← Fame through time1600-1699
The 17th century
Whose working lives fell in the 17th 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 17th century, ranked where coverage and readership agree.
- 1
René Descartes22 decades - 2
Blaise Pascal22 decades - 3
Pierre de Fermat8 decades - 4
Françoise d'Aubigné, Marquise de Maintenon22 decades - 5
Marin Mersenne17 decades - 6
Pierre Gassendi21 decades - 7
Pierre Bayle22 decades - 8
Nicolas Malebranche11 decades - 9
Gilles de Roberval0 decades - 10
Michel Rolle0 decades - 11
Pierre Varignon2 decades - 12
François de La Mothe Le Vayernot measured- - 13
Jean Hardouin11 decades - 14
Antoine de Montchrestien9 decades - 15
Étienne Pascal18 decades - 16
Claude Gaspar Bachet de Méziriacnot measured- - 17
Jacques Ozanam0 decades - 18
Nicolas Andry0 decades - 19
Pierre Verniernot measured- - 20
Jacob Spon19 decades - 21
Bernard Lamy13 decades - 22
Louis Cousin14 decades - 23
Jean Riolan the Youngernot measured- - 24
Honoré Fabri0 decades - 25
Pierre Carcavy0 decades - 26Pierre Hérigone0 decades
- 27
Pierre Poiret8 decades - 28
Guy Tachard1 decades - 29
Jean Claudenot measured- - 30Claude de Visdelounot measured-
- 31
Jean-Baptiste du Hamel0 decades - 32
Gabrielle Suchonnot measured- - 33
Pierre Jurieunot measured- - 34
Jean François Niceronnot measured- - 35Florimond de Beaune1 decades
- 36
Georges Fourniernot measured- - 37
Sébastien Truchetnot measured- - 38
Charles de Condrennot measured- - 39
Antoine Le Maistrenot measured- - 40Antoine Le Grandnot measured-
- 41
Claude Mydorge0 decades - 42
Pierre-Sylvain Régisnot measured- - 43
Samuel de Sorbierenot measured- - 44François Charpentier17 decades
- 45
Jean-Baptiste-Henri de Valincournot measured- - 46
Jean Leurechonnot measured- - 47
Nicolas de Malézieunot measured- - 48
Claude Broussonnot measured- - 49
Jean Crassetnot measured- - 50Jean de Silhonnot measured-
- 51
Claude-François Milliet Dechalesnot measured- - 52
Antoine de Laloubèrenot measured- - 53
Théophile Raynaudnot measured- - 54
Nicolas Coeffeteaunot measured- - 55
Gaston Jean Baptiste de Rentynot measured- - 56
Claude Clerseliernot measured-
- 57Pierre Bardinnot measured-
- 58
Jean de Beaugrandnot measured- - 59
Jean Galloisnot measured- - 60Claude Hardynot measured-
- 61Giovanni Veneroninot measured-
- 62
Nicolas Bergiernot measured- - 63
Charles René Reyneaunot measured- - 64
Denis Henrionnot measured- - 65Guillaume Lamynot measured-
- 66
Claude Guillermet de Bérigardnot measured- - 67Louise-Anastasia Sermentnot measured-
- 68Daniel Hay du Chastelet de Chambonnot measured-
- 69
Clément Cyriaque de Manginnot 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.