← 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
Anna Pavlova12 decades - 2
Yuri Nikulin6 decades - 3
Yevgeny Leonov5 decades - 4
Vasily Shukshin6 decades - 5
Faina Ranevskaya4 decades - 6
Innokenty Smoktunovsky6 decades - 7
Vyacheslav Tikhonov5 decades - 8
Mikhail Ulyanov6 decades - 9
Oleg Yankovskynot measured- - 10
Andrei Mironovnot measured- - 11
Lyubov Orlova7 decades - 12
Aleksey Batalovnot measured- - 13
Alisa Freindlichnot measured- - 14
Oleg Tabakovnot measured- - 15Aleksandr Dedyushkonot measured-
- 16
Leonid Kuravlyovnot measured- - 17
Vladimir Mashkovnot measured- - 18
Armen Dzhigarkhanyan4 decades - 19
Mikhail Boyarskynot measured- - 20
Oleg Yefremovnot measured- - 21
Yury Yakovlevnot measured- - 22
Oleg Menshikovnot measured- - 23
Vasily Livanovnot measured- - 24
Vladimir Solovyovnot measured- - 25
Anatoli Papanovnot measured- - 26
Kirill Lavrovnot measured- - 27
Oleg Basilashvilinot measured- - 28
Aleksandr Abdulovnot measured- - 29
Lyudmila Gurchenkonot measured- - 30
Liya Akhedzhakovanot measured- - 31
Inna Churikovanot measured- - 32
Vera Alentovanot measured- - 33
Galina Ulanovanot measured- - 34
Leonid Bykovnot measured- - 35Alexander Kaidanovskynot measured-
- 36
Anatoly Solonitsynnot measured- - 37
Nikolai Karachentsovnot measured- - 38
Georgy Vitsinnot measured- - 39
Aleksei Serebryakovnot measured- - 40
Viktor Sukhorukovnot measured- - 41
Andrey Myagkovnot measured- - 42
Rolan Bykovnot measured- - 43
Mark Bernesnot measured- - 44
Dmitry Kiselyovnot measured- - 45
Leonid Kanevskynot measured- - 46
Valentin Gaftnot measured- - 47
Vasily Lanovoynot measured- - 48
Anastasiya Vertinskayanot measured- - 49
Andrei Paninnot measured- - 50
Arkady Raikinnot measured- - 51
Nonna Mordyukovanot measured- - 52
Natalya Gundarevanot measured- - 53
Natalya Varleynot measured- - 54
Mikhail Yefremovnot measured- - 55
Svetlana Tomanot measured- - 56
Alexander Maslyakovnot measured- - 57
Natalya Arinbasarovanot measured- - 58
Stanislav Lyubshinnot measured- - 59
Alla Demidovanot measured- - 60
Yury Solominnot measured- - 61
Yevgeniy Yevstigneyevnot measured- - 62
Nikolai Burlyayevnot measured- - 63
Aleksandr Demyanenkonot measured- - 64Leonid Filatovnot measured-
- 65
Klara Rumyanovanot measured- - 66
Irina Skobtsevanot measured- - 67
Tatiana Samoilovanot measured- - 68
Irina Alfyorovanot measured- - 69
Gennady Khazanovnot measured- - 70
Vladimir Etushnot measured- - 71
Elena Yakovlevanot measured- - 72
Dmitriy Petrovnot measured- - 73
Alexey Buldakovnot measured- - 74
Vera Glagolevanot measured- - 75
Margarita Terekhovanot measured- - 76
Yevgenia Dobrovolskayanot measured- - 77
Sergei Yurskynot measured- - 78
Aleksandr Shirvindtnot measured- - 79
Ludmila Savelyevanot measured- - 80
Tatyana Vasilevanot measured- - 81
Inna Makarovanot measured- - 82
Vladimir Zeldinnot measured- - 83
Natalya Andrejchenkonot measured- - 84
Sergei Garmashnot measured- - 85
Dmitry Kharatyannot measured- - 86
Vitaly Solominnot measured- - 87
Nikolay Cherkasovnot measured- - 88
Olga Knippernot measured- - 89
Aleksandr Domogarovnot measured- - 90
Dmitry Nazarovnot measured- - 91
Yevgeny Morgunovnot measured- - 92
Mikhail Zharovnot measured- - 93
Pyotr Mamonovnot measured- - 94
Nikolai Kryuchkovnot measured- - 95
Tatiana Tarasovanot measured- - 96
Larisa Golubkinanot measured- - 97
Vera Kholodnayanot measured- - 98
Natalya Bondarchuknot measured- - 99
Nadezhda Rumyantsevanot measured- - 100
Oleg Anofriyevnot 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.