← 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
Rembrandt22 decades - 2
Baruch Spinoza16 decades - 3
Johannes Vermeer3 decades - 4
William III of England2 decades - 5
Antonie van Leeuwenhoek7 decades - 6
Christiaan Huygens7 decades - 7
Abel Tasman8 decades - 8
Hugo Grotius22 decades - 9
Maria Sibylla Merian9 decades - 10
Johan de Witt0 decades - 11
Frans Halsnot measured- - 12
Peter Stuyvesant22 decades - 13
William II, Prince of Orangenot measured- - 14
Michiel de Ruyter0 decades - 15
James Scott, 1st Duke of Monmouthnot measured- - 16
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Jan van Riebeeck7 decades - 17
Frederick Henry of Orange-Nassaunot measured- - 18
Carel Fabritius0 decades - 19
Jan Steen22 decades - 20
Gerard van Honthorst0 decades - 21
Rachel Ruysch0 decades - 22
Cornelis Drebbelnot measured- - 23
Jacob van Ruisdael5 decades - 24
Saskia van Uylenburgh0 decades - 25
Judith Leyster0 decades - 26Willem Janszoon0 decades
- 27
Joost van den Vondel0 decades - 28
Peter Lely22 decades - 29
John Maurice, Prince of Nassau-Siegen20 decades - 30
Pieter de Hooch11 decades - 31
Jan Pieterszoon Coen0 decades - 32
Maarten Tromp0 decades - 33
Gerrit Dou0 decades - 34Jacob Roggeveen0 decades
- 35
Piet Pieterszoon Heinnot measured- - 36
Pieter Claesz0 decades - 37
Hendrick Avercamp0 decades - 38
Uriel da Costa0 decades - 39
Zaccarias Janssennot measured- - 40
Jan Mourad Janszoonnot measured- - 41
Aelbert Cuyp0 decades - 42
Gerard ter Borch0 decades - 43
Countess Louise Henriette of Nassau0 decades - 44
Cornelis Tromp0 decades - 45
Jan Swammerdam0 decades - 46
Dirk Hartog8 decades - 47
Jan van Goyen4 decades - 48
Anthony van Diemen0 decades - 49
Menasseh Ben Israel22 decades - 50
Constantijn Huygens18 decades - 51
Willem Schouten0 decades - 52
Jan Davidsz. de Heemnot measured- - 53
Paulus Potter0 decades - 54
Gabriel Metsu0 decades - 55
Meindert Hobbema0 decades - 56
Willem Claesz. Hedanot measured- - 57
Nicolaes Tulp0 decades - 58
Ferdinand Bol2 decades - 59
Gerard de Lairesse1 decades - 60
Willem van de Velde the Youngernot measured- - 61
Maria van Oosterwijck0 decades - 62
Adriaen van Ostade1 decades - 63
Jan Lievens0 decades - 64
Ambrosius Bosschaert0 decades - 65
Joan Blaeu0 decades - 66
Govert Flinck0 decades - 67
Dirck van Baburen0 decades - 68
Bartholomeus van der Helst0 decades - 69
Samuel van Hoogstraten0 decades - 70
Balthasar van der Ast0 decades - 71
Pieter Lastman0 decades - 72
Franciscus Sylvius0 decades - 73
Roche Braziliano0 decades - 74
Jacob Cats2 decades - 75
Hendrick ter Brugghen0 decades - 76
Titus van Rijn0 decades - 77
Willem Blaeu0 decades - 78
Nicolaes Maes0 decades - 79
Willem de Vlamingh0 decades - 80
Frederik Ruysch0 decades - 81
Prince Hendrik Casimir II, Prince of Nassau-Dietznot measured- - 82
Jan van der Heyden0 decades - 83
William Bentinck, 1st Earl of Portland22 decades - 84
William Frederick, Prince of Nassau-Dietznot measured- - 85
Regnier de Graaf0 decades - 86
Johann Adam Reincken0 decades - 87
Willem van Aelst0 decades - 88
Willem Kalf0 decades - 89
Menno van Coehoorn0 decades - 90
Jacob Le Maire0 decades - 91
Jan Luyken0 decades - 92
Roelant Savery0 decades - 93
Hercules Seghers0 decades - 94
Arent de Gelder0 decades - 95
Frederick de Houtman0 decades - 96
Christoph Bernhard von Galen14 decades - 97
Matthias Stom0 decades - 98
Salomon van Ruysdael0 decades - 99
Melchior d'Hondecoeter0 decades - 100
Pieter Jansz. Saenredam0 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.