← 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
Sergei Yesenin11 decades - 2
Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn6 decades - 3
Mikhail Bulgakov8 decades - 4
Vladimir Mayakovsky11 decades - 5
Anna Akhmatova11 decades - 6
Marina Tsvetaeva10 decades - 7
Maxim Gorky13 decades - 8
Alexander Blok13 decades - 9
Mikhail Sholokhov9 decades - 10
Boris Pasternak0 decades - 11
Lyudmila Pavlichenko5 decades - 12
Victor Pelevin3 decades - 13
Sergey Mikhalkov0 decades - 14
Anton Denikin3 decades - 15
Yevgeny Zamyatin11 decades - 16
Korney Chukovsky12 decades - 17
Faustina Kowalska0 decades - 18
Aleksandr Kuprin12 decades - 19
Yevgeny Yevtushenko6 decades - 20
Władysław Reymont0 decades - 21
Gherman Titov6 decades - 22
Leonid Andreyev12 decades - 23
Bulat Okudzhava6 decades - 24
Yanka Kupala11 decades - 25
Andrei Platonov10 decades - 26
Nikolay Gumilevnot measured- - 27
Boris Akunin2 decades - 28
Ze'ev Jabotinskynot measured- - 29
Konstantin Paustovsky9 decades - 30
Osip Mandelstamnot measured- - 31
Daniil Kharms5 decades - 32
Yakub Kolas10 decades - 33
Oleksandr Dovzhenko8 decades - 34
Lesya Ukrainka1 decades - 35
Vasily Zaitsev8 decades - 36
Velimir Khlebnikov10 decades - 37
Rasul Gamzatov8 decades - 38
Vladimir Sorokinnot measured- - 39
Alexander Grin10 decades - 40
Vasyl Stusnot measured- - 41
Ilya Ehrenburg10 decades - 42
Pyotr Krasnovnot measured- - 43
Tatyana Tolstayanot measured- - 44
Ivan Yefremovnot measured- - 45
Vasily Grossman9 decades - 46
Varlam Shalamov4 decades - 47
Edvard Radzinskynot measured- - 48
Arkady Gaidarnot measured- - 49
Konstantin Simonov9 decades - 50
Kir Bulychevnot measured- - 51
Robert Rozhdestvenskynot measured- - 52
Yulian Semyonovnot measured- - 53
Nikolai Ostrovsky9 decades - 54
Venedikt Yerofeyevnot measured- - 55
Vasily Aksyonovnot measured- - 56
Andriyan Nikolayevnot measured- - 57
Bella Akhmadulina6 decades - 58
Alexander Fadeyevnot measured- - 59
Eduard Uspensky3 decades - 60
Mikhail Zoshchenkonot measured- - 61
Evgeny Shvartsnot measured- - 62
Vladimir Basovnot measured- - 63
Volodymyr Vynnychenkonot measured- - 64
Hayim Nahman Bialiknot measured- - 65
Samuil Marshaknot measured- - 66
Andrei Bely13 decades - 67
Grand Duke Alexander Mikhailovich of Russianot measured- - 68
Andrei Voznesensky6 decades - 69Yanka Dyagilevanot measured-
- 70
Alexander Belyayevnot measured- - 71
Dmitry Merezhkovskynot measured- - 72
Nellie Kimnot measured- - 73
Valentin Kataevnot measured- - 74
Vladimir Bukovskynot measured- - 75
Arseny Tarkovskynot measured- - 76
Lyudmila Ulitskayanot measured- - 77
Agniya Bartonot measured- - 78
Viktor Shklovskynot measured- - 79
Viktor Astafyevnot measured- - 80
Anatoly Rybakovnot measured- - 81
Mikhail Zhvanetskynot measured- - 82
Valery Bryusov13 decades - 83
Pavlo Tychynanot measured- - 84
Olga Bergholznot measured- - 85
Fazil Iskandernot measured- - 86
Darya Dontsovanot measured- - 87
Leonid Leonovnot measured- - 88
Yevgenia Ginzburgnot measured- - 89
Valentin Rasputinnot measured- - 90
Alexander Vampilovnot measured- - 91
Grigory Semyonovnot measured- - 92
Musa Cälilnot measured- - 93
Yevgeny Vodolazkinnot measured- - 94
Yelena Bonnernot measured- - 95
Yevgeny Petrovnot measured- - 96
Aleksandr Tvardovskynot measured- - 97
Nikolay Nosovnot measured- - 98
Ilya Ilfnot measured- - 99
Mykola Khvylovyinot measured- - 100
Maximilian Voloshinnot 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.