← 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
Yukio Mishima6 decades - 2
Haruki Murakami2 decades - 3
Shigeru Miyamoto0 decades - 4
Hiroo Onoda0 decades - 5
Osamu Dazai0 decades - 6
Ryūnosuke Akutagawa0 decades - 7Shōkō Asaharanot measured-
- 8
Yasunari Kawabata1 decades - 9
Ryū Murakaminot measured- - 10
Kenzaburō Ōe0 decades - 11
Natsume Sōseki0 decades - 12
Rumiko Takahashinot measured- - 13
Kōbō Abe0 decades - 14
Banana Yoshimotonot measured- - 15
Gosho Aoyamanot measured- - 16
Shūsaku Endōnot measured- - 17
Junji Itōnot measured- - 18
Tadamichi Kuribayashinot measured- - 19
Mas Oyamanot measured- - 20
Masaoka Shikinot measured- - 21
Kazuki Takahashinot measured- - 22
Jun'ichirō Tanizakinot measured- - 23
Edogawa Ranponot measured- - 24Tsugumi Ohbanot measured-
- 25
Daisaku Ikedanot measured- - 26
Kenji Miyazawanot measured- - 27
Issei Sagawanot measured- - 28
Hirohiko Arakinot measured- - 29
Takahito, Prince Mikasanot measured- - 30
Akiko Yosano0 decades - 31
Chūya Nakaharanot measured- - 32
Atsushi Nakajimanot measured- - 33
Eiji Yoshikawanot measured- - 34
Doppo Kunikidanot measured- - 35Yoko Ogawanot measured-
- 36Masamune Shirownot measured-
- 37
Takuboku Ishikawanot measured- - 38
Keigo Higashinonot measured- - 39Kōji Suzukinot measured-
- 40
Yoko Tawadanot measured- - 41Masaru Emotonot measured-
- 42
Go Nagainot measured- - 43
Shigeru Mizukinot measured- - 44
Nobuko Yoshiyanot measured- - 45
Kan Kikuchinot measured- - 46
Yasutaka Tsutsuinot measured- - 47
Misuzu Kanekonot measured- - 48
Shūji Terayamanot measured- - 49
Shuntarō Tanikawanot measured- - 50
Saburō Sakainot measured- - 51
Natsuo Kirinonot measured- - 52
Takiji Kobayashinot measured- - 53
Tōson Shimazakinot measured- - 54
Kafū Nagainot measured- - 55
Takeo Arishimanot measured- - 56
Hiromi Kawakaminot measured- - 57
Kazuhiko Inouenot measured- - 58
Masakazu Katsuranot measured- - 59
Yasushi Inouenot measured- - 60
Fumiko Hayashinot measured- - 61
Ango Sakaguchinot measured- - 62
Seichō Matsumotonot measured- - 63
Jiro Taniguchinot measured- - 64
Naoya Shiganot measured- - 65
Noe Itōnot measured- - 66Akiyuki Nosakanot measured-
- 67
Ryōtarō Shibanot measured- - 68
Kyōka Izuminot measured- - 69
Monkey Punchnot measured- - 70
Moto Hagionot measured- - 71
Tsukasa Hōjōnot measured- - 72
Sakyo Komatsunot measured- - 73
Masuji Ibusenot measured- - 74
Kanji Ishiwaranot measured- - 75
Sakutarō Hagiwaranot measured- - 76
Mineko Iwasakinot measured- - 77
Eiko Kadononot measured- - 78
Motojirō Kajiinot measured- - 79
Fujio Akatsukanot measured- - 80Yūko Tsushimanot measured-
- 81
Mitsuteru Yokoyamanot measured- - 82Hitoshi Igarashinot measured-
- 83
Sakae Ōsuginot measured- - 84
Kenjirō Tokutominot measured- - 85
Tekkan Yosanonot measured- - 86
Seishi Yokomizonot measured- - 87
Shūgorō Yamamotonot measured- - 88
Aya Kōdanot measured- - 89
Sawako Ariyoshinot measured- - 90
Yoshiki Tanakanot measured- - 91Buronsonnot measured-
- 92
Ozaki Kōyōnot measured- - 93
Kazuo Koikenot measured- - 94
Shōhei Ōokanot measured- - 95
Shunryu Suzukinot measured- - 96
Yuji Horiinot measured- - 97
Toyohiko Kagawanot measured- - 98
Osamu Akimotonot measured- - 99
Yasushi Akashinot measured- - 100
Kaori Ekuninot 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.