← 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
George Washington22 decades - 2
Thomas Jefferson22 decades - 3
Benjamin Franklin22 decades - 4
Peter the Great21 decades - 5
John Adams22 decades - 6
James Madison22 decades - 7
Alexander Hamilton22 decades - 8
James Monroe22 decades - 9
Charles X of France22 decades - 10
Aaron Burr22 decades - 11
Charles Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgordnot measured- - 12
Edmund Burke22 decades - 13
Philip V of Spain22 decades - 14
Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayettenot measured- - 15
Anna of Russia21 decades - 16
Peter II of Russia19 decades - 17
Jean-Paul Marat19 decades - 18
Louis XVIII of France22 decades - 19
Abigail Adams16 decades - 20
William Pitt the Younger3 decades - 21
Martha Washington21 decades - 22
Mikhail Kutuzov8 decades - 23
Robert Walpole22 decades - 24
Toussaint Louverture22 decades - 25
Leopold II, Holy Roman Emperornot measured- - 26
Tipu Sultan15 decades - 27
Madame de Pompadour22 decades - 28
Samuel Adams22 decades - 29
Grigory Potemkin16 decades - 30
George IV of the United Kingdomnot measured- - 31
Louis I of Spain4 decades - 32
Ivan VI of Russia0 decades - 33
William Wilberforce22 decades - 34
Jean-Jacques Dessalines8 decades - 35
Charles Edward Stuart22 decades - 36
Louis Antoine de Saint-Justnot measured- - 37
Joseph Fouché10 decades - 38
John Jay22 decades - 39
Robert Clive22 decades - 40
Francisco de Miranda22 decades - 41
Túpac Amaru II9 decades - 42
Patrick Henry22 decades - 43
Stanisław August Poniatowski0 decades - 44
Elbridge Gerry22 decades - 45
John Marshall22 decades - 46
Agha Mohammad Khan Qajar0 decades - 47
John Hancock22 decades - 48
Charles Cornwallis, 1st Marquess Cornwallisnot measured- - 49
William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chathamnot measured- - 50
Charles Grey, 2nd Earl Greynot measured- - 51
Alexei Petrovich, Tsarevich of Russia20 decades - 52
Carlo Buonaparte20 decades - 53
Spencer Perceval22 decades - 54
Emmanuel Joseph Sieyès0 decades - 55
Jiaqing Emperornot measured- - 56
Jacques Necker15 decades - 57
Louis, Duke of Burgundynot measured- - 58
José Gervasio Artigas15 decades - 59
Pasquale Paoli22 decades - 60
Farrukhsiyar6 decades - 61
William Bligh16 decades - 62
Louis Antoine de Bougainville4 decades - 63
Alexander Menshikov19 decades - 64
André Masséna2 decades - 65
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Louis Philippe II, Duke of Orléansnot measured- - 66
Louis, Dauphin of Francenot measured- - 67
Maria Luisa of Savoy21 decades - 68
Hyder Ali22 decades - 69
Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin0 decades - 70
Warren Hastings22 decades - 71
Paul Barras6 decades - 72
Michael Andreas Barclay de Tolly0 decades - 73
Frederick North, Lord Northnot measured- - 74
Tarabainot measured- - 75
Calico Jack1 decades - 76
William Cavendish-Bentinck, 3rd Duke of Portlandnot measured- - 77
Sophia Dorothea of Cellenot measured- - 78
John Stuart, 3rd Earl of Butenot measured- - 79
Victor Amadeus II of Sardinia18 decades - 80
Ahmad Shah Bahadur0 decades - 81
Arthur Phillip11 decades - 82
George Mason22 decades - 83
Johann Friedrich Struensee5 decades - 84
Charles James Fox22 decades - 85
William Cavendish, 4th Duke of Devonshirenot measured- - 86
Jacques Pierre Brissot0 decades - 87
Thomas Pelham-Holles, 1st Duke of Newcastle-upon-Tynenot measured- - 88
Gustav III of Sweden22 decades - 89
Henry Knox22 decades - 90
William Blackstone22 decades - 91
Richard Brinsley Sheridan22 decades - 92
Roger Sherman22 decades - 93
Spencer Compton, 1st Earl of Wilmingtonnot measured- - 94
William Howe, 5th Viscount Howenot measured- - 95
George Grenville22 decades - 96
William IV, Prince of Orangenot measured- - 97
Henry Pelham22 decades - 98
Francis II Rákóczi1 decades - 99
Maria Luisa of Spainnot measured- - 100
Wolfe Tone22 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.