← 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
Molière22 decades - 2
Jean de La Fontaine22 decades - 3
Charles Perrault22 decades - 4
Jean Racine22 decades - 5
Pierre Corneille22 decades - 6
Cyrano de Bergerac0 decades - 7
Madame de Sévigné13 decades - 8
Charles de Batz de Castelmore d'Artagnannot measured- - 9
Nicolas Boileau-Despréaux22 decades - 10
Jean de La Bruyère17 decades - 11
François de La Rochefoucauld18 decades - 12
Bernard Le Bovier de Fontenelle0 decades - 13
Ninon de Lenclos22 decades - 14
Madame de La Fayette17 decades - 15
Madeleine de Scudéry17 decades - 16
Anne Marie Louise d'Orléans0 decades - 17
Paul Scarron22 decades - 18
Jean-Baptiste Tavernier5 decades - 19
Jeanne-Marie Bouvier de La Motte Guyonnot measured- - 20
Théophile de Viau19 decades - 21
Honoré d'Urfé22 decades - 22
Hortense Mancini22 decades - 23
Roger de Rabutin, Comte de Bussy0 decades - 24
Thomas Corneille22 decades - 25
Marie de Gournay15 decades - 26
Jean Mabillon21 decades - 27
Jean Chardin5 decades - 28
Jean-Louis Guez de Balzacnot measured- - 29
Louis Bourdaloue2 decades - 30
Charles de Saint-Évremond0 decades - 31
Philippe Quinault15 decades - 32
Charles du Fresne, sieur du Cange0 decades - 33
Camille d'Hostun, duc de Tallard0 decades - 34
Alexandre Exquemelin0 decades - 35
Brother Lawrence1 decades - 36
Charles de Valois, Duke of Angoulêmenot measured- - 37
Anne Dacier3 decades - 38
Jean-Baptiste Massillon0 decades - 39
Jean-François Regnard4 decades - 40
Marie Anne de La Trémoille, princesse des Ursinsnot measured- - 41
Antoine Furetière12 decades - 42
Antoinette du Ligier de la Garde Deshoulièresnot measured- - 43
Henri de Boulainvilliers2 decades - 44
François de Bassompierre12 decades - 45
Jacqueline Pascal18 decades - 46
Peter Fourier20 decades - 47
Charles Rollin8 decades - 48
Charles-Irénée Castel de Saint-Pierrenot measured- - 49Antoine Girard de Saint-Amantnot measured-
- 50François Poullain de la Barre0 decades
- 51
Pierre Daniel Huet14 decades - 52
François-Timoléon de Choisy1 decades - 53
Anne-Thérèse de Marguenat de Courcellesnot measured- - 54
Madeleine de Souvré, marquise de Sablé4 decades - 55
Honorat de Bueil, seigneur de Racan0 decades - 56
Henri de Massue, Earl of Galway0 decades - 57
Ferdinand de Marsin0 decades - 58
Mathurin Régnier20 decades - 59
Gilles Ménage22 decades - 60
Valentin Conrart20 decades - 61Nicolas Chorier21 decades
- 62
Charles Sorel20 decades - 63
Melchior de Polignac20 decades - 64
Jean-Jacques Olier12 decades - 65
Jean-Baptiste Labat3 decades - 66
Marie-Catherine de Villedieunot measured- - 67
Philippe de Courcillon de Dangeau0 decades - 68
Claude Fleury21 decades - 69
Louise Marguerite of Lorraine0 decades - 70
Dominique Bouhours2 decades - 71Gatien de Courtilz de Sandras0 decades
- 72
Jean Desmaretsnot measured- - 73
Esprit Fléchier14 decades - 74
Barthélemy d'Herbelot0 decades - 75
Jean-Pierre Camus20 decades - 76
François Hédelin, abbé d'Aubignac3 decades - 77
Gédéon Tallemant des Réaux1 decades - 78
Roger de Piles17 decades - 79
Charlotte-Rose de Caumont La Forcenot measured- - 80
Louis-Sébastien Le Nain de Tillemontnot measured- - 81
Charles Colbert, marquis de Croissy1 decades - 82
André du Ryer0 decades - 83
Paul Pellisson9 decades - 84
Jean-Baptiste de Santeul0 decades - 85César Vichard de Saint-Réalnot measured-
- 86
René de Froulay de Tessénot measured- - 87Alexandre Hardy20 decades
- 88
Gauthier de Costes, seigneur de la Calprenèdenot measured- - 89
Henry Sydney, 1st Earl of Romney0 decades - 90François Pétis de la Croix2 decades
- 91
François Eudes de Mézeray1 decades - 92
Benoît de Maillet9 decades - 93
François Maynard13 decades - 94Henri Valois0 decades
- 95
François Annibal d'Estrées0 decades - 96
Charles Alphonse du Fresnoy0 decades - 97
Adrien Baillet21 decades - 98
Pierre de Marca22 decades - 99
François de Callières7 decades - 100
Étienne Baluze0 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.