From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is a list of people whose names in English are commonly appended with the phrase "the Great", or who were called that or an equivalent phrase in their own language. Other languages have their own suffixs such as e Bozorg and e azam in Persian and Urdu respectively.

The first ruler who is known for certain to have used "the great" was the conqueror Cyrus II of Persia.^[1]

The first western ruler who is known for certain to have used "the great" as a personal surname may to have been the Seleucid ruler Antiochus III (223–187 BC), that was in control of Babylon, although it is very likely that Alexander III of Macedon (336–323 BC) had already received this surname. The first reference (in a comedy by Plautus)^[2] assumes that everyone knew who "Alexander the Great" was. However, there is no earlier evidence that Alexander III of Macedon was called "the Great".

Later rulers and commanders have also used the epithet "the Great" as a personal name, like the Roman general Pompey. Others received the surname retrospectively, like the Carthaginian Hanno and the Indian emperor Ashoka the Great. Once the surname gained currency, it was also used as a honorific surname for people without political careers, like the philosopher Albert the Great.

The following people normally have the words "the Great" appended to their names.

• Abbas the Great, Persia (Iran)
• Akbar the Great, Indian emperor of the Mughal dynasty ^[3][4]
• Ahmad shah Abdali the great, of Afghanistan
• Alaric the Great, of the Visigoths
• Albert the Great (aka Albertus Magnus), medieval German philosopher and theologian
• Alexander the Great, King of Macedon
• Alfonso the Great of Leon
• Alfred the Great of Wessex, English
• Anthony the Great early Christian saint of Egypt
• Antiochus the Great, Seleucid Empire
• Ashoka the Great, Indian emperor of the Maurya dynasty
• Askia the Great, Mohamed Toure, Ruler of the Songhai Empire
• Basil the Great, Cappadocia, theologian
• Bhumibol Adulyadej the Great, Thailand
• Boleslaus the Brave, sometimes called the Great, Poland
• Buddha Yodfa Chulaloke the Great, Thailand
• Canute the Great, Danish, King of Denmark, England, and Norway
• Casimir the Great, Poland
• Catherine the Great, Russia
• Charles the Great, more commonly known as "Charlemagne"
• Chulalongkorn the Great, Thailand
• Constantine the Great, Rome/Byzantium
• Cyrus the Great, Persia (Iran)
• Darius the Great, Persia (Iran)
• Donia the Great - Grote Pier, (1480-1520), Frisia
• Ferdinand the Great, Castile and León
• Frederick the Great, Prussia
• The Great Gama, Rustam-e-Hindustan
• Genghis Khan the Great, Mongolia
• Gertrude the Great of Helfta, medieval mystic
• Gustavus Adolphus the Great, Sweden
• Gregory (I) the Great, pope and theologian
• Gwanggaeto the Great of Goguryeo, Korea
• Hanno the Great, Carthage
• Henry IV the Great, France
• Herod the Great, Judea
• Hugh the Great, abbot of Cluny, France
• Ivan the Great, Russia
• John the Great, Portugal
• Justinian the Great, Byzantium
• Kamehameha the Great, Hawai'i
• Kangxi the Great Emperor, Qing Empire
• Karim Khan The Great, Persia (Iran)
• Leo (I) the Great, pope and theologian
• Llywelyn the Great, Wales/Gwynedd
• Louis the Great, Hungary and Poland
• Louis the Great, France
• Macarius the Great of Egypt, Egyptian hermit
• Mithridates the Great, ParthiaIran
• Mithridates the Great, Pontus
• Moctezuma the Great, Aztec empire
• Mubarak Al-Sabah the Great, Kuwait
• Nader Shah the Great, Persia (Iran)
• Napoleon the Great, France
• Nicholas (I) the Great, pope
• Otto I the Great, Holy Roman Emperor
• Parâkramabâhu I the Great, Sri Lanka
• Pacal the Great, Maya state of Palenque
• Peter the Great, Russia
• Peter III the Great, Aragon
• Pompey the Great, Rome
• Prokop the Great, Hussite leader in Bohemia
• Rajaraja The Great, Indian emperor of the Cholas^[5][6][7].
• Ramesses the Great, Ancient Egypt
• Rhodri the Great, Wales/Gwynedd
• Ronald the Great, Ronald Reagan, 40th US President
• Sancho III the Great, Navarre
• Sargon the Great, Akkad
• Sejong the Great, Korea
• Shapur the Great, Sassanid empire, Persia (Iran)
• Shivaji "The Great Maratha", India
• Simeon I the Great, Bulgaria
• Stephen the Great, Moldova, Romania
• Taksin the Great, Thailand
• Tamburlaine the Great, Timurid Empire
• Theodoric the Great, Ostrogoths
• Theodosius the Great, Rome
• Tigranes the Great, Armenia
• Valdemar I the Great, Denmark
• Vladimir the Great, Grand Duke of Kiev and All Russia, Russia
• Vytautas the Great, archduke of Lithuanian Grand Duchy
• William V the Great, Aquitaine
• William the Great
• Xerxes the Great, Persia (Iran)
• Yu the Great, China

• Muhammad Ali, boxer (The Greatest)
• Alexandru cel Bun, ("the Kind") Romanian voivode
• Julio César Chávez, boxer (The Great Mexican Champion)
• Agostino Chigi, il Magnifico ("The Magnificent")
• Ellaalan, "the Just" , Sri Lanka
• Frederick William of Brandenburg, Großer Kurfürst ("the Great Elector")
• Jackie Gleason (the Great One)
• Wayne Gretzky (the Great One)
• Lorenzo il Magnifico, ("The Magnificent")
• Lozang Gyatso, 5th Dalai Lama, "The Great Fifth Dalai Lama", Tibet
• Leelavathi Naaichchi, " the Brave " , Sri Lanka .
• Mihai Viteazul, ("the Brave"), Romanian voivode
• Pegun, "the Magnanimous", India .
• Philip the Good, duke of Burgundy
• The Rock, wrestler/actor (Rocky, also known as The Great One)
• Stefan Dušan, ("The Forceful"), Serbian tzar
• Ştefan cel Mare ("The Great"), voivod of Moldavia
• Stefan Visoki ("The Tall"), Serbian despot
• Suleiman the Magnificent, Ottoman Empire
• Felix Trinidad, boxer (Tito, also known as The Great Puerto Rican Champion)
• The Great Kat, heavy metal guitarist and violinist
• The Great Khali, professional WWE wrestler

• Ahlsendar, called the Great King, in the Myst backstory.
• Edward the Great - title of an Iron Maiden 'greatest hits' album, named after the band's mascot Eddie.
• Gonzo the Great character from The Muppet Show.
• The Great Brain.
• The Great Gatsby in F. Scott Fitzgerald's novel.
• The Great Gazoo from the cartoon series The Flintstones.
• The Great Leslie from the movie The Great Race (1956)
• The Great Merlini.
• The Great Milenko Insane Clown Posse Joker Card
• The Great Pumpkin from Peanuts comic strip.
• The Great Rupert from the 1950 film of the same name.
• Sheila the Great from Judy Blume's Otherwise Known as Sheila the Great
• The Great Skeeve from the novels of Robert Asprin
• The Great Santini.
• The Great Suprendo, British TV magic act by Geoffrey Durham.
• Nate the Great, from the Nate the Great series, by Marjorie W. Sharmat.
• The Great Gildersleeve.

• Epithet
• List of monarchs by nickname
• List of nicknames of European Royalty and Nobility: G-I
• Category:Greatest Nationals