← 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
Anne Frank7 decades - 2
Charles Bukowski5 decades - 3
Rainer Maria Rilke12 decades - 4
Erich Maria Remarque10 decades - 5
Günter Grass8 decades - 6
Ernst Jünger10 decades - 7
Oswald Spengler11 decades - 8
Eckhart Tolle1 decades - 9
Martin Niemöller9 decades - 10
Erich Kästner10 decades - 11
Heinrich Böll8 decades - 12Michael Ende5 decades
- 13
Erich Raeder8 decades - 14
Heinrich Mann12 decades - 15
Erik Erikson7 decades - 16
Albert Kesselring7 decades - 17
Hans-Ulrich Rudel4 decades - 18
Herta Müller5 decades - 19Patrick Süskind4 decades
- 20
Klaus Mann10 decades - 21
Traudl Jungenot measured- - 22
Imre Kertész2 decades - 23
Franz Halder8 decades - 24
Nelly Sachs8 decades - 25
Shmuel Yosef Agnon10 decades - 26
Lion Feuchtwanger11 decades - 27
Christa Wolf8 decades - 28
Anna Seghers9 decades - 29
Ludwig Becknot measured- - 30
Karen Horney8 decades - 31
Cornelia Funkenot measured- - 32
Walter Schellenbergnot measured- - 33
Felix Steinernot measured- - 34
Otfried Preußlernot measured- - 35
Markus Wolfnot measured- - 36
Christiane F.not measured- - 37
Juliane Koepckenot measured- - 38
B. Travennot measured- - 39
Golo Mannnot measured- - 40
Hermann Hothnot measured- - 41
Walther Rathenau11 decades - 42
Gottfried Benn11 decades - 43
Janoschnot measured- - 44
Hans Falladanot measured- - 45
Carl Zuckmayernot measured- - 46
Rochus Mischnot measured- - 47W. G. Sebaldnot measured-
- 48
Ernst Hanfstaenglnot measured- - 49
Bernhard Schlink4 decades - 50
Ferdinand von Schirachnot measured- - 51
Otto Cariusnot measured- - 52
Otto Ernst Remernot measured- - 53
Rainer Zitelmannnot measured- - 54
Joachim Festnot measured- - 55
Walter Moersnot measured- - 56
Thea von Harbounot measured- - 57
Martin Walsernot measured- - 58
Alfred Döblin11 decades - 59
Siegfried Lenz8 decades - 60
Stefan George13 decades - 61
Peter Weissnot measured- - 62
Kathrine Switzernot measured- - 63
Else Lasker-Schüler11 decades - 64
Hans Morgenthau0 decades - 65
Duchess Cecilie of Mecklenburg-Schwerinnot measured- - 66
Hans Magnus Enzensbergernot measured- - 67
Joachim Ringelnatznot measured- - 68
Alexander Klugenot measured- - 69
Christian Morgenstern13 decades - 70
Otto Braunnot measured- - 71
Wolfgang Borchertnot measured- - 72
Anselm Grünnot measured- - 73
Joseph Weizenbaumnot measured- - 74
Erwin Panofskynot measured- - 75
Hugo Ballnot measured- - 76
Günther Rallnot measured- - 77
Uwe Johnsonnot measured- - 78
Peter Wohllebennot measured- - 79
Erich Kempkanot measured- - 80
Günter Wallraffnot measured- - 81
Vladimir Voinovichnot measured- - 82
Erich Mühsamnot measured- - 83
Theodor Bussenot measured- - 84
Katia Mannnot measured- - 85
James Krüssnot measured- - 86
Lina Heydrichnot measured- - 87
Judith Kerrnot measured- - 88
Heiner Müllernot measured- - 89Ernst Noltenot measured-
- 90
Waldemar Bonselsnot measured- - 91
Arthur Moeller van den Brucknot measured- - 92
Lothar-Günther Buchheimnot measured- - 93
Stefan Heymnot measured- - 94
Arno Schmidtnot measured- - 95Ursula Haverbecknot measured-
- 96
Esther Vilarnot measured- - 97
Charlotte Linknot measured- - 98Sven Hasselnot measured-
- 99
Ludwig Thomanot measured- - 100Reinhart Kosellecknot 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.