← 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
Tasuku Honjo0 decades - 2
D. T. Suzukinot measured- - 3
Heisuke Hironakanot measured- - 4
Kitarō Nishidanot measured- - 5
Shigefumi Morinot measured- - 6
Shūmei Ōkawanot measured- - 7
Kunihiko Kodairanot measured- - 8
Masanobu Fukuokanot measured- - 9
Chizuko Uenonot measured- - 10
Ümit Özdağnot measured- - 11
Kunio Yanagitanot measured- - 12
Kiyoshi Itōnot measured- - 13Yutaka Taniyamanot measured-
- 14Kenichi Ohmaenot measured-
- 15Gorō Shimuranot measured-
- 16
Haruhiko Kurodanot measured- - 17
Masaki Kashiwaranot measured- - 18Shinichi Fujimuranot measured-
- 19
George Ohsawanot measured- - 20
Tsunesaburō Makiguchinot measured- - 21
Kuki Shūzōnot measured- - 22
Motoo Kimuranot measured- - 23
Yanagi Sōetsunot measured- - 24
Shizuo Kakutaninot measured- - 25Mikio Satonot measured-
- 26
Kojin Karataninot measured- - 27
Kazuko Sugiyamanot measured- - 28
Keiji Nishitaninot measured- - 29Ryuta Kawashimanot measured-
- 30
Sawao Katōnot measured- - 31
Kazuo Uedanot measured- - 32
Akira Endōnot measured- - 33
Tetsuro Watsujinot measured- - 34
Masaaki Shirakawanot measured- - 35
Hajime Tanabenot measured- - 36
Kazutoshi Morinot measured- - 37
Fujio Masuokanot measured- - 38
Thomas Noguchinot measured- - 39
Kiyoshi Okanot measured- - 40
Ryūzō Toriinot measured- - 41
Hajime Kawakaminot measured- - 42
Hajime Nakamuranot measured- - 43
Abe Isoonot measured- - 44
Michio Morishimanot measured- - 45
Teiji Takaginot measured- - 46
Kiyoshi Mikinot measured- - 47Kenkichi Iwasawanot measured-
- 48
Hirofumi Uzawanot measured- - 49
Ikujiro Nonakanot measured- - 50
Tadatoshi Akibanot measured- - 51Kazuhide Uekusanot measured-
- 52
Ryoichi Ikegaminot measured- - 53
Tatsukichi Minobenot measured- - 54
Shinobu Ishiharanot measured- - 55
Hirotugu Akaikenot measured- - 56
Masao Maruyamanot measured- - 57
Tomisaku Kawasakinot measured- - 58Sakuji Yoshimuranot measured-
- 59
Toshiko Yuasanot measured- - 60Hiraku Nakajimanot measured-
- 61
Hiroo Kanamorinot measured- - 62
Hitoshi Yamakawanot measured- - 63
Yukio Endōnot measured- - 64
Masayoshi Nagatanot measured- - 65
Nobuhiro Kiyotakinot measured- - 66
Nobuko Imainot measured- - 67
Kōtarō Tanakanot measured- - 68
Naoto Fukasawanot measured- - 69Toru Kumonnot measured-
- 70
Tadahiro Aizawanot measured- - 71
Takeo Kanadenot measured- - 72
Takakusu Junjirōnot measured- - 73
Kinji Imanishinot measured- - 74
Shunsuke Tsuruminot measured- - 75
Taikichiro Morinot measured- - 76
Yūji Iwasawanot measured- - 77
Osamu Hayaishinot measured- - 78
Saburo Okitanot measured- - 79
Toshihiko Fukuinot measured- - 80Norio Taniguchinot measured-
- 81
Tomoko Ohtanot measured- - 82
Heizō Takenakanot measured- - 83
Tadamitsu Kishimotonot measured- - 84
Tetsuji Morohashinot measured- - 85Masahiko Aokinot measured-
- 86
Kazuhiko Nishijimanot measured- - 87
Chie Nakanenot measured- - 88
Tosio Katōnot measured- - 89
Hirotaka Takeuchinot measured- - 90Yasumasa Kanadanot measured-
- 91Tadao Umesaonot measured-
- 92Noriko Arainot measured-
- 93Akira Asadanot measured-
- 94
Kanori Inonot measured- - 95
Kenjirō Shōdanot measured- - 96
Shigeru Odanot measured- - 97
Shigehiko Hasuminot measured- - 98
Masatoşi Gündüz İkedanot measured- - 99Takeo Doinot measured-
- 100
Shokichi Iyanaganot 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.