This Is the Most Popular Author of All Time, Survey Says
From Maya Angelou to Stephen King, these are the most beloved authors of all time
Whether you're the type of person who always has their nose buried in a book or haven't read anything longer than an online news brief since you finished college, you probably have some familiarity with certain authors, if only by name. Everyone has heard of literary icons like Ernest Hemingway, Jane Austen, and F. Scott Fitzgerald and you've likely even read at least one of their more celebrated works, be it The Sun Also Rises, Pride and Prejudice, or The Great Gatsby. Or maybe you're more of a Stephen King kind of person, or, for all the comic book lovers out there, a Stan Lee fanatic. Whatever you are into, there are certain authors that people gravitate to more so than others. And using data from over 20 million responses, YouGov was able to determine the most popular author of all time. Read on to see if your favorite penner of prose cracked the top 30, and see who took the title of the most popular as of the end of 2020. And for more things people in the U.S. can't seem to get enough of, This Is the Single Most Popular Food in America, Survey Says.
30
James Patterson
Popularity rating: 46 percent
And if you enjoy a drink or two, as so many writers famously do, This Is the Most Popular Cocktail in Your State, According to Data.
29
Lewis Carroll
Popularity rating: 46 percent
28
Robert Louis Stevenson
Popularity rating: 46 percent
27
Jane Austen
Popularity rating: 47 percent
26
J.K. Rowling
Popularity rating: 48 percent
And for some updates on the stars of the film versions of this wildly popular series, This Is What All the Kids From "Harry Potter" Look Like Now.
25
Ian Fleming
Popularity rating: 48 percent
And for a ranking of the films based on Fleming's franchise, check out Ranking Every James Bond Movie, From Worst Reviewed to Best.
24
Ralph Waldo Emerson
Popularity rating: 48 percent
23
C.S. Lewis
Popularity rating: 49 percent
22
Jules Verne
Popularity rating: 49 percent
21
Oscar Wilde
Popularity rating: 49 percent
20
Hans Christian Anderson
Popularity rating: 50 percent
19
John Steinbeck
Popularity rating: 50 percent
18
Walt Whitman
Popularity rating: 52 percent
17
George Orwell
Popularity rating: 52 percent
16
F. Scott Fitzgerald
Popularity rating: 53 percent
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15
J. R. R. Tolkien
Popularity rating: 54 percent
14
Socrates
Popularity rating: 55 percent
13
Robert Frost
Popularity rating: 56 percent
12
H.G. Wells
Popularity rating: 56 percent
11
Maya Angelou
Popularity rating: 57 percent
10
Stan Lee
Popularity rating: 58 percent
9
Emily Dickinson
Popularity rating: 58 percent
8
Agatha Christie
Popularity rating: 60 percent
7
Ernest Hemingway
Popularity rating: 63 percent
6
Stephen King
Popularity rating: 67 percent
And for more from King, check out The One Horror Film Stephen King Was Too Scared to Finish.
5
Charles Dickens
Popularity rating: 68 percent
4
Williams Shakespeare
Popularity rating: 68 percent
3
Edgar Allan Poe
Popularity rating: 70 percent
2
Mark Twain
Popularity rating: 73 percent
1
Dr. Seuss
Popularity rating: 76 percent
And for more on the recent controversy surrounding the most popular author on this list, check out Dr. Seuss Will Stop Publishing These Books Due to Accusations of Racism.
