Claim profile
700–799

The 8th century

Whose working lives fell in the 8th 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 8th century, ranked where Wikipedia coverage and readership agree.

CountryAll🇯🇵 Japan🇩🇪 Germany🇫🇷 France🇬🇧 United Kingdom🇮🇹 Italy🇨🇳 China🇪🇬 Egypt🇪🇸 Spain🇹🇷 Turkey🇲🇽 Mexico
FieldAllHistorical FiguresWritersPoliticiansReligious FiguresAcademicsActorsModelsScientistsArtistsMusicians
  1. 1AlcuinAlcuin740–804 · 🇬🇧 United Kingdom · Academics22 decades
  2. 2Malik ibn AnasMalik ibn Anas711–795 · Academics0 decades
  3. 3Abu HanifaAbu Hanifa699–767 · Academics14 decades
  4. 4John of DamascusJohn of Damascus675–749 · Academics22 decades
  5. 5PadmasambhavaPadmasambhava717–762 · Academics7 decades
  6. 6Musa al-KadhimMusa al-Kadhim745–799 · Academics0 decades
  7. 7ShantidevaShantideva685–763 · Academics4 decades
  8. 8ZIZayd ibn Ali695–740 · Academics0 decades
  9. 9SibawayhSibawayh760–797 · Academics1 decades
  10. 10Mazu DaoyiMazu Daoyi709–788 · Academicsnot measured—
  11. 11AYAbu Yusuf731–798 · Academics13 decades
  12. 12Vergilius of SalzburgVergilius of Salzburg700–784 · Academics0 decades
  13. 13Sufyan al-ThawriSufyan al-Thawri716–784 · Academics0 decades
  14. 14Abdullah ibn MubarakAbdullah ibn Mubarak736–797 · Academics0 decades
  15. 15Muhammad al-ShaybaniMuhammad al-Shaybani750–805 · Academics0 decades
  16. 16ŚāntarakṣitaŚāntarakṣita725–788 · Academics1 decades
  17. 17AIAsad ibn al-Furat759–828 · Academics0 decades
  18. 18Ibrahim ibn AdhamIbrahim ibn Adham718–776 · Academics0 decades
  19. 19Yi XingYi Xing683–727 · Academics0 decades
  20. 20A'Abu 'Ubaida728–825 · Academics0 decades
  21. 21Claudius of TurinClaudius of Turin750–827 · Academics5 decades
  22. 22Abu 'Amr ibn al-'Ala'Abu 'Amr ibn al-'Ala'689–771 · Academicsnot measured—
  23. 23KamalaśīlaKamalaśīla740–795 · Academics1 decades
  24. 24IAIbrāhīm al-Fazārīdied 777 · Academicsnot measured—
  25. 25YZYuan Zai713–777 · Academics0 decades
  26. 26JIJa'd ibn Dirham666–742 · Academics0 decades
  27. 27KBKumārila Bhaṭṭa700–700 · Academics0 decades
  28. 28Han HuangHan Huang723–787 · Academics0 decades
  29. 29Kibi no MakibiKibi no Makibi695–775 · 🇯🇵 Japan · Academics0 decades
  30. 30Hisham ibn HakamHisham ibn Hakam750–795 · Academics0 decades
  31. 31MIMūsā ibn Shākirborn 750 · Academicsnot measured—
  32. 32AAAl-Akhfash al-Akbardied 793 · Academicsnot measured—
  33. 33ZhanranZhanran711–782 · Academics0 decades
  34. 34ISIbn Sallâm al-Jumahî756–845 · Academicsnot measured—
  35. 35CZCui Zao737–787 · Academicsnot measured—
  36. 36AkalankaAkalanka720–780 · Academics0 decades

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.