← 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
Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor22 decades - 2
Hernán Cortés22 decades - 3
Mary, Queen of Scots22 decades - 4
Akbarnot measured- - 5
Ferdinand Magellan22 decades - 6
Anne Boleyn22 decades - 7
Mary I of England22 decades - 8
Vasco da Gama22 decades - 9
Henry VIII of England13 decades - 10
Henry IV of France10 decades - 11
Francis Drake22 decades - 12
Catherine de' Medici22 decades - 13
Francis I of France0 decades - 14
Tokugawa Ieyasu8 decades - 15
Jacques Cartier22 decades - 16
Oda Nobunaga8 decades - 17
Francisco Pizarro22 decades - 18
Selim I11 decades - 19
Catherine Howard22 decades - 20
Lucrezia Borgia22 decades - 21
Joanna of Castile3 decades - 22
Charles IX of France0 decades - 23
Anne of Cleves4 decades - 24
Elizabeth Báthory0 decades - 25
Henry III of France4 decades - 26
Humayun21 decades - 27
Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor0 decades - 28
Catherine Parr22 decades - 29
Cesare Borgia22 decades - 30
Edward VI of England0 decades - 31
Ismail Inot measured- - 32
Mary Tudor, Queen of France22 decades - 33
Rudolf II, Holy Roman Emperornot measured- - 34
Atahualpanot measured- - 35
James V of Scotland1 decades - 36
Maximilian II, Holy Roman Emperor22 decades - 37
Juan Sebastián Elcano14 decades - 38
Hernando de Soto22 decades - 39
Bartolomeu Dias3 decades - 40
Vasili IV of Russia21 decades - 41
Vasco Núñez de Balboa19 decades - 42
Yi Sun-sin0 decades - 43
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Sher Shah Suri1 decades - 44
James IV of Scotland7 decades - 45
Manuel I of Portugal0 decades - 46
Mary of Lorraine15 decades - 47
Nurhaci4 decades - 48
Pedro Álvares Cabral0 decades - 49
Christian II of Denmark0 decades - 50
Pedro de Alvarado22 decades - 51
Elisabeth of Valois22 decades - 52
Matteo Ricci22 decades - 53
Tahmasp I0 decades - 54
Giovanni da Verrazzano19 decades - 55
Charles IX of Sweden0 decades - 56
Christian III of Denmark0 decades - 57
Gustav I of Sweden0 decades - 58
Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca8 decades - 59
Mariam-uz-Zamani0 decades - 60
Wanli Emperor0 decades - 61
Krishnadevaraya7 decades - 62
Grace O'Malley0 decades - 63
Frederick I of Denmark0 decades - 64
Louis II of Hungary0 decades - 65
Maria of Aragon, Queen of Portugalnot measured- - 66
Francisco Vázquez de Coronado14 decades - 67
Diego de Almagro22 decades - 68
Sigismund I the Old0 decades - 69
Miguel López de Legazpi14 decades - 70
Johann Tserclaes, Count of Tillynot measured- - 71
Akechi Mitsuhide0 decades - 72
John III of Swedennot measured- - 73
Túpac Amaru2 decades - 74
Willem Barentsz0 decades - 75
Christina of Denmark0 decades - 76
James Hepburn, 4th Earl of Bothwellnot measured- - 77
Hattori Hanzō0 decades - 78
Bona Sforza22 decades - 79
Isabella of Austria0 decades - 80
Charles II, Archduke of Austrianot measured- - 81
Bernal Díaz del Brawl22 decades - 82
Michael the Brave2 decades - 83
Anna Jagiellon0 decades - 84
Anastasia Romanovna0 decades - 85
Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo13 decades - 86
Beatrice Cenci22 decades - 87
Francis, Duke of Anjounot measured- - 88
Gaspard II de Coligny0 decades - 89
Martin Frobisher22 decades - 90
John Zápolya0 decades - 91
Ismail II0 decades - 92
Catherine of Austria, Queen of Portugalnot measured- - 93
Philip I of Hesse0 decades - 94
Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey1 decades - 95
Dragut18 decades - 96
Seonjo of Joseonnot measured- - 97
Francesco I de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany18 decades - 98
Charles Emmanuel I, Duke of Savoynot measured- - 99
Ōgimachi0 decades - 100
Charles, Duke of Vendôme0 decades
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.