← 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
Nicholas II of Russia14 decades - 2
Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna of Russia11 decades - 3
Alexei Nikolaevich, Tsarevich of Russia11 decades - 4
Lavr Kornilov5 decades - 5
Grand Duchess Olga Nikolaevna of Russianot measured- - 6
Grand Duchess Maria Nikolaevna of Russia13 decades - 7
Grand Duchess Tatiana Nikolaevna of Russianot measured- - 8
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Grand Duke Michael Alexandrovich of Russianot measured- - 9
Andrey Vlasovnot measured- - 10
Grand Duchess Xenia Alexandrovna of Russianot measured- - 11
Otto Schmidtnot measured- - 12
Vladimir Arsenyevnot measured- - 13
Grand Duchess Olga Alexandrovna of Russianot measured- - 14
Grand Duke Kirill Vladimirovich of Russianot measured- - 15
Prince Paul of Yugoslavianot measured- - 16
Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna of Russianot measured- - 17
Mohammed Alim Khannot measured- - 18
Princess Anastasia of Montenegronot measured- - 19
Andrei Alexandrovich of Russianot measured- - 20
Princess Elisabeth of Saxe-Altenburgnot measured- - 21
Grand Duchess Maria Kirillovna of Russianot measured- - 22
Prince Vasili Alexandrovich of Russianot measured- - 23
Arthur Chilingarovnot measured- - 24
Prince Feodor Alexandrovich of Russianot measured- - 25
Yuri Senkevichnot measured- - 26
George Mikhailovich, Count Brasovnot measured- - 27
Yevgeniy Abalakovnot measured- - 28
Georgy Sedovnot measured- - 29
Princess Tatiana Constantinovna of Russianot measured- - 30
Princess Vera Constantinovna of Russianot measured- - 31
Prince Dmitri Alexandrovich of Russianot measured- - 32
Princess Xenia Georgievna of Russianot measured- - 33
Princess Marina Petrovna of Russianot measured- - 34
Lev Bergnot measured- - 35
Princess Nadejda Petrovna of Russianot measured- - 36
Prince Georgy Konstantinovich of Russianot measured- - 37
Grigori Nelyubovnot measured- - 38
George de Roerichnot measured- - 39
Valerian Albanovnot measured- - 40
Vsevolod Ivanovich of Russianot measured- - 41Zhanna Yorkinanot measured-
- 42Tatyana Kuznetsovanot measured-
- 43
Isfandiyar Jurji Bahadur Khannot measured- - 44
Georgy Brusilovnot measured- - 45
Gombojab Tsybikovnot measured- - 46
Mikhail Vodopyanovnot measured- - 47
Georgy Ushakovnot measured- - 48
Konstantin Badiginnot measured- - 49
Mikhail Somovnot measured- - 50
Mikhail Babushkinnot measured- - 51
Vladimir Wiesenot measured- - 52
Princess Olga Alexandrovna Yurievskayanot measured- - 53Ivan Anikeyevnot measured-
- 54
Nikolai Korzhenevskiynot measured- - 55
Ivan Doroninnot measured- - 56
Nikifor Begichevnot measured- - 57
Alexander Bulatovichnot measured- - 58Valentin Filatyevnot measured-
- 59
Prince George Alexandrovich Yuryevskynot measured- - 60
Alexander Kuchinnot measured- - 61
Ananiasz Zajączkowskinot measured- - 62
Alexey Tryoshnikovnot measured- - 63Dmitri Zaikinnot measured-
- 64
Mark Shevelevnot measured- - 65
Fyodor Matisennot measured- - 66Yevgeny Tolstikovnot measured-
- 67
Aleksey Belevsky-Zhukovskynot measured- - 68
Pyotr Averyanovnot measured- - 69
Daria de Beauharnaisnot measured- - 70
Boris Chukhnovskynot measured- - 71Prince Michael Andreievich Romanovskynot measured-
- 72
Alexander Konradnot measured- - 73
Georgy Nikolayevich of Leuchtenbergnot measured- - 74
Alexander Alexejewitsch Kusnezownot measured- - 75Pavel Senkonot measured-
- 76Peter Goullartnot measured-
- 77Yuri Ponomarevnot measured-
- 78Nikolay Baykovnot measured-
- 79Vladimir Abazarovnot measured-
- 80
Boris Tageevnot measured- - 81Yevgeny Korotkevichnot measured-
- 82Vera Zaporozhskayanot 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.