List of people known as the Great

"The Great" redirects here. For other uses, see The Great (disambiguation).

This is a list of people known as the Great, or the equivalent, in their own language. Other languages have their own suffixes, such as Persian e Bozorg and Hindustani e Azam.

In Persia, the title "the Great" at first seems to have been a colloquial version of the Old Persian title "Great King" (King of Kings, Shahanshah). It was first used by Cyrus II of Persia.^[1] The title was inherited by Alexander III when he conquered the Persian Empire, and the epithet eventually became personally associated with him. The first reference to this is in a comedy by Plautus,^[2] in which it is assumed that everyone knew who "Alexander the Great" was; however, there is no evidence that he was called "the Great" before this. The early Seleucid kings, who succeeded Alexander in Persia, used "Great King" in local documents, but the title was most notably used for Antiochus the Great. Once the term gained currency, it was broadened to include persons in other fields, such as the philosopher Albert the Great.

Later rulers and commanders were given the epithet during their lifetime, for example, the Roman general Pompey. Others received the title posthumously, such as the Indian emperor Ashoka. As there are no objective criteria for "greatness", the persistence of the designation varies greatly. For example, Louis XIV of France was often referred to as "the Great" in his lifetime, but is rarely called such nowadays, later writers preferring his more specific epithet "the Sun King". German Emperor Wilhelm I was often called "the Great" in the time of his grandson Wilhelm II, but rarely before or after.

Monarchs

Name	Description	Dates	Ref.
Abbas the Great	King of Kings of Persia	1587 – 1629	[3]
Abgar VIII	King of Osroene	177 – 212
Akbar the Great	Third Mughal emperor of India	1556 – 1605	[4]
Alan I, King of Brittany	Duke of Brittany	876 – 907
Alexander I of Georgia	King of Georgia	1412 – 1442
Alexander the Great	Basileus of Macedonia and King of Kings of Persia, Pharaoh of Egypt	336 BC – 323 BC
Alfonso III of Asturias	King of León, Galicia and Asturias	866 – 910
Alfred the Great	King of Wessex and the Anglo-Saxons	871 – 899
Ali Sher Khan Anchan	Sultan of Baltiyul	1595 – 1633
Amenhotep III	Pharaoh of Egypt	1391 BC – 1353 BC or 1388 BC – 1351 BC
Antiochus III the Great	Ruler of the Seleucid Empire	223 BC – 187 BC
Ashoka the Great	Third Mauryan ruler of India and "Emperor of Emperors."	268 BC – 232 BC	[5][6][7]
Ashot I of Armenia	King of Armenia	885 – 890
Ashot I of Iberia	First Bagratid king of Georgia	813 – 826 or 830
Askia Mohammad I	Ruler of the Songhai Empire	1493 – 1528	[8]
Bagrat V of Georgia	King of Georgia	1360 – 1393
Barnim III	Duke of Stettin Pomerania	1344 – 1368	[9]
Bayinnaung	King of Toungoo Dynasty (in present-day Myanmar)	1550 – 1581
Berengaria of Castile	Queen of Castile and Toledo	1197 – 1246
Bhillama I	King of Seuna (Yadava) dynasty	910 – 930	[10]
Bhumibol Adulyadej	King of Thailand	1946 – 2016
Bogusław V	Duke of Wolgast and Słupsk	1326 – 1374	[11]
Bolesław I the Brave	First king of Poland	992 – 1025	[12]
Casimir III the Great	King of Poland	1333 – 1370
Catherine the Great	Empress of Russia	1762 – 1796
Charlemagne ("Charles the Great")	King of the Franks and Emperor of the Romans	768 – 814
Chlothar II	King of Neustria and King of the Franks	584 – 629
Chulalongkorn	King of Siam (in present-day Thailand)	1868 – 1910
Constantine the Great	Roman emperor	306 – 337
Cnut the Great	King of England (1016–1035), Denmark (1018–1035) and Norway (1028–1035)	1016 – 1035
Cyrus the Great	Founder and First Shahanshah of Persia, Achaemenid Empire (in present-day Iran)	559 BC – 530 BC
Darius the Great	Third Shahanshah of Persia, Achaemenid Empire (in present-day Iran)	522 BC – 486 BC
Eucratides I	Ruler of the Greco-Bactrian Kingdom and the Indo-Greek Kingdom	171 BC – 145 BC	[13]
Ewuare	Founder and Oba (king) of the Benin Empire (in present-day Nigeria)	1440 – 1473
Farrukhan the Great	Ispahbadh of Tabaristan	712 – 728	[14]
Ferdinand I of León	King of León and Count of Castile	1037 – 1065
Frederick the Great	King of Prussia	1740 – 1786
Genghis Khan	Founder and Great Khan of the Mongol Empire	1206 – 1227
Gwrgan Fawr	King of Ergyng	619 – 645
Gustavus Adolphus	King of Sweden, founder of the Swedish Empire, and noted military leader	1611 – 1632
Gwanggaeto the Great	King of Goguryeo, one of the Three Kingdoms of Korea	391 – 412	[15]
Henry IV of France	King of France and King of Navarre	1589 – 1610
Herod the Great	King of Judea	37 BC – 4 BC or 36 BC – 1 BC
Hugh III of Cyprus	King of Cyprus and Jerusalem	1267 – 1284
Hugh Magnus	Co-King of France	1017 – 1025
Inal the Great	Supreme Prince of Circassia	1427 – 1453
Ivan III of Russia	Grand Prince of Moscow and All Russia	1462 – 1505
Iyasu I	Emperor of Ethiopia	1682 – 1706
Jeongjo of Joseon	22nd King of the Joseon Dynasty	1776 – 1800
John I of Portugal	King of Portugal and the Algarve	1385 – 1433
John II of Aragon	King of Aragon and, through his wife, King of Navarre	1458 – 1479
Justinian I	Roman Emperor (Eastern)	527 – 565
Kamehameha I	First king of Hawaii	1782 – 1819
Kangxi Emperor	Emperor of Qing China	1661 – 1722
Kanishka	Emperor of Kushan Empire, ruled Central Asia and parts of India	127 – 150	[16]
Kvirike III of Kakheti	King of Kakheti in eastern Georgia	1010 – 1037
Kublai Khan	Mongol ruler in the 13th century and Emperor of China; founder of the Yuan Dynasty	1260 – 1294
Leo I the Thracian	Roman emperor	457 – 474	[17]
Llywelyn the Great	King of Gwynedd and de facto ruler of most of Wales	1195 – 1240
Louis I of Hungary	King of Hungary, Croatia, and Poland	1342 – 1382
Louis XIV of France	King of France and Navarre	1643 – 1715
Manuel I Komnenos	Byzantine emperor	1143 – 1180
Marianus IV of Arborea	Judge of Arborea	1347 – 1376	[18]
Michael Krešimir II	King of Croatia	949 – 969	[19]
Miloš Obrenović I of Serbia	Prince of Serbia	1858 – 1860
Mircea the Elder	Voivode of Wallachia	1386 – 1394, 1397 – 1418
Mithridates I of Parthia	Fifth King of Parthia (in present-day Iran)	165 BC – 132 BC	[20]
Mithridates II of Parthia	Eighth King of Parthia (in present-day Iran)	124 BC – 91 BC
Mithridates VI Eupator	King of Pontus	120 BC – 63 BC
Mongkut	King of Siam (in present-day Thailand)	1851 – 1868
Mubarak Al-Sabah	Ruler of Kuwait	1896 – 1915
Mstislav I of Kiev	Grand Prince of Kiev	1088 – 1132
Narai	King of Ayutthaya (in present-day Thailand)	1656 – 1688
Naresuan	King of Ayutthaya (in present-day Thailand)	1590 – 1605
Nebuchadnezzar II	King of the Neo-Babylonian Empire	605 BC – 562 BC	[21]
Otto the Great	Holy Roman Emperor	962 – 973
Owain Gwynedd	King of All Wales	1137 – 1170	[22]
Pakal	Ruler of the Maya city-state of Palenque	615 – 683
Parakramabahu I	King of Polonnaruwa	1153 – 1186	[23]
Peter the Great	Tsar of Russia; founder of the Russian Empire	1682 – 1725	[citation needed]
Peter III of Aragon	King of Aragon and King of Sicily	1276 – 1285
Pharasmanes I of Iberia	King of Iberia	1 – 58
Phutthayotfa Chulalok	King of Siam (In present-day Thailand)	1782 – 1809	[24]
Qin Shi Huang	First emperor of China, who unified China from Warring States	247 BC – 210 BC
Radama I	First king of greater Madagascar	1810 – 1828
Radu IV the Great	Voivode of Wallachia	1495 – 1508
Rajendra Chola I	Imperial Chola Emperor of Tamilakam	1014 – 1044
Ramesses II	Pharaoh of Egypt known for his temples, monuments, and military feats.	1279 BC – 1213 BC	[25]
Ram Khamhaeng	King of Sukhothai (In present-day Thailand)	1279 – 1298
Reza Shah	Shah of Iran	1925 – 1941
Rhodri Mawr	King of Gwynedd (in present-day Wales)	844 – 878
Roman the Great	Grand Prince of Kiev	1168 – 1205	[26]
Sancho III of Pamplona	King of Navarre	1004 – 1035
Sargon of Akkad	Ruler of the Akkadian Empire	2334 BC – 2279 BC	[27]
Sejong the Great	Fourth King of the Joseon Dynasty	1418 – 1450	[28]
Shapur II	Tenth Shahanshah of Persia, Sassanid Empire (in present-day Iran)	309 – 379
Simeon I of Bulgaria	Tsar of Bulgaria	893 – 927	[29]
Simon I of Kartli	King of Kartli	1556 – 1569, 1578 – 1599
Solomon I	King of Imereti	1752 – 1765, 1767 – 1784
Sonni Ali Ber	First Ruler of the Songhai Empire	1464 – 1492	[30]
Stefan Uroš I	King of Serbia	1243 – 1276
Stephen the Great	Prince of Moldavia (in present-day Romania)	1457 – 1504
Svatopluk I of Moravia	King of Moravia	867 – 894	[31]
Taksin	King of the Thonburi Kingdom (in present-day Thailand)	1767 – 1782	[32]
Tamar of Georgia	Queen of the Georgian Empire	1184 – 1213	[33]
Emperor Taizong of Tang	Emperor of Tang (China)	626 – 649
Theoderic the Great	King of the Ostrogoths, regent of the Visigoths and a viceroy of the Eastern Roman Empire	471 – 526
Theodosius I	Roman emperor	379 – 395	[34]
Thoros II of Armenia	Lord of Armenian Cilicia	1144 or 1145 – 1169	[35]
Thutmose III	Pharaoh of Egypt	1479 BC – 1425 BC	[36]
Tigranes the Great	Emperor of Armenia	95 BC – 55 BC	[37]
Tiridates III of Armenia	King of Armenia	298 – 330	[38]
Valdemar I of Denmark	King of Denmark	1154 – 1182	[39]
Valentinian I	Roman emperor	364 – 375	[40]
Vigraharaja IV	King of Chauhan Dynasty of India	1150 – 1164	[41]
Vladimir the Great	Prince of Novgorod and Grand Prince of Kiev	970 – 1015	[42]
Vytautas	Grand Duke of Lithuania	1392 – 1430	[43]
Emperor Wu of Han	Emperor of Han China, from whose reign dynasty the Chinese majority people are named	141 BC – 87 BC
Xerxes I	Fourth Shahanshah of Persia, Achaemenid Empire (in present-day Iran)	486 BC – 465 BC	[44]
Yuknoom Ch'een II	Maya king of Kaan	636 – 686	[45]
Zayed Bin Khalifa	Ruler of Abu Dhabi	1855 – 1909	[46]
Zayn al-Abidin the Great	Sultan of Kashmir	1418 – 1419, 1420 – 1470	[47]

Aristocrats

Name	Description	Dates	Ref.
Alain I of Albret	French aristocrat	1440 – 1522
Amadeus V of Savoy	Count of Savoy	1249 – 1323
Arnulf I, Count of Flanders	Count of Flanders	893 – 964	[48]
Atenulf I of Capua	Prince of Capua	? – c. 910
Bogislaw X	Duke of Pomerania	1454 – 1523
Bruno	Archbishop of Cologne and Duke of Lotharingia	925 – 965	[49]
Charles Emmanuel I, Duke of Savoy	Duke of Savoy	1562 – 1630
Charles III, Duke of Lorraine	Duke of Lorraine	1543 – 1608
Conrad, Margrave of Meissen	Margrave of Meissen	1097 – 1157	[50]
David III of Tao	Prince of Tao	966 – 1001
Frederick II of Legnica	Duke of Legnica, Brzeg, Wołów, Głogów, and Ziębice	1488 - 1547
Frederick William, Elector of Brandenburg	Duke of Prussia	1620 - 1688
Gerhard III, Count of Holstein-Rendsburg	The German prince (house of Schauenburg); also ruled a large part of Denmark	1292 – 1340
Gero	Ruler of Marca Geronis, a very large march in Europe	900 – 965	[51]
Godfrey I of Louvain	Count of Brussels and Leuven; Duke of Lower Lorraine; Langrave of Brabant	1060 – 1139
Gothelo I, Duke of Lorraine	Duke of Lorraine; count of Verdun; and margrave of Antwerp	967 – 1044
Gurgen II of Tao	Prince of Tao	918 – 941
Hanno I the Great	Carthaginian politician and military leader	4th century BC
Hanno II the Great	Carthaginian aristocrat, general, and politician	3rd century BC	[52]
Hanno III the Great	Carthaginian politician	2nd century BC	[53][54]
Henry I, Duke of Burgundy	Duke of Burgundy	946 – 1002
Henry V of Luxembourg	Count of Luxembourg	1216 – 1281
Hugh the Great	Count of Paris and Duke of the Franks	898 – 956	[55]
Hugh, Count of Vermandois	Count of Vermandois	1057 – 1101
Hugh, Margrave of Tuscany	Margrave of Tuscany	953/954 – 1001
Humphrey I de Bohun	Anglo-Norman aristocrat	? – 1123
Intef the Elder	Nomarch of Thebes	? – c. 2135 BC	[56]
Matthew II of Montmorency	Lord of Montmorency	1189 – 1230
Maximilian I, Elector of Bavaria	Ruler of Bavaria	1573 – 1651
Milo I of Montlhéry	Lord of Montlhéry	1095 – 1102
Odo the Great	Duke of Aquitaine	? – 735	[57]
Pompey	Military and political leader of the late Roman Republic	106 BC – 48 BC	[58]
Ralph IV of Valois	Count of Valois, Bar, Vexin, Vitry, Amiens, Montdidier and Tardenois	1025 – 1074	[59]
Ramon Berenguer III, Count of Barcelona	Count of Barcelona, Provence, and various other counties	1082 – 1131
Robert I, Count of Dreux	Count of Dreux	1123 – 1188
Roger-Bernard II, Count of Foix	Count of Foix	1223 – 1241
Roger de Montgomerie, 1st Earl of Shrewsbury	Earl of Shrewsbury and Arundel	? – 1094
Roger I of Sicily	Count of Sicily	c. 1030 – 1101
Świętopełk II the Great	Duke of Gdańsk Pomerania	? – 1266	[60]
Theobald II, Count of Champagne	Count of Blois and of Chartres as Theobald IV, Count of Champagne and of Brie	1090 – 1151
William I, Count of Burgundy	Count of Burgundy and Mâcon	1020 – 1087
William V, Duke of Aquitaine	Duke of Aquitaine, Count of Poitou	969 – 1030	[61]

Military

Name	Description	Dates	Ref.
Afonso de Albuquerque	Portuguese general, statesman and empire builder	1453 – 1515	[62]
Melias	Byzantine general of Armenian origin, called "Mleh the Great" in Armenian sources	890 –934	[63]
Prokop the Great	Hussite general in Bohemia	1380 – 1434	[64]

Religious figures

Christian

Name	Description	Dates	Ref.
Abraham Kidunaia	Hermit, priest, and Christian saint of Mesopotamia	? – 366	[65]
Abraham the Great of Kashkar	Monk and saint of the Church of the East	492 – 586
Albertus Magnus	Medieval German philosopher and theologian	1193/1206 – 1280	[66]
Anthony the Great	Early Christian saint of Egypt	251 – 356	[67]
Arsenius the Great	Roman anchorite saint in Egypt	354 – 445
Athanasius of Alexandria	Early Christian saint and bishop of Alexandria	296 – 373	[68]
Babai the Great	Assyrian church leader	551 – 628
Basil of Caesarea	Greek bishop and theologian	330 – 379	[69]
Bertin	Frankish Abbot of a monastery that was named after him after he died	615 – 709
Bruno the Great	Archbishop of Cologne and Duke of Lotharingia (also listed in the previous section)	925 – 965	[70]
Pope Dioscorus I of Alexandria	Coptic Orthodox Church pope	? – 454
Euthymius the Great	Abbot and Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox saint	377 – 473
Gertrude the Great	German Benedictine, mystic, theologian and Roman Catholic saint	1256 – 1302	[71]
Pope Gregory I	Roman Catholic pope	540 – 604	[72]
Hilarion	Ancient Roman anchorite and Orthodox and Roman Catholic saint	291 – 371
Hugh of Cluny	Abbot of Cluny	1024 – 1109
Isaac of Armenia	Armenian Catholicos	354 – 439
James, son of Zebedee[Note 1]	One of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus Christ	3 – 44	[73]
Joannicius the Great	Byzantine hermit, theologian and saint	752 – 846	[74]
Pope John Paul II	Roman Catholic pope	1920 – 2005	[75][76][77][78]
Pope Leo I	Roman Catholic pope	391 or 400 – 461	[79]
Macarius of Egypt	Egyptian hermit	300 – 391	[80]
Michael the Great	Patriarch of the Syriac Orthodox Church	1126 – 1199	[81]
Nerses I	Armenian Catholicos	? – 373
Pope Nicholas I	Roman Catholic pope	800 – 867	[82]
Photius I of Constantinople	Eastern Orthodox saint and Patriarch of Constantinople	810 – 893	[83]
Severus of Antioch	Oriental Orthodox saint and head of the Syriac Orthodox Church	459/465 – 538
Shenoute	Oriental Orthodox saint and abbot of the White Monastery	348 – 465
Sisoes the Great	An early desert father, a solitary monk pursuing asceticism in the Egyptian desert in a cave of Anthony the Great	? – 429
William of Maleval	Founder of the Catholic congregation of Williamites	? - 1157

Jewish

Name	Description	Dates	Ref.
Aharon of Karlin (I)	Hasidic rabbi	1736 – 1772	[84]
Eliezer ben Hurcanus	Rabbi in Judea	1st century	[85][86]
Hiyya the Great	Rabbi in Judea	180 – 230	[87]

Legendary and mythological figures

Name	Description	Ref.
Ajax the Great	Greek hero in the Iliad	[88]
Beli Mawr	In medieval Welsh mythology and literature	[89]
Belinus	Legendary king of the Britons
Boyi	Tribal leader of the Longshan	[90]
Fergus Mór	Semi-mythical king of Dál Riata
Gradlon	Semi-mythical king of Cornouaille
Hayk	Legendary founder and patriarch of the Armenian nation	[91]
Phrom	Legendary king of Singhanavati Realm	[92]
Yu the Great (c. 2200–2100 BC)	Legendary ruler in ancient China	[93][94]

See also

• List of monarchs by nickname
• James Stanley, 7th Earl of Derby (1607–1651), "Yn Stanlagh Mooar" ("the Great Stanley"), also Lord of Mann
• Bantul the Great, a Bengali comic strip character
• Wayne Gretzky, former professional ice hockey player, nicknamed "The Great One" and "The Great Gretzky"

Notes

1. In this case James is styled "the Greater" to distinguish him from the Apostle James the Lesser, with greater meaning older or taller, rather than more important.