← 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
Federico Fellini8 decades - 2
Sergio Leone6 decades - 3
Vittorio De Sica9 decades - 4
Roberto Rossellini8 decades - 5
Bernardo Bertolucci6 decades - 6
Frank Capra9 decades - 7
Luchino Visconti12 decades - 8
Michelangelo Antonioni8 decades - 9
Dario Argento5 decades - 10
Franco Zeffirelli7 decades - 11
Carlo Ponti7 decades - 12
Giuseppe Tornatore4 decades - 13
Dino De Laurentiisnot measured- - 14
Tinto Brassnot measured- - 15
Lucio Fulcinot measured- - 16
Mario Monicellinot measured- - 17
Luigi Comencininot measured- - 18
Sergio Castellittonot measured- - 19
Elio Petrinot measured- - 20
Marco Bellocchionot measured- - 21
Francesco Rosinot measured- - 22
Gianni Amelionot measured- - 23
Ferzan Özpeteknot measured- - 24
Mario Bavanot measured- - 25
Dino Risinot measured- - 26
Liliana Cavaninot measured- - 27Sergio Corbuccinot measured-
- 28
Ruggero Deodatonot measured- - 29
Gillo Pontecorvonot measured- - 30
Joe D'Amatonot measured- - 31
Carlo Verdonenot measured- - 32
Bruno Bozzettonot measured- - 33
Pupi Avatinot measured- - 34
Marco Ferrerinot measured- - 35
Cristina Comencininot measured- - 36
Ermanno Olminot measured- - 37
Giorgio Strehlernot measured- - 38
Gabriele Salvatoresnot measured- - 39
Stenonot measured- - 40
Aurelio De Laurentiisnot measured- - 41
Pasquale Squitierinot measured- - 42
Carlo Vanzinanot measured- - 43
Francesca Comencininot measured- - 44
Luis Trenkernot measured- - 45
Enrico Maria Salernonot measured- - 46
Umberto Lenzinot measured- - 47
Paolo Virzìnot measured- - 48
Nanni Loynot measured- - 49
Uberto Pasolininot measured- - 50
Mario Soldatinot measured- - 51
Vittorio Mussolininot measured- - 52
Francesca Archibuginot measured- - 53
Valerio Zurlininot measured- - 54
Sergio Martinonot measured- - 55
Mario Camerininot measured- - 56
Alberto Lattuadanot measured- - 57
Giuliano Montaldonot measured- - 58
Franco Rossinot measured- - 59
Luciano Salcenot measured- - 60
Maurizio Nichettinot measured- - 61
Mauro Bolognininot measured- - 62
Sergio Rubininot measured- - 63
Enzo G. Castellarinot measured- - 64
Sergio Sollimanot measured- - 65
Carlo Lizzaninot measured- - 66
Franco Cristaldinot measured- - 67
Antonio Pietrangelinot measured- - 68
Mario Martonenot measured- - 69
Alessandro Blasettinot measured- - 70
Giuseppe De Santisnot measured- - 71
Luigi Zampanot measured- - 72
Pasquale Festa Campanilenot measured- - 73
Giorgio Albertazzinot measured- - 74
Claudio Goranot measured- - 75
Marco Tullio Giordananot measured- - 76
Lamberto Bavanot measured- - 77
Mario Cecchi Gorinot measured- - 78
Sergio Fantoninot measured- - 79
Enzo Barboninot measured- - 80
Salvatore Samperinot measured- - 81
Alberto Grimaldinot measured- - 82
Saro Urzìnot measured- - 83
Franco Amurrinot measured- - 84
Simona Izzonot measured- - 85
Gianfranco Rosinot measured- - 86
Gualtiero Jacopettinot measured- - 87
Antonio Margheritinot measured- - 88
Lasse Braunnot measured- - 89
Peter Del Montenot measured- - 90
Mario Mattolinot measured- - 91
Carlo Di Palmanot measured- - 92
Osvaldo Cavandolinot measured- - 93
Marco Bechisnot measured- - 94
Eugenio Barbanot measured- - 95
Bruno Matteinot measured- - 96
Riccardo Fredanot measured- - 97
Fernando Di Leonot measured- - 98
Giovanni Pastronenot measured- - 99
Vittorio Cecchi Gorinot measured- - 100
Duccio Tessarinot 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.