Caveat emptor: I specialise more in persian swordsmiths than any other nation, but I still have information that may answer your question.

I'll begin answering this with your last question, as it is simplest to answer. Why don't they seem to be as well known as their Eastern counterparts?

One of the major reasons that they are not as well known as eastern counterparts is due to the fact that they were not signed in the same way, and that they are not as closely associated with national identity. One big factor is the quality of the written record, which is better for most Japanese swordmakers than European.

Nihonto (japanese swords) typically have the nakago (tang) signed by the smith in kanji, and will also occasionally have the date, customer, region and even the number of bodies they can cut through signed onto the blade. This means it is uncommonly easy to determine who made a sword - and also means many have false signatures (gimei), but that is a separate problem.

European swords, in comparison, are more often unsigned, signed with a makers mark, or signed with a regional symbol. Examples of this are the Passau "running wolf" motif (https://i.imgur.com/Enlmp18.jpg) used by swordmakers from that region in lieu of signing with the name of the bladesmith.

There are exceptions to this, and I will discuss only a few, as there are actually a fair number of well known and well regarded medieval european smiths.

Where and when did they live? What were their contributions? Does any of their work still survive?

The Herndandez family in Toledo, Spain for example produced swords for generations, beginning with Sebastian Hernandez working c. 1570-1600 and Pedro Hernandez worked about 1610-1630.

Both of these makers' swords were owned by royalty not only from Spain - such as those in the Real Armeria Madrid (https://i.imgur.com/3wTESOF.jpg) - but also abroad. I recently visited the Dresden Residenz Schloss, and noted that several of the swords owned by the electors of saxony had swords made by Pedro Hernandez ( https://i.imgur.com/KfxHIRa.jpg and https://i.imgur.com/Gy5ZUSQ.jpg ).

It is worth noting that they were primarily blade makers, and the swords in those collections and museums have hilts made by local makers, often goldsmiths. In terms of contributions to swordmaking, Sebastian Hernandez pioneered a unique blade cutout for sideswords as seen in the above-linked Real Armeria de Madrid example, which assists in "fingering the guard", a technique by which one or two fingers are placed over the crossguard to increase tip control.

Another good example of a famous and culturally significant smith is Andrea Ferrara of Belluno, active 1550 - 1583, about whom little is known. An example of a sword with an Andrea Ferrara blade: https://www.philamuseum.org/collections/permanent/162499.html

Ferrara had a workshop in Belluno, Italy, and he made famously high quality blades, often exported to other areas of europe, and eventually widely copied. While Ferrara lived in the 16th century, his name became so synonymous with quality swords that it was copied (mostly by solingen bladesmiths, who interestingly also copied the passau wolf mark) well into the 18th century.

The name Andrea Ferrara became so synonymous with high quality blades that it was used interchangably in Scotland with the highland backethilt. Instead of referring to it as a claidheam mor (claymore), they referred to it as a ferrara. This persisted long after the death of Andrea, and even once the only blades marked with his name were made in solingen.

Here's an excerpt about his work:

"It is also certain that, common as blades bearing the signature Andrea Ferara are in this country, scarcely any of them are the work of Maestro Andrea de i Ferari, who gained such renown for the superb temper of the blades which he produced in his workshop at Bellunoin Venetia in the second half of the sixteenth century, where he worked with his brother Giovan Donate de i Ferari, some of whose blades, signed Zandona, still exist. Nearly all the bladescommonly attributed to Andrea Ferara are manifestly of seventeenth century make, and Boheim states that Andrea was born in 1530 and died abont 1583"

"It is possible that a few of the finest blades existing in Scotland and England bearing the name Andrea Ferara. may be his work, but as yet I know very few which 1 can positively attribute to the master or even to the epoch when he lived; and it is curious that the italian collections possess very few even bearing big name. What is certain is that for nearly fifty years after his death Solingen turned out hundreds of blades bearing his name, for exportation to those countries where a true Ferara was held in high repute, just aa it supplied false Toledo blades to those where a rapier preferred to a broad sword."

de Cosson, Charles Alexander, Baron. -- Arsenals and armouries in Southern Germany and Austria. [London : Royal Archaeological Institute, 1891]. -- 20 p

One still uncertain and controversial sword maker - or workshop - is the Ulfberht swords, swords inscribed with a Frankish name made in the Rhineland from the 9th and 10th century, with the true Ulfberhts being made of uncommonly fine steel - some (like Alan Williams, 2009) think they were imported crucible steel traded along the Volga route, others think they were uncommonly good bloomery iron. Either way, these Ulfberht swords were so excellent, that people started to copy them all the way til the mid 11th century.

An analysis by Williams found that the correctly spelled Ulfberhts (+VLFBERH+T), from a sample of 14 swords, nine are made of hypereutectoid steels, and a tenth may also have been, indicating they were likely crucible steel, and original "Ulberhts". Hypereutectoid steel has over 0.8% carbon, making it capable of being hardened to a high degree, and crucible steel have very little slag, making them more durable.

He also found a large number of low-quality blades with misspelt signatures:

Group C: These 14 are made of medium-carbon steel, at least in their edges.

6 had Steel edges hardened by quenching, including an unsuccessful attempt at quenching

VLFBERN+T

+VLFBERH+┴

+VLFBEH+T

+VΓ╛FBERHTC+ and INGEFLRII (sic)

V (L)…(B)……T

+VLFBERH+

A further 8 swords had Steel edges, but were not quenched.

• VLBERHT + (+ Latin crosses)

+VLFBERHI

+VLFBERHCT

+VLFBERH++

VLFBERHH

Group D: Swords largely made of iron, or low-carbon steel. These 11 swords were of the lowest metallurgical quality, and also generally show the greatest variations in spellings.

+VLГBERH+ T

…F V …

VLFB …H +..

+VI┐ IFR I + ┴

....R T …

+VLEHBAH LN++

+VLΓP…

• M├ B E RIT +

…....L F ΓH E T …

+VLFBERH+

Alan Williams, A METALLURGICAL STUDY OF SOME VIKING SWORDS, 2009. Gladius vol. XXIX, pp. 121-184 http://gladius.revistas.csic.es/index.php/gladius/article/viewFile/218/222

If I allow myself to diverge slightly from the question, there are many famous Persian sword smiths whose names are on-par with Masamune in being almost mythical in quality. Asad Allah Isfahani is probably the most noteworthy. He was a sword maker (shamshiraz) during the reign of Shah Abbas the Great (1571– 1629) who reportedly became court shamshiraz to the Shah himself when Abbas held a competition to find his court sword maker, pronouncing that he would only accept a craftsman who could make a sword which could cleave a helmet (which he had been gifted by an Ottoman Sultan) in half. Assad Allah produced one such sword, and thus got the job, a prize, and the right to sign his swords "Abbas, bande e shah e vilayet", or "servant of the ruler of the land, Abbas.

Here's an example of his signature: http://auctionsimperial.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/2.jpg

And an example of his work (ultra-res zoomable image) https://easyzoom.com/image/149070

For an understanding of how valuable the Shamshir's Assad Allah made out of crucible steel were: In 1811, Sir William Ouseley notes, “a greater price than this [70-80 pounds] is frequently given for a good blade alone, especially if an old Kara Khorasani, or if made in the time of Sha’h Abba’s by Ased Allah of Isfahan,”. So, hundreds of years after the active period of Assad Allah, they were still extrmely valuable. The British Pound was equivalent to .2354 troy ounces of fine gold. At a rate of ~ $1,100 per ounce, the Sovereign would currently be worth about $260. Therefore, a good vintage shamshir blade would typically have brought amounts of $18,200.00- $20,800.00.

In 1601, Polish King Zygmunt III Waza sent an armenian merchant Sefer Muratowicz to Persia to buy a few things, like isfahan rugs/carpets with the polish coat of arms (very costly, still availble to view in the Residenz-Museum in Munich). Among the things he was sent to buy was "sabres of watered steel", which would likely be works made by Assad Allah, given that Sefer Muratowicz went directly to the court of Shah Abbas. So even in the time period, his works were valued highly, not just after his death.

Price taken from Sir W. Ouseley, Travels in Various Countries of the East; More Particularly Persia, (London, Rodwell & Martin, 1821)

Much like the Gimei (falsely signed) swords of Japan, the misspelt copies of Ulfberht, or the Solingen copies of Andrea Ferrara, Assad Allah's signature has been widely copied, to the point where some people even doubt he ever existed, because his name and mark have become synonymous with "high quality shamshirs" and were used almost in a talismanic sense - just like Andrea Ferrara or ulfberht.

Hopefully that answers your question in a way which is both informative, but not too exhaustive. There are certainly many more makes from outside Japan who are known by name, makers mark, and have surviving swords.

Thanks to the Mods who linked me this question to answer, and to the Gilder for giving me gold.