← 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
Matsuo Bashō0 decades - 2
Chikamatsu Monzaemon0 decades - 3
Ihara Saikaku0 decades - 4
Takuan Sōhō0 decades - 5
Mancio Itōnot measured- - 6Asai Ryōi0 decades
- 7
Takarai Kikaku0 decades - 8
Matsunaga Teitoku0 decades - 9
Ishin Sūdennot measured- - 10
Mukai Kyorainot measured- - 11
Nishiyama Sōinnot measured- - 12
Tetsugen Doko0 decades - 13
Uejima Onitsuranot measured- - 14
Kitamura Kiginnot measured- - 15
Kinoshita Katsutoshinot measured- - 16
Ryōnen Gensōnot measured- - 17
Nozawa Bonchōnot measured- - 18
Sonomenot measured- - 19Ogimachi Machikonot measured-
- 20Nonogouchi Ryuhonot 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.