← 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
Stephen Hawking4 decades - 2
Richard Dawkins4 decades - 3
Rosalind Franklin4 decades - 4
Alexander Fleming8 decades - 5
Roger Penrose3 decades - 6
Paul Dirac3 decades - 7
Max Born9 decades - 8
Francis Crick5 decades - 9
William Bradford Shockley7 decades - 10
John Logie Baird3 decades - 11
Peter Higgs1 decades - 12
Freeman Dyson6 decades - 13
James Chadwicknot measured- - 14
Dorothy Hodgkin1 decades - 15
Arthur Eddington9 decades - 16
Klaus Fuchsnot measured- - 17
Ronald Fisher6 decades - 18
Charles K. Kao0 decades - 19
Andre Geim0 decades - 20
Jocelyn Bell Burnell0 decades - 21
Frederick Sanger0 decades - 22
Millvina Deannot measured- - 23
Lawrence Bragg0 decades - 24
Fred Hoyle7 decades - 25
Patrick Blackett0 decades - 26
Joseph Rotblat2 decades - 27
Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkinnot measured- - 28
Brian Josephson0 decades - 29
Henry Moseleynot measured- - 30
Dennis Gabor3 decades - 31
George Paget Thomson0 decades - 32
John Douglas Cockcroft3 decades - 33
Frederick Soddy11 decades - 34
Patrick Moorenot measured- - 35
Antony Hewish0 decades - 36
David Deutschnot measured- - 37
Martin Reesnot measured- - 38
Stephen Wolframnot measured- - 39
James Dysonnot measured- - 40
Charles Thomson Rees Wilson0 decades - 41
James Lovelock3 decades - 42
Jim Ratcliffenot measured- - 43
Edward Victor Appleton0 decades - 44
Frank Williamsnot measured- - 45
Frank Whittlenot measured- - 46
Francis William Aston0 decades - 47
C. F. Powell0 decades - 48
Julian Huxley10 decades - 49
Martin Ryle0 decades - 50
Charles Glover Barkla0 decades - 51
Owen Willans Richardson0 decades - 52
Ross Brawnnot measured- - 53
J.B.S. Haldane4 decades - 54
David J. Thouless0 decades - 55
Nevill Francis Mott0 decades - 56
Colin Chapmannot measured- - 57
Amy Johnson7 decades - 58
Harry Brearleynot measured- - 59
Charles Ingramnot measured- - 60
Helen Sharmannot measured- - 61
Paul Nurse0 decades - 62
Douglas Mawsonnot measured- - 63
Robert Watson-Wattnot measured- - 64
John Stewart Bellnot measured- - 65
Sergey Kapitsanot measured- - 66
Marie Stopesnot measured- - 67
John Clarkenot measured- - 68
Jim Al-Khalilinot measured- - 69
Barnes Wallisnot measured- - 70
R. J. Mitchellnot measured- - 71
Stuart J. Russellnot measured- - 72
Andrew Huxley0 decades - 73
Tim Huntnot measured- - 74
John Gurdonnot measured- - 75Patrick Headnot measured-
- 76
Godfrey Hounsfield0 decades - 77
Alec Issigonisnot measured- - 78Norman Smithnot measured-
- 79
Eddie Kramernot measured- - 80
Richard Robsonnot measured- - 81
Paul Daviesnot measured- - 82
Rudolf Peierlsnot measured- - 83
John Maynard Smithnot measured- - 84
David Bellamynot measured- - 85
Aaron Klug0 decades - 86
Mary Archernot measured- - 87
Sophie Wilsonnot measured- - 88
Peter Mansfield0 decades - 89
Peter Atkinsnot measured- - 90
Dennis W. Sciamanot measured- - 91
Bernard Lovellnot measured- - 92
John Polkinghornenot measured- - 93J. D. Bernalnot measured-
- 94
Tommy Flowersnot measured- - 95
John Barrownot measured- - 96
Max Perutz2 decades - 97
Beatrice Shillingnot measured- - 98W. D. Hamiltonnot measured-
- 99
Zhores Medvedevnot measured- - 100
Mo Ibrahimnot 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.