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. 1HokusaiHokusai1760–1849 · 🇯🇵 Japan · Artists14 decades
  2. 2Kitagawa UtamaroKitagawa Utamaro1753–1806 · 🇯🇵 Japan · Artists0 decades
  3. 3Suzuki HarunobuSuzuki Harunobu1724–1770 · 🇯🇵 Japan · Artists0 decades
  4. 4SharakuSharakudied 1801 · 🇯🇵 Japan · Artists8 decades
  5. 5Toriyama SekienToriyama Sekien1712–1788 · 🇯🇵 Japan · Artists0 decades
  6. 6Maruyama ŌkyoMaruyama Ōkyo1733–1795 · 🇯🇵 Japan · Artists0 decades
  7. 7SengaiSengai1750–1837 · 🇯🇵 Japan · Artists1 decades
  8. 8Itō JakuchūItō Jakuchū1716–1800 · 🇯🇵 Japan · Artistsnot measured—
  9. 9Katsukawa ShunshōKatsukawa Shunshō1726–1793 · 🇯🇵 Japan · Artistsnot measured—
  10. 10Sakai HōitsuSakai Hōitsu1761–1828 · 🇯🇵 Japan · Artists0 decades
  11. 11Okumura MasanobuOkumura Masanobu1686–1764 · 🇯🇵 Japan · Artists0 decades
  12. 12Ike no TaigaIke no Taiga1723–1776 · 🇯🇵 Japan · Artists0 decades
  13. 13Utagawa ToyoharuUtagawa Toyoharu1735–1814 · 🇯🇵 Japan · Artists0 decades
  14. 14Matsumura GoshunMatsumura Goshun1752–1811 · 🇯🇵 Japan · Artists0 decades
  15. 15Chōbunsai EishiChōbunsai Eishi1756–1829 · 🇯🇵 Japan · Artistsnot measured—
  16. 16Tani BunchōTani Bunchō1763–1841 · 🇯🇵 Japan · Artistsnot measured—
  17. 17Miyagawa IsshoMiyagawa Issho1689–1780 · 🇯🇵 Japan · Artistsnot measured—
  18. 18Kitao ShigemasaKitao Shigemasa1739–1820 · 🇯🇵 Japan · Artists0 decades
  19. 19Isoda KoryūsaiIsoda Koryūsai1735–1790 · 🇯🇵 Japan · Artists0 decades
  20. 20Miyagawa ChōshunMiyagawa Chōshun1683–1753 · 🇯🇵 Japan · Artistsnot measured—
  21. 21Nagasawa RosetsuNagasawa Rosetsu1754–1799 · 🇯🇵 Japan · Artistsnot measured—
  22. 22Nishikawa SukenobuNishikawa Sukenobu1671–1750 · 🇯🇵 Japan · Artists0 decades
  23. 23Uragami GyokudōUragami Gyokudō1745–1820 · 🇯🇵 Japan · Artistsnot measured—
  24. 24Ike GyokuranIke Gyokuran1727–1784 · 🇯🇵 Japan · Artists0 decades
  25. 25SSSō Shiseki1715–1786 · 🇯🇵 Japan · Artistsnot measured—
  26. 26Denzen AōdōDenzen Aōdō1748–1822 · 🇯🇵 Japan · Artistsnot measured—
  27. 27Soga ShōhakuSoga Shōhaku1730–1781 · 🇯🇵 Japan · Artistsnot measured—
  28. 28Torii KiyomitsuTorii Kiyomitsu1735–1785 · 🇯🇵 Japan · Artists0 decades
  29. 29Kaigetsudō AndoKaigetsudō Ando1671–1743 · 🇯🇵 Japan · Artistsnot measured—
  30. 30Torii KiyomasuTorii Kiyomasu1690–1720 · 🇯🇵 Japan · Artists0 decades
  31. 31MSMori Sosen1747–1821 · 🇯🇵 Japan · Artistsnot measured—
  32. 32Kishi GankuKishi Ganku1749–1839 · 🇯🇵 Japan · Artistsnot measured—
  33. 33Ishikawa ToyonobuIshikawa Toyonobu1711–1785 · 🇯🇵 Japan · Artistsnot measured—
  34. 34Kubo ShunmanKubo Shunman1757–1820 · 🇯🇵 Japan · Artistsnot measured—
  35. 35Katsukawa Shunkō IKatsukawa Shunkō I1743–1812 · 🇯🇵 Japan · Artistsnot measured—
  36. 36Satake YoshiatsuSatake Yoshiatsu1748–1785 · 🇯🇵 Japan · Artistsnot measured—
  37. 37Katsukawa Shun'eiKatsukawa Shun'ei1762–1819 · 🇯🇵 Japan · Artistsnot measured—
  38. 38Bōsai KamedaBōsai Kameda1752–1826 · 🇯🇵 Japan · Artistsnot measured—
  39. 39Eishōsai ChōkiEishōsai Chōki1725–1795 · 🇯🇵 Japan · Artistsnot measured—
  40. 40Sugimura JihēSugimura Jihē1681–1703 · 🇯🇵 Japan · Artistsnot measured—
  41. 41Katsukawa ShunchōKatsukawa Shunchō1750–1821 · 🇯🇵 Japan · Artistsnot measured—
  42. 42Nishimura ShigenagaNishimura Shigenaga1697–1756 · 🇯🇵 Japan · Artistsnot measured—
  43. 43Ippitsusai BunchôIppitsusai Bunchô1725–1794 · 🇯🇵 Japan · Artistsnot measured—
  44. 44SonsaiSonsai1736–1802 · 🇯🇵 Japan · Artistsnot measured—
  45. 45Torii Kiyomasu IITorii Kiyomasu II1706–1763 · 🇯🇵 Japan · Artistsnot measured—
  46. 46Ōoka ShunbokuŌoka Shunboku1680–1763 · 🇯🇵 Japan · Artistsnot measured—
  47. 47Miyagawa ShunsuiMiyagawa Shunsuiborn 1750 · 🇯🇵 Japan · Artistsnot measured—
  48. 48Urakusai NagahideUrakusai Nagahide1750–1848 · 🇯🇵 Japan · Artistsnot measured—
  49. 49GNGion Nankai1676–1751 · 🇯🇵 Japan · Artistsnot measured—
  50. 50Okumura ToshinobuOkumura Toshinobu1709–1751 · 🇯🇵 Japan · Artistsnot measured—
  51. 51Torii Kiyonobu IITorii Kiyonobu II1702–1752 · 🇯🇵 Japan · Artistsnot measured—
  52. 52Gigadō AshiyukiGigadō Ashiyukiborn 1750 · 🇯🇵 Japan · Artistsnot measured—
  53. 53Katsukawa ShunsenKatsukawa Shunsen1762–1830 · 🇯🇵 Japan · Artistsnot measured—
  54. 54Shunkōsai HokushūShunkōsai Hokushūborn 1750 · 🇯🇵 Japan · Artistsnot measured—
  55. 55Shunbaisai HokueiShunbaisai Hokuei1750–1837 · 🇯🇵 Japan · Artistsnot measured—
  56. 56TKTani Kankan1770–1799 · 🇯🇵 Japan · Artistsnot 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.