischnot measured- - 80
Henrich Fockenot measured- - 81Johanna Budwignot measured-
- 82
Helmut Gröttrupnot measured- - 83
Thomas Reiternot measured- - 84
Bruno Teschnot measured- - 85
Manfred Eigen5 decades - 86
Gerhard Ertl2 decades - 87
Friedrich Bergius8 decades - 88
Karl Plaggenot measured- - 89
Peter Schreyernot measured- - 90
Fritz von Opelnot measured- - 91
Walter Gerlachnot measured- - 92
Hans Adolf Eduard Drieschnot measured- - 93
Herbert Kroemer0 decades - 94
Walter H. Schottkynot measured- - 95
Ida Noddacknot measured- - 96Tronnot measured-
- 97
Edward Laskernot measured- - 98
Anton Flettnernot measured- - 99
Béla Barényinot measured- - 100
Hans von Euler-Chelpinnot 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.