← 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
Carlo Ancelotti2 decades - 2
Franco Baresi3 decades - 3
Roberto Mancini3 decades - 4
Claudio Ranieri1 decades - 5
Paolo Rossinot measured- - 6
Fabio Capello3 decades - 7
Dino Zoff4 decades - 8
Salvatore Schillaci0 decades - 9
Luciano Spalletti1 decades - 10
Marcello Lippi3 decades - 11
Maurizio Sarri1 decades - 12
Giuseppe Meazza3 decades - 13
Giovanni Trapattoni4 decades - 14
Gianluca Vialli3 decades - 15
Gigi Riva5 decades - 16
Gianni Rivera5 decades - 17
Giuseppe Bergomi2 decades - 18
Roberto Donadoninot measured- - 19
Daniele Massaro1 decades - 20
Giacinto Facchetti2 decades - 21
Walter Zenganot measured- - 22
Cesare Maldininot measured- - 23
Silvio Piolanot measured- - 24
Arrigo Sacchinot measured- - 25
Claudio Gentilenot measured- - 26
Antonio Cabrininot measured- - 27
Enzo Bearzotnot measured- - 28
Vittorio Pozzonot measured- - 29
Gaetano Scireanot measured- - 30
Gian Piero Gasperininot measured- - 31
Giampiero Bonipertinot measured- - 32
Francesco Grazianinot measured- - 33
Sandro Mazzolanot measured- - 34
Marco Tardellinot measured- - 35
Giancarlo Antognoninot measured- - 36
Walter Mazzarrinot measured- - 37
Gabriele Orialinot measured- - 38
Massimo Morattinot measured- - 39
Mauro Tassottinot measured- - 40
Roberto Boninsegnanot measured- - 41
Tarcisio Burgnichnot measured- - 42
Giuseppe Baresinot measured- - 43
Alessandro Altobellinot measured- - 44
Pietro Vierchowodnot measured- - 45
Valentino Mazzolanot measured- - 46
Alberto Zaccheroninot measured- - 47
Cesare Prandellinot measured- - 48
Mario Corsonot measured- - 49
Aldo Serenanot measured- - 50Andrea Carnevalenot measured-
- 51
Bruno Continot measured- - 52
Fulvio Collovatinot measured- - 53
Pietro Anastasinot measured- - 54
Roberto Betteganot measured- - 55
Giorgio Chinaglianot measured- - 56
Franco Causionot measured- - 57
Giovanni Gallinot measured- - 58
Giuseppe Giannininot measured- - 59
Enrico Albertosinot measured- - 60
Nereo Rocconot measured- - 61
Romeo Benettinot measured- - 62
Luigi Delnerinot measured- - 63
Sebastiano Rossinot measured- - 64
Stefano Tacconinot measured- - 65
Lorenzo Buffonnot measured- - 66
Alberico Evaninot measured- - 67
Gian Piero Venturanot measured- - 68
Angelo Domenghininot measured- - 69
Pietro Paolo Virdisnot measured- - 70
Bruno Giordanonot measured- - 71
Roberto Pruzzonot measured- - 72
Giovanni Ferrarinot measured- - 73Riccardo Ferrinot measured-
- 74
Aldo Malderanot measured- - 75
Azeglio Vicininot measured- - 76
Nevio Scalanot measured- - 77
Carlo Mazzonenot measured- - 78
Agostino Di Bartolomeinot measured- - 79
Giancarlo De Sistinot measured- - 80
Sergio Brionot measured- - 81
Raimundo Orsinot measured- - 82
Serse Cosminot measured- - 83
Antonello Cuccureddunot measured- - 84
Angelo Schiavionot measured- - 85
Alberto Malesaninot measured- - 86
Armando Picchinot measured- - 87
Luciano Re Cecconinot measured- - 88
Aristide Guarnerinot measured- - 89
Fernando De Napolinot measured- - 90
Paolo Pulicinot measured- - 91
Ferruccio Valcaregginot measured- - 92
Franco Selvagginot measured- - 93
Pierino Pratinot measured- - 94
Giovanni Lodettinot measured- - 95
Ivano Bordonnot measured- - 96Salvatore Bagninot measured-
- 97
Gianpiero Marininot measured- - 98
Francesco Guidolinnot measured- - 99
Rolando Marannot measured- - 100
Edoardo Rejanot 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.