← Fame through time1500-1599
The 16th century
Whose working lives fell in the 16th century. Books are measured from 1800 and readers from 2015, so for this period we can say who lived then, not who was talked about then.
Lived then
The most notable people whose working lives fell in the 16th century, ranked where coverage and readership agree.
- 1
William Shakespeare22 decades - 2
Mary, Queen of Scots22 decades - 3
Anne Boleyn22 decades - 4
Mary I of England22 decades - 5
Henry VIII of England13 decades - 6
Elizabeth I of England6 decades - 7
Francis Drake22 decades - 8
Lady Jane Grey22 decades - 9
Christopher Marlowe22 decades - 10
Catherine Howard22 decades - 11
Francis Bacon22 decades - 12
Walter Raleigh22 decades - 13
Catherine Parr22 decades - 14
Edward VI of England0 decades - 15
Elizabeth of Yorknot measured- - 16
Thomas Cromwell22 decades - 17
Thomas Wolsey21 decades - 18
John Knox22 decades - 19
Thomas Cranmer22 decades - 20
James V of Scotland1 decades - 21
William Tyndale21 decades - 22
Arthur, Prince of Wales5 decades - 23
Mary Boleyn8 decades - 24
James IV of Scotland7 decades - 25
Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley0 decades - 26
John Napier22 decades - 27
Thomas Tallis9 decades - 28
Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicesternot measured- - 29
Philip Sidney22 decades - 30
Thomas Wyatt22 decades - 31
Reginald Pole22 decades - 32
Edward Seymour, 1st Duke of Somersetnot measured- - 33
John Fisher22 decades - 34
William Byrd22 decades - 35
James Hepburn, 4th Earl of Bothwellnot measured- - 36
Francis Walsingham22 decades - 37
Margaret Pole, Countess of Salisbury0 decades - 38
William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghleynot measured- - 39
Thomas Seymour, 1st Baron Seymour of Sudeley22 decades - 40
Martin Frobisher22 decades - 41
Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey1 decades - 42
William Adams22 decades - 43Elizabeth Boleyn, Countess of Wiltshirenot measured-
- 44
Robert Cecil, 1st Earl of Salisburynot measured- - 45
Henry FitzRoy, 1st Duke of Richmond and Somersetnot measured- - 46
Thomas Kyd16 decades - 47
Jane Boleyn, Viscountess Rochfordnot measured- - 48
Thomas Harriot7 decades - 49
Frances Grey, Duchess of Suffolknot measured- - 50
John Harington22 decades - 51
Katherine Grey0 decades - 52
Richard Hakluyt22 decades - 53
Elizabeth Blount0 decades - 54
Robert Recorde5 decades - 55
George Boleyn, 2nd Viscount Rochfordnot measured- - 56
Richard Hooker22 decades - 57
Stephen Gardiner22 decades - 58
Hamnet Shakespeare0 decades - 59
John Lyly21 decades - 60
Anne Askew14 decades - 61
Edward Stafford, 3rd Duke of Buckinghamnot measured- - 62
Nicholas Hilliard9 decades - 63
George Buchanan22 decades - 64
Philip Howard, 20th Earl of Arundelnot measured- - 65
Anne of York2 decades - 66
Roger Ascham22 decades - 67
Cecily of York0 decades - 68
John Bull22 decades - 69
Michael Drayton22 decades - 70
Hugh O'Neill, Earl of Tyrone21 decades - 71
John Hawkins22 decades - 72
David Beaton10 decades - 73
Richard Rich, 1st Baron Richnot measured- - 74
Lancelot Andrewes17 decades - 75
Myles Coverdale7 decades - 76
Archibald Douglas, 6th Earl of Angusnot measured- - 77
John Gerard22 decades - 78
Alberico Gentili19 decades - 79
Samuel Daniel22 decades - 80
John Davis22 decades - 81
James Hamilton, Duke of Châtelleraultnot measured- - 82
John Stewart, Duke of Albany22 decades - 83
William Morgan22 decades - 84
William Gilbert22 decades - 85
Thomas Bodley22 decades - 86
John Stow22 decades - 87
John Cheke20 decades - 88
Patrick Hamilton22 decades - 89
Edward Seymour, Viscount Beauchampnot measured- - 90
Walter Devereux, 1st Earl of Essexnot measured- - 91
Hans Eworth0 decades - 92
Esmé Stewart, 1st Duke of Lennoxnot measured- - 93
George Wishart15 decades - 94
Thomas Elyot22 decades - 95
David Lyndsay14 decades - 96
Arthur Golding21 decades - 97
John Jewel9 decades - 98Margery Wentworth0 decades
- 99
Margaret Ward0 decades - 100George Gordon, 4th Earl of Huntlynot 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.