500–599

The 6th century

Whose working lives fell in the 6th 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 6th century, ranked where Wikipedia coverage and readership agree.

#PersonIn print, 1800–2019Echoed

1Benedict of Nursia480–547 · 🇮🇹 Italy · Writers19 decades
2Gregory of Tours538–594 · 🇫🇷 France · Writers22 decades
3PProcopius500–565 · 🇮🇱 Israel · Writers22 decades
4JJordanesborn 490 · Writers16 decades
5Columbanus543–615 · Writers22 decades
6Abu Talib ibn Abd al-Muttalib540–619 · Writersnot measured—
7Aminah550–575 · Writers5 decades
8Abd al-Muttalib497–579 · Writers0 decades
9Saint Gall550–645 · Writers17 decades
10Gildas500–570 · Writers22 decades
11Vātsyāyana500–500 · Writers1 decades
12Venantius Fortunatus530–609 · Writers22 decades
13Antarah ibn Shaddad525–608 · Writers0 decades
14Taliesin534–599 · 🇬🇧 United Kingdom · Writersnot measured—
15Imru' al-Qais501–544 · Writers0 decades
16JMJohn Malalas491–578 · 🇹🇷 Turkey · Writers2 decades
17AAgathiasborn 536 · Writers22 decades
18NONonnus of Panopolis500–500 · Writers0 decades
19Caesarius of Arles470–542 · Writers3 decades
20Mark of Cornwall480–555 · Writers0 decades
21MMaximianus500–600 · Writersnot measured—
22MAMarius Aventicensis532–596 · Writers0 decades
23Chen Shubao553–604 · Writers0 decades
24Priscian500–600 · Writersnot measured—
25Dorotheus of Gaza510–565 · 🇹🇷 Turkey · Writers0 decades
26Yu Shinan558–638 · Writersnot measured—
27HHorapollon500–500 · Writers0 decades
28Hassan ibn Thabit554–674 · Writers0 decades
29JOJohn of Ephesus507–580 · Writers7 decades
30Hatim al-Taidied 578 · Writersnot measured—
31MFMagnus Felix Ennodius473–521 · Writers0 decades
32Xiao Tong501–531 · Writers0 decades
33Corippusborn 501 · Writers15 decades
34ESEvagrius Scholasticus536–594 · Writers0 decades
35Xiao Zixian489–537 · Writersnot measured—
36Yao Silian557–637 · Writers0 decades
37Zuhayr520–609 · Writersnot measured—
38EJEmperor Jianwen of Liang503–551 · Writersnot measured—
39Zacharias Rhetor465–553 · Writers0 decades
40JTJohn the Lydian490–600 · Writers0 decades
41LBLi Baiyao564–647 · Writers0 decades
42FPFabius Planciades Fulgentius500–554 · Writers0 decades
43Peter the Patrician500–565 · Writers0 decades
44JMJohn Moschus550–619 · Writers0 decades
45Consort Zhang Lihua559–589 · Writers2 decades
46PTPaul the Silentiary520–575 · Writers1 decades
47Eutychius of Constantinople512–582 · Writers0 decades
48JOJohn of Biclaro540–621 · Writers0 decades
49LLabīd560–661 · Writersnot measured—
50AAneirin525–600 · Writersnot measured—
51UHUmm Hakim bint Abd al-Muttalibborn 540 · Writersnot measured—
52Agathangelos500–600 · Writersnot measured—
53AIAmr ibn Kulthum526–600 · Writers0 decades
54ABAmir bin Tufayl501–632 · Writersnot measured—
55Tarafa543–569 · Writers7 decades
56HOHesychius of Miletus505–600 · Writers0 decades
57Ŭlchi Mundŏk550–700 · Writersnot measured—
58DDaṇḍin501–700 · 🇮🇳 India · Writers0 decades
59MGMusaeus Grammaticus500–600 · Writers0 decades
60Yu Xin513–581 · Writersnot measured—
61SISamaw'al ibn 'Adiya501–600 · Writersnot measured—
62COCyril of Scythopolis524–558 · Writers1 decades
63Iakob Tsurtaveliborn 500 · Writersnot measured—
64AOAurelianus of Arles523–551 · Writers0 decades
65AAl-Nabigha535–604 · Writers0 decades
66FOFerréol of Uzès530–581 · Writersnot measured—
67SShudraka500–500 · Writers0 decades
68CColuthus500–600 · Writers6 decades
69Feng Xiaolian550–581 · Writersnot measured—
70UIUmayya ibn Abi Salt500–626 · Writersnot measured—
71VOVictor of Tunnuna500–570 · Writers0 decades
72Nicetius513–566 · Writersnot measured—
73Su Xiaoxiao479–501 · Writersnot measured—
74LOLeontios of Byzantium480–543 · Writers0 decades
75TNTakamuko no Kuromaro550–654 · 🇯🇵 Japan · Writers0 decades
76SOSergius of Reshainadied 536 · Writers0 decades
77WSWei Shou506–572 · Writers0 decades
78XLXu Ling507–583 · Writersnot measured—
79LHLlywarch Hen534–634 · 🇬🇧 United Kingdom · Writers11 decades
80ZIZayd ibn Amr501–605 · Writers0 decades
81AAgapetus550–600 · Writersnot measured—
82HIHarith Ibn Hilliza Ul-Yashkuridied 580 · Writersnot measured—
83TOTheophanes of Byzantium500–700 · Writers0 decades
84SSthiramati475–555 · Writers6 decades
85Bertechramnus540–623 · Writers0 decades
86DIDurayd ibn al-Simma550–630 · Writersnot measured—
87LOLiberatus of Carthageborn 500 · Writers0 decades
88Urwa ibn al-Ward520–600 · Writers0 decades
89JTJoshua the Stylite500–600 · Writers0 decades
90Teneu501–603 · Writers0 decades
91AIAdi ibn Zayddied 600 · Writers0 decades
92BBharavi501–600 · 🇮🇳 India · Writers4 decades
93TTTrajan the Patrician500–701 · Writersnot measured—
94DODioscorus of Aphrodito520–585 · 🇪🇬 Egypt · Writers0 decades
95MOMacedonius of Thessalonicadied 560 · Writersnot measured—
96CBCassianus Bassus500–600 · Writers0 decades
97ESEmpress Shen Wuhua501–601 · Writersnot measured—
98Colmán of Cloyne522–600 · Writersnot measured—
99ZRZhong Rong468–518 · Writersnot measured—
100SSongyun500–600 · Writersnot 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.