← 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
Enrico Fermi10 decades - 2
Guglielmo Marconi13 decades - 3
Primo Levi11 decades - 4
Carlo Rubbia4 decades - 5
Margherita Hacknot measured- - 6
Ettore Majorananot measured- - 7
Carlo Rovellinot measured- - 8
Ettore Bugattinot measured- - 9
Federico Fagginnot measured- - 10
Riccardo Giacconi2 decades - 11
Giorgio Parisi1 decades - 12
Piero Ferrarinot measured- - 13
Bruno Pontecorvonot measured- - 14
Giulio Natta10 decades - 15
Marcello Gandininot measured- - 16
Paolo Nespolinot measured- - 17
Pier Luigi Nervinot measured- - 18
Fabiola Gianottinot measured- - 19
Ardito Desionot measured- - 20
Antonino Zichichinot measured- - 21
Gaetano Manfredinot measured- - 22
Riccardo Morandinot measured- - 23
Alfieri Maseratinot measured- - 24
Elena Cattaneonot measured- - 25
Edoardo Amaldinot measured- - 26
Andrew Viterbinot measured- - 27
Dante Giacosanot measured- - 28
Vittorio Janonot measured- - 29
Gabriele Venezianonot measured- - 30Aldo Costanot measured-
- 31
Bruno Rossinot measured- - 32
Franco Rasettinot measured- - 33
Alfonso Bialettinot measured- - 34
Corradino D'Ascanionot measured- - 35
Roberto Cingolaninot measured- - 36
Tullio Reggenot measured- - 37
Giuseppe Levinot measured- - 38
Beppe Gabbianinot measured- - 39
Carlo Chitinot measured- - 40
Gioacchino Colombonot measured- - 41
Aurelio Lampredinot measured- - 42
Teseo Teseinot measured- - 43Andrea Pininfarinanot measured-
- 44
Giuseppe Occhialininot measured- - 45
Amalia Ercoli-Finzinot measured- - 46
Andrea Chiesanot measured- - 47
Mario Tchounot measured- - 48
Orso Mario Corbinonot measured- - 49
Giulio Cabiancanot measured- - 50
Pier Giorgio Perottonot measured- - 51
Guido Tonellinot measured- - 52
Maria Bakuninnot measured- - 53
Gian Carlo Wicknot measured- - 54
Silvio Garattininot measured- - 55
Federico Capassonot measured- - 56
Lucio Russonot measured- - 57
Giuseppe Brotzunot measured- - 58
Ugo Fanonot measured- - 59
Giovanni Giorginot measured- - 60
Giovanni Jona-Lasinionot measured- - 61
Remo Ruffininot measured- - 62
Gleb Wataghinnot measured- - 63
Carlo Felice Trossinot measured- - 64
Aldo Brovaronenot measured- - 65
Giulio Gavottinot measured- - 66
Michele Parrinellonot measured- - 67
Giovanni Agustanot measured- - 68
Giuseppe Bussonot measured- - 69William Salicenot measured-
- 70
Raúl Pateras Pescaranot measured- - 71Donato Coconot measured-
- 72Bruno Zuminonot measured-
- 73Cesare Emilianinot measured-
- 74
Alberto Maria De Agostininot measured- - 75
Franco Rolnot measured- - 76
Laura Ferraresenot measured- - 77
Paolo Stanzaninot measured- - 78
Alfredo Salafianot measured- - 79
Giuseppe Mario Bellancanot measured- - 80
Quirino Majorananot measured- - 81
Gian Francesco Giudicenot measured- - 82
Gaetano Starrabbanot measured- - 83
Orazio Satta Puliganot measured- - 84
Francesco Calogeronot measured- - 85
Giorgio Abettinot measured- - 86Andrea Sassettinot measured-
- 87
Guido Monzinonot measured- - 88
Secondo Campininot measured- - 89
Edoardo Webernot measured- - 90
Franco Comottinot measured- - 91
Gino Bianconot measured- - 92
Vittorio Prodinot measured- - 93
Enrico Persiconot measured- - 94
Eugenio Curielnot measured- - 95
Raffaele Bendandinot measured- - 96
Luca Baldisserrinot measured- - 97
Giulio Alfierinot measured- - 98Pellegrino Ernettinot measured-
- 99
Giorgio Rosanot measured- - 100
Antonio Ferrinot 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.