← 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
Hayao Miyazaki2 decades - 2
Akira Kurosawa6 decades - 3
Takeshi Kitano0 decades - 4
Isao Takahata0 decades - 5
Yasujirō Ozu0 decades - 6Satoshi Konnot measured-
- 7
Hirokazu Koreedanot measured- - 8
Hideaki Annonot measured- - 9
Mamoru Oshiinot measured- - 10
Takashi Miikenot measured- - 11
Shohei Imamuranot measured- - 12
Leiji Matsumotonot measured- - 13
Kiyoshi Kurosawanot measured- - 14
Ishirō Hondanot measured- - 15
Nagisa Ōshimanot measured- - 16
Kenji Mizoguchinot measured- - 17
Kon Ichikawanot measured- - 18
Toshio Suzukinot measured- - 19
Hironobu Sakaguchinot measured- - 20
Kinji Fukasakunot measured- - 21
Sion Sononot measured- - 22
Masaki Kobayashinot measured- - 23
Eiji Tsuburayanot measured- - 24
Yōji Yamadanot measured- - 25
Shunji Iwainot measured- - 26
Shinya Tsukamotonot measured- - 27
Hideo Nakatanot measured- - 28
Takashi Yamazakinot measured- - 29
Mikio Narusenot measured- - 30
Yu Suzukinot measured- - 31
Seijun Suzukinot measured- - 32
Kaneto Shindōnot measured- - 33
Hiroshi Teshigaharanot measured- - 34
Yoshiyuki Tominonot measured- - 35
Masato Haradanot measured- - 36
Osamu Dezakinot measured- - 37
Kōji Wakamatsunot measured- - 38
Jūzō Itaminot measured- - 39
Naoto Ohshimanot measured- - 40
Yōjirō Takitanot measured- - 41
Shinji Aoyamanot measured- - 42
Rintaronot measured- - 43
Akiyuki Shinbonot measured- - 44
Keisuke Kinoshitanot measured- - 45
Yoshiaki Kawajirinot measured- - 46
Hiroshi Inagakinot measured- - 47
Tadashi Imainot measured- - 48
Hideshi Hinonot measured- - 49
Kihachi Okamotonot measured- - 50
Masahiro Shinodanot measured- - 51
Teinosuke Kinugasanot measured- - 52
Nobuhiko Obayashinot measured- - 53
Keiichi Haranot measured- - 54
Yoshishige Yoshidanot measured- - 55
Tetsuya Nakashimanot measured- - 56Yoshifumi Kondōnot measured-
- 57
Tatsuya Egawanot measured- - 58
Hideo Goshanot measured- - 59
Tomoyuki Tanakanot measured- - 60
Mahiro Maedanot measured- - 61
Noriyuki Abenot measured- - 62Jun Fukudanot measured-
- 63
Yasuzō Masumuranot measured- - 64
Masayuki Suonot measured- - 65
Makoto Tezukanot measured- - 66
Hiroyuki Moritanot measured- - 67
Shinji Sōmainot measured- - 68
Yukio Ninagawanot measured- - 69
Masaya Katōnot measured- - 70
Kei Kumainot measured- - 71
Kunihiko Ikuharanot measured- - 72
Kunihiko Yuyamanot measured- - 73
Senkichi Taniguchinot measured- - 74
Satsuo Yamamotonot measured- - 75
Haruo Sotozakinot measured- - 76
Gakuryū Ishiinot measured- - 77Yoshiji Kigaminot measured-
- 78
Shin Saburinot measured- - 79
Masao Adachinot measured- - 80Kōji Morimotonot measured-
- 81
Toshio Masudanot measured- - 82
Kenji Kodamanot measured- - 83
Kōichi Mashimonot measured- - 84
Yoshimitsu Moritanot measured- - 85
Takeshi Kobayashinot measured- - 86
Minoru Kawasakinot measured- - 87
Yōko Yamamotonot measured- - 88
Shinji Aramakinot measured- - 89Yumi Takadanot measured-
- 90
Yukihiko Tsutsuminot measured- - 91
Shōzō Makinonot measured- - 92
Ryūhō Ōkawanot measured- - 93
Kazuhiro Furuhashinot measured- - 94
Toshio Matsumotonot measured- - 95
Hiroshi Shimizunot measured- - 96Narumi Kakinouchinot measured-
- 97
Junichi Satonot measured- - 98
Takashi Ishiinot measured- - 99
Kensaku Moritanot measured- - 100
Noboru Nakamuranot 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.