← 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
Isaac Newton22 decades - 2
John Locke22 decades - 3
Oliver Cromwell22 decades - 4
Charles I of England12 decades - 5
James VI and I5 decades - 6
Charles II of England12 decades - 7
Thomas Hobbes22 decades - 8
John Milton22 decades - 9
James II of England3 decades - 10
Daniel Defoe22 decades - 11
Guy Fawkes22 decades - 12
Robert Hooke22 decades - 13
Ben Jonson22 decades - 14
Christopher Wren22 decades - 15
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John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlboroughnot measured- - 16
John Bunyan22 decades - 17
Mary II of England0 decades - 18
John Smith22 decades - 19
Henry Morgan22 decades - 20
Henry Purcell22 decades - 21
John Dryden22 decades - 22
Edmond Halley6 decades - 23
Richard Cromwell22 decades - 24
Anne of Denmark6 decades - 25
William Harvey22 decades - 26
Aphra Behn18 decades - 27
Elizabeth Stuart, Queen of Bohemianot measured- - 28
William Kidd19 decades - 29
George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckinghamnot measured- - 30
Henry Every2 decades - 31
Sarah Churchill, Duchess of Marlboroughnot measured- - 32
George Fox22 decades - 33
George Herbert22 decades - 34
William Dampier20 decades - 35
Anne, Duchess of York0 decades - 36
Roger Williams22 decades - 37
Anne Hutchinson20 decades - 38
Mary Henrietta, Princess Royalnot measured- - 39
Thomas Newcomen15 decades - 40
Henry Frederick, Prince of Wales0 decades - 41
Thomas Browne22 decades - 42
Margaret Cavendish, Duchess of Newcastle-upon-Tynenot measured- - 43
Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essexnot measured- - 44
Andrew Marvell22 decades - 45
John Harvard22 decades - 46
Robert Catesby10 decades - 47
Hans Sloane22 decades - 48
John Wilmot, 2nd Earl of Rochesternot measured- - 49
William Laud22 decades - 50
John Vanbrugh22 decades - 51
Thomas Savery5 decades - 52
Barbara Palmer, 1st Duchess of Clevelandnot measured- - 53
Sawney Bean0 decades - 54
Matthew Hopkins10 decades - 55
John Flamsteed7 decades - 56
William Petty22 decades - 57
Robert Fludd16 decades - 58
Robert Burton22 decades - 59
John Ray22 decades - 60
Izaak Walton22 decades - 61
John Rolfe20 decades - 62
Richard Baxter22 decades - 63
Thomas Nashe20 decades - 64
Matthew Henry22 decades - 65
Henry Stuart, Duke of Gloucesternot measured- - 66
Edward Colston12 decades - 67
Thomas Traherne11 decades - 68
Thomas Sydenham20 decades - 69
James Harrington22 decades - 70
Lucy Walter1 decades - 71
James Graham, 1st Marquess of Montrosenot measured- - 72
Henry FitzRoy, 1st Duke of Graftonnot measured- - 73
Arbella Stuartnot measured- - 74
Robert Devereux, 3rd Earl of Essexnot measured- - 75
Mary Beale0 decades - 76
Nicholas Culpeper3 decades - 77
William Davenant22 decades - 78
Edward Alleyn22 decades - 79
John Blow8 decades - 80
John Marston22 decades - 81
Nicholas Barbon1 decades - 82
William Wycherley8 decades - 83
Robert Carr, 1st Earl of Somersetnot measured- - 84
George Jeffreys, 1st Baron Jeffreysnot measured- - 85
Thomas Overbury22 decades - 86Edmund Gunter2 decades
- 87
Judith Quiney0 decades - 88
John Cotton22 decades - 89
Giles Corey7 decades - 90Thomas Weelkes2 decades
- 91
John Pell17 decades - 92
Samuel Rutherford20 decades - 93
Sir William Temple, 1st Baronetnot measured- - 94
Gilbert Burnet22 decades - 95
John Sheffield, 1st Duke of Buckingham and Normanbynot measured- - 96
Thomas Hooker22 decades - 97
Thomas Otway22 decades - 98
James Butler, 1st Duke of Ormondenot measured- - 99
Anne Clifford18 decades - 100
Sarah Good10 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.