← 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
Pier Paolo Pasolini8 decades - 2
Umberto Eco7 decades - 3
Luigi Pirandello13 decades - 4
Pierluigi Collina1 decades - 5
Cesare Pavese9 decades - 6
Grazia Deledda13 decades - 7
Dario Fo7 decades - 8
Alberto Moravia10 decades - 9Elena Ferrante3 decades
- 10
Eugenio Montale10 decades - 11
Gianni Rodari6 decades - 12
Salvatore Quasimodo9 decades - 13
Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa7 decades - 14
Natalia Ginzburg8 decades - 15
Dino Buzzati8 decades - 16
Curzio Malaparte10 decades - 17
Elsa Morante8 decades - 18
Nanni Morettinot measured- - 19
Andrea Camillerinot measured- - 20
Filippo Tommaso Marinetti3 decades - 21
Alessandro Baricconot measured- - 22
Nichi Vendola3 decades - 23
Leonardo Sciascianot measured- - 24
Hugo Prattnot measured- - 25
Carlo Ginzburgnot measured- - 26
Dacia Maraininot measured- - 27
Giorgio Bassaninot measured- - 28
Lina Wertmüller4 decades - 29
Giuseppe Ungaretti11 decades - 30
Cesare Zavattininot measured- - 31
Ettore Scolanot measured- - 32
Margherita Sarfattinot measured- - 33
Erri De Lucanot measured- - 34
Margaret Mazzantininot measured- - 35
Stefano Benninot measured- - 36
Luciano De Crescenzonot measured- - 37
Beppe Fenoglionot measured- - 38
Pietro Germinot measured- - 39
Damiano Damianinot measured- - 40
Alda Merininot measured- - 41
Antonio Tabucchi5 decades - 42
Ignazio Silonenot measured- - 43Carlo M. Cipollanot measured-
- 44
Sibilla Aleramonot measured- - 45
Carlo Emilio Gaddanot measured- - 46
Ennio Flaianonot measured- - 47
Tonino Guerranot measured- - 48
Giovanni Papininot measured- - 49
Elio Vittorininot measured- - 50
Susanna Tamaronot measured- - 51
Chiara Lubichnot measured- - 52
Alessandro Barberonot measured- - 53
Gioconda Bellinot measured- - 54
Claudio Magrisnot measured- - 55
Umberto Sabanot measured- - 56
Prince Michael of Greece and Denmarknot measured- - 57
Alberto Angelanot measured- - 58
Elisabetta Daminot measured- - 59
Princess Maria Gabriella of Savoynot measured- - 60
Vitaliano Brancatinot measured- - 61
Domenico Starnonenot measured- - 62
Enzo Bianchinot measured- - 63
Valerio Massimo Manfredinot measured- - 64
Giorgio Falettinot measured- - 65
Mario Rigoni Sternnot measured- - 66
Marella Agnellinot measured- - 67
Maria Valtortanot measured- - 68
Andrea Riccardinot measured- - 69
Roberto Calassonot measured- - 70
Mario Salierinot measured- - 71
Alba de Céspedesnot measured- - 72
Federico Moccianot measured- - 73
Leone Ginzburgnot measured- - 74
Vasco Pratolininot measured- - 75
Ada Negrinot measured- - 76
Vyacheslav Ivanovnot measured- - 77
Pasquale Panellanot measured- - 78
Lorenzo Milaninot measured- - 79
Guido Gozzanonot measured- - 80
Sandro Veronesinot measured- - 81
Enzo Traversonot measured- - 82
Anna Maria Ortesenot measured- - 83
Mario Luzinot measured- - 84Nicholas Romanovnot measured-
- 85
Suso Cecchi d'Amiconot measured- - 86
Federigo Tozzinot measured- - 87
Tommaso Landolfinot measured- - 88
Gianrico Carofiglionot measured- - 89
Pitigrillinot measured- - 90
Carlo Lucarellinot measured- - 91Giovanni Arpinonot measured-
- 92
Riccardo Bacchellinot measured- - 93
Vincenzo Ceraminot measured- - 94
Aldo Palazzeschinot measured- - 95
Giovanni Benellinot measured- - 96
Bianca Pitzornonot measured- - 97
Vladimir Bartolnot measured- - 98
Aldo Businot measured- - 99
Massimo Bontempellinot measured- - 100
Giorgio Scerbanenconot 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.