Most Famous American Writers

50 American Writers in view out of 1,575

Writing 1,575
United States 23,678
Edgar Allan Poe
Edgar Allan Poe American Poet 1809 – 1849
#48
Stephen King
Stephen King American Writer Born 1947
#90
Noam Chomsky
Noam Chomsky American Philosopher Born 1928
#105
Mark Twain
Mark Twain American Writer 1835 – 1910
#110
SL
Stan Lee American Comic 1922 – 2018
#134
Isaac Asimov
Isaac Asimov American Writer 1920 – 1992
#206
H. P. Lovecraft
H. P. Lovecraft American Novelist 1890 – 1937
#266
Bette Davis
Bette Davis American Biographer 1908 – 1989
#315
John Steinbeck
John Steinbeck American Writer 1902 – 1968
#438
F. Scott Fitzgerald
F. Scott Fitzgerald American Writer 1896 – 1940
#465
Henry David Thoreau
Henry David Thoreau American Poet 1817 – 1862
#475
Amelia Earhart
Amelia Earhart American Author 1897 – 1937
#531
Emily Dickinson
Emily Dickinson American Writer 1830 – 1886
#637
Walt Whitman
Walt Whitman American Poet 1819 – 1892
#676
John Dewey
John Dewey American Philosopher 1859 – 1952
#715
Kurt Vonnegut
Kurt Vonnegut American Playwright 1922 – 2007
#834
Ezra Pound
Ezra Pound American Poet 1885 – 1972
#921
Allen Ginsberg
Allen Ginsberg American Playwright 1926 – 1997
#954
Tennessee Williams
Tennessee Williams American Playwright 1911 – 1983
#962
William James
William James American Philosopher 1842 – 1910
#998
W. E. B. Du Bois
W. E. B. Du Bois American Historian 1868 – 1963
#1,128
Gertrude Stein
Gertrude Stein American Writer 1874 – 1946
#1,137
Toni Morrison
Toni Morrison American Writer 1931 – 2019
#1,169
Nathaniel Hawthorne
Nathaniel Hawthorne American Writer 1804 – 1864
#1,188
Gore Vidal
Gore Vidal American Playwright 1925 – 2012
#1,229
Robert A. Heinlein
Robert A. Heinlein American Writer 1907 – 1988
#1,557
Dan Brown
Dan Brown American Writer Born 1964
#1,567
L. Ron Hubbard
L. Ron Hubbard American Author 1911 – 1986
#1,612
Harriet Beecher Stowe
Harriet Beecher Stowe American Writer 1811 – 1896
#1,618
Louisa May Alcott
Louisa May Alcott American Writer 1832 – 1888
#1,796
Langston Hughes
Langston Hughes American Poet 1902 – 1967
#1,797
Harper Lee
Harper Lee American Writer 1926 – 2016
#1,815
Henry Miller
Henry Miller American Writer 1891 – 1980
#1,849
Pearl S. Buck
Pearl S. Buck American Writer 1892 – 1973
#1,870
Thomas Pynchon
Thomas Pynchon American Writer Born 1937
#1,880
John Grisham
John Grisham American Writer Born 1955
#1,975
Cole Porter
Cole Porter American Playwright 1891 – 1964
#2,010
Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert American Critic 1942 – 2013
#2,110
James Fenimore Cooper
James Fenimore Cooper American Writer 1789 – 1851
#2,371
William Gibson
William Gibson American Writer Born 1948
#2,400
JU
John Updike American Poet 1932 – 2009
#2,434
Alice Walker
Alice Walker American Writer Born 1944
#2,463
O. Henry
O. Henry American Writer 1862 – 1910
#2,476
Chuck Palahniuk
Chuck Palahniuk American Writer Born 1962
#2,525
David Foster Wallace
David Foster Wallace American Writer 1962 – 2008
#2,540
Saul Bellow
Saul Bellow American Writer 1915 – 2005
#2,553
L. Frank Baum
L. Frank Baum American Author 1856 – 1919
#2,667
Sinclair Lewis
Sinclair Lewis American Novelist 1885 – 1951
#2,780
James Patterson
James Patterson American Author Born 1947
#2,789
Isaac Bashevis Singer
Isaac Bashevis Singer American Writer 1902 – 1991
#2,809

By the numbers

Inside the United States Writers

1,575 notable people in this slice of the dataset.

Through the Decades

One face per decade — the most globally famous the united states writers born in each.

Notable Births by Decade

Notable births among the United States Writers peaked in the 1940s with 138 people.

What the United States Writers Are Known For

Click any row to drill into that filter.

Writer are the United States Writers's biggest group — 33% of all notables (522).

The United States Writers over-index on novelist — 34.1× the global rate.

  1. Writer522
  2. Novelist198
  3. Journalist187
  4. Poet137
  5. Historian126
  6. Author88
  7. Philosopher52
  8. Editor42
  1. Novelist19834.1×
  2. Editor4232.6×
  3. Biographer2025.2×
  4. Librarian2321.9×
  5. Publisher2919.4×
  6. Journalist18712.4×
  7. Scholar1710.7×
  8. Playwright299.8×

City Hot Spots

Cities that over-produce the United States Writers compared to the world average — multiplier shows how much more.