Claim profile
1700–1799

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 Wikipedia coverage and readership agree.

CountryAll🇫🇷 France🇩🇪 Germany🇺🇸 United States🇬🇧 United Kingdom🇮🇹 Italy🇪🇸 Spain🇸🇪 Sweden🇯🇵 Japan🇹🇷 Turkey🇦🇹 Austria
FieldAllPoliticiansHistorical FiguresWritersScientistsMusiciansArtistsAcademicsArchitectsDoctorsReligious Figures
  1. 1Hakuin EkakuHakuin Ekaku1685–1769 · 🇯🇵 Japan · Academicsnot measured—
  2. 2Motoori NorinagaMotoori Norinaga1730–1801 · 🇯🇵 Japan · Academics6 decades
  3. 3Hanawa HokiichiHanawa Hokiichi1746–1821 · 🇯🇵 Japan · Academics0 decades
  4. 4Matsudaira SadanobuMatsudaira Sadanobu1759–1829 · 🇯🇵 Japan · Academics0 decades
  5. 5Ishida BaiganIshida Baigan1685–1744 · 🇯🇵 Japan · Academicsnot measured—
  6. 6Andō ShōekiAndō Shōeki1703–1762 · 🇯🇵 Japan · Academicsnot measured—
  7. 7Yasuaki AidaYasuaki Aida1747–1817 · 🇯🇵 Japan · Academicsnot measured—
  8. 8Miura BaienMiura Baien1723–1789 · 🇯🇵 Japan · Academicsnot measured—
  9. 9HTHonda Toshiaki1744–1821 · 🇯🇵 Japan · Academicsnot measured—
  10. 10TNTominaga Nakamoto1715–1746 · 🇯🇵 Japan · Academicsnot measured—
  11. 11Ajima NaonobuAjima Naonobu1732–1798 · 🇯🇵 Japan · Academicsnot measured—
  12. 12Arima YoriyukiArima Yoriyuki1714–1783 · 🇯🇵 Japan · Academicsnot measured—
  13. 13Hosoi HeishūHosoi Heishū1728–1801 · 🇯🇵 Japan · Academicsnot measured—
  14. 14MHMotoori Haruniwa1763–1828 · 🇯🇵 Japan · Academicsnot measured—

How this is measured

  • Placing people in time. Each person belongs to the century in which they were most active — around age 35, and never after their death.
  • Who ranks highest. Within a century, people are ranked where two independent signals agree: how many of the world’s Wikipedia language editions cover them, and how many people actually read about them. Article counts alone can be lifted by a person’s own circle; readers cannot.
  • Fame in print. The curves count how often a name appears in Google Books from 1800 to 2019, as a share of all the words printed each year, in the person’s own language wherever that corpus exists. Those decades are over, so each measurement is made once and kept.
  • What is left out. A lifetime is measured only from 1820, when there is enough print to judge; the five years after a death are skipped as obituaries; and a name shared with someone equally notable is credited to neither.