← Fame through time1700-1799
The 18th century
Whose working lives fell in the 18th 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 18th century, ranked where coverage and readership agree.
- 1
Johann Sebastian Bach22 decades - 2
Frederick the Great22 decades - 3
George Frideric Handel21 decades - 4
George II of Great Britainnot measured- - 5
Peter III of Russia21 decades - 6
Friedrich Schiller22 decades - 7
William Herschel22 decades - 8
Gotthold Ephraim Lessing22 decades - 9
Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitznot measured- - 10
Augustus II the Strong19 decades - 11
Johann Gottlieb Fichte22 decades - 12
Baron Munchausen0 decades - 13
Leopold Mozart20 decades - 14
Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher3 decades - 15
Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach15 decades - 16
Adam Weishaupt18 decades - 17
Maximilian I Joseph of Bavaria8 decades - 18
Christoph Willibald Gluck9 decades - 19
Frederick, Prince of Wales0 decades - 20
Georg Philipp Telemann12 decades - 21
Samuel Hahnemann20 decades - 22
Jean Paul22 decades - 23
Augustus III of Poland22 decades - 24
Moses Mendelssohn22 decades - 25
Johann Christian Bach12 decades - 26
Johann Joachim Winckelmann17 decades - 27
Franz Mesmer9 decades - 28
Constanze Mozart6 decades - 29
Caroline of Ansbach0 decades - 30
Caroline Herschel10 decades
- 31
Georg Christoph Lichtenberg17 decades - 32
Princess Augusta of Saxe-Gothanot measured- - 33
Frederick Augustus I of Saxony22 decades - 34
Sophia Dorothea of Cellenot measured- - 35
Christoph Martin Wieland22 decades - 36
Johann Friedrich Struensee5 decades - 37
Johann Friedrich Blumenbach11 decades - 38
Sophia Dorothea of Hanover0 decades - 39
Friedrich Gottlieb Klopstock20 decades - 40
Francis, Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeldnot measured- - 41
August von Kotzebue22 decades - 42
Sophia Charlotte of Hanover0 decades - 43
Georg Forster22 decades - 44
Maria Anna of Neuburg0 decades - 45
Wilhelm Friedemann Bach13 decades - 46
Elisabeth Christine of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttelnot measured- - 47
Charles William Ferdinand, Duke of Brunswick22 decades - 48
Maurice de Saxenot measured- - 49
Nicolaus Zinzendorf6 decades - 50
Maria Josepha of Saxony, Dauphine of France0 decades - 51
Adolph Freiherr Knigge1 decades - 52
Ernst Chladni5 decades - 53
Anna Magdalena Bach10 decades - 54
Friedrich Heinrich Jacobi22 decades - 55
Maria Josepha of Bavaria0 decades - 56
Karl Friedrich I, Grand Duke of Baden0 decades - 57
Anne, Princess Royal and Princess of Orangenot measured- - 58
Johann Georg Hamann21 decades - 59
Marie Clotilde of France13 decades - 60
Elisabeth Christine of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel-Bevernnot measured- - 61
Anton Raphael Mengs18 decades - 62
Anna Leopoldovna0 decades - 63
Prince Augustus William of Prussia8 decades - 64
Joseph Süß Oppenheimer6 decades - 65
Wilhelmine of Prussia, Margravine of Brandenburg-Bayreuthnot measured- - 66
Louis IX, Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadtnot measured- - 67
William I, Elector of Hessenot measured- - 68Alexander Gottlieb Baumgarten11 decades
- 69
Gottfried August Bürger22 decades - 70
Natalia Alexeievna of Russianot measured- - 71
Johann Christoph Friedrich Bach6 decades - 72
Dorothea Christiane Erxleben1 decades - 73
Louis I, Grand Duke of Hessenot measured- - 74
Princess Amelia of Great Britainnot measured- - 75
Levin August von Bennigsennot measured- - 76
Maria Antonia Walpurgis of Bavaria0 decades - 77
Maria Barbara Bach0 decades - 78
Jakob Michael Reinhold Lenz10 decades - 79
Johann van Beethoven12 decades - 80
Frederika Louisa of Hesse-Darmstadtnot measured- - 81
Johann Gottfried Seume11 decades - 82
Christiane Eberhardine of Brandenburg-Bayreuthnot measured- - 83
Friedrich II, Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel17 decades - 84
Johann Friedrich Gmelin3 decades - 85
John William Friso, Prince of Orange4 decades - 86
Johann Joachim Quantz7 decades - 87
Archduchess Maria Theresa of Austria0 decades - 88
Princess Philippine Charlotte of Prussia0 decades - 89
Charles I, Duke of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttelnot measured- - 90
Albert Casimir, Duke of Teschennot measured- - 91
Duchess Elisabeth of Württemberg5 decades - 92
Johann Zoffany0 decades - 93
Carl Stamitz6 decades - 94
Princess Elizabeth Albertine of Saxe-Hildburghausennot measured- - 95
Charlotte Christine of Brunswick-Lüneburgnot measured- - 96
Duke Charles Louis Frederick of Mecklenburg0 decades - 97
Sophie von La Roche18 decades - 98
Sophia Dorothea of Prussianot measured- - 99
Wilhelmine Amalia of Brunswick-Lüneburgnot measured- - 100
Frederick II, Duke of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburgnot 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.