Random Mode Keyboard shortcut: Command/Ctrl + Shift + R
thumbnail

People Known as "The Great"

Difficulty level: hard. Can you name these people from history who are sometimes known as "The Great"?
Quiz by Quizmaster
Rate:
Last updated: December 18, 2017
You have not attempted this quiz yet.
First submittedDecember 16, 2017
Times taken20,865
Average score47.1%
Rating4.34
4:00
Enter answer here
0
 / 17 guessed
The quiz is paused. You have remaining.
Scoring
You scored / = %
This beats or equals % of test takers also scored 100%
The average score is
Your high score is
Your fastest time is
Keep scrolling down for answers and more stats ...
Description
Died in
"Great" Person
Conquered Persia
323 BC
Alexander the Great
Greatest of Frankish kings
814
Charlemagne
(aka Charles the Great)
Russian tsar who founded a new capital
1725
Peter the Great
Empress of Russia
1796
Catherine the Great
King of Prussia for 46 years
1786
Frederick the Great
Often called the first king of England
899
Alfred the Great
First Christian Roman emperor
337
Constantine the Great
Ruled Denmark, England, and Norway
1035
Cnut the Great
King of Judea who appears in the Bible as a baby-killing tyrant
1 BC
Herod the Great
Founded the first Persian empire
530 BC
Cyrus the Great
Most powerful of Egyptian pharaohs, also known as Ozymandias
1213 BC
Ramesses the Great
United Russia under the leadership of Moscow
1505
Ivan the Great
United the Hawaiian islands
1819
Kamehameha the Great
Roman triumvir whose nickname, "the great", was originally ironic
48 BC
Pompey the Great
Presided over the rapid Westernization of Japan
1912
Meiji the Great
Extended the Mughal empire
1605
Akbar the Great
Byzantine emperor who reconquered Italy, built the Hagia Sophia,
and rewrote the law books
565
Justinian the Great
+21
Level 77
Dec 16, 2017
Maybe accept also Knut/Knud? Scandinavians use the K when spelling the name.
+5
Level 31
May 24, 2018
Maybe put the correct answer as Knud, because that was actually his name.
+10
Level 85
May 24, 2018
But his friends called him KG.
+23
Level 68
May 25, 2018
By that logic there should also be "Alexandros", "Pyiotr", "Kurush", "Horedos", "Ioustinianós", "Friedrich", and "Ælfrǣd". Using an English translation on an English language quiz isn't wrong.

And also, his name in Old Norse was Knútr, the Danish name is just as "wrong" as the English name.

+1
Level 23
Dec 16, 2020
not kurush its kurosh take it from me im iranian/persian
+1
Level 23
Dec 16, 2020
not kurush its kurosh take it from me im iranian/persian
+2
Level 78
Dec 16, 2017
A few years ago, i created a similar quiz: great rulers Try it, now that you have practiced!
+10
Level 79
Dec 17, 2017
I feel Wayne Gretzky, the Great One, has been given sort shrift in this quiz.
+2
Level 75
May 24, 2018
Muhammad Ali told us he was the greatest.
+1
Level 43
May 3, 2021
as a hockey fan, I agree
+4
Level 60
Dec 17, 2017
Please accept different spelling of Catharina, Katarina ?
+1
Level 84
Dec 18, 2017
...and Kamehameha, please!
+1
Level 75
May 24, 2018
Thank you, Magnum P.I. for that one. (The Kamehameha Club)
+1
Level 81
Jun 9, 2018
Or dragonball
+3
Level ∞
Dec 18, 2017
We do accept many spellings for both
+6
Level 46
Feb 5, 2018
Is it me, or does this remind anybody about epic rap battle of Ivan he terrible?
+2
Level 56
May 24, 2018
yeah just went through the characters; ivan, yes, alexander, yes, Frederick, yes, pompey, yes, Catherine, yes.
+1
Level 59
Feb 28, 2024
those are the only ones i could name aha
+1
Level 54
Feb 9, 2018
Why do we have to type "the great" every time? I had Ivan, Frederick etc. But these answers kept getting bounced. Since the title is about figures known as the great, isn't this redundant?
+1
Level 67
Feb 12, 2018
I missed Ivan, but Frederick alone without "the great" worked for me as a type-in.
+1
Level 67
Feb 12, 2018
Uh, totally missed Ivan. I didn't think of him at all because in French, I've only ever heard him referred to as Ivan the Terrible, which in my mind is kind of the opposite of "great". Oh well.
+12
Level 63
Mar 5, 2018
Different Ivan. There are a lot of Ivans.
+1
Level 65
May 24, 2018
And Vasilys
+1
Level 81
May 29, 2021
And Dmitrys (including false ones)
+5
Level 73
May 24, 2018
Ivan the Great was Ivan the Terrible's father.
+4
Level 60
Jan 9, 2021
Wrong. Ivan the Great was the Grandfather of Ivan the Terrible. Ivan the Terrible was the son of Vasily III.
+2
Level 70
May 4, 2021
Ivan the Great was Ivan III. Ivan the Terrible was Ivan IV.
+5
Level 82
May 24, 2018
What about Ashoka. And though I normally don't go for sports trivia, +1 for Gretzky and maybe also the Great Bambino, just to add a little variety. Or maybe Harry Houdini.
+2
Level 82
May 24, 2018
Or Mahatma Gandhi, from Sanskrit "maha" (great), but maybe that's a bit of a stretch.
+1
Level 62
May 2, 2021
Mahatma is "Great Soul"
+2
Level 62
May 2, 2021
Bit surprised at Ashoka's exclusion.
+2
Level 38
May 4, 2021
when u said Ahsoka, the first thing to mind was Ahsoka Tano from Star Wars
+11
Level 81
May 24, 2018
"Akbar" means "great" in itself, so Akbar the Great is a funny name.
+6
Level 73
May 24, 2018
When your greatness is so great you have to emphasize it.
+4
Level 82
May 24, 2018
Like Optimus Prime or Ultra Magnus
+3
Level 70
May 24, 2018
Part of being remembered as "great" is, of course, doing great things. Then there's the overlooked part of having a name which the word "great" can be attached to. Brads, Jennifers, Matts, Vinnies, etc are starting out life behind the 8 ball when it comes to chances for monikered greatness in the annals of history.
+12
Level 86
May 24, 2018
Jennifer the Great, Empress of the Block
+11
Level 86
May 24, 2018
Brad the Great, also known as Pitt the Youngest
+3
Level 86
May 24, 2018
Matt the Great, also called Matt the White, Lord High Inquisitor (into the well-being of young ladies)
+5
Level ∞
Apr 11, 2021
Vinnie the Greatest used cars salesman in Schenectady, New York
+1
Level 52
May 2, 2021
I don't think we'll be seeing a Freddie the Great anytime soon.
+3
Level 68
May 3, 2021
Um... Freddie the Great is real, so much so that he's already on the quiz!
+5
Level 86
May 24, 2018
Huh. I studied Japan for 8ish years and never once heard him referred to as "Meiji the Great." I'm not saying it's wrong, necessarily. Just feeling kinda weird about it.
+2
Level 87
Dec 20, 2018
I agree, never heard that. Where is it supposed to have come from?
+1
Level 61
May 24, 2018
king egbert for the win
+1
Level 90
May 24, 2018
Thank you Orville Wilbur Richard Wright for managing the club that bears his name.
+7
Level 85
May 24, 2018
Weird, all these people have the same middle name.
+1
Level 86
Jun 12, 2018
I really feel you should add Louis XIV to this list.
+1
Level 74
Feb 7, 2021
I really feel that you shouldn't, because he's not known by the epithet "the great."
+2
Level 68
May 2, 2021
Of course he is! Louis le Grand - the third-best French public school is even named after him!
+1
Level 66
Mar 25, 2020
Got the 1st four and Ælfred the great
+1
Level 55
Nov 10, 2020
Can you accept Fredrick for Fredrick
+2
Level 52
Apr 18, 2021
Sargon the Great?
+3
Level 62
May 2, 2021
Pompey was called “the great” first by the dictator Sulla as an honor for defeating his enemies in North Africa. I don’t see how that’s ironic
+1
Level 51
Jan 26, 2024
i thought he called him Adulescentulus Carnifex meaning something like Teenage Butcher. Pompey modelled himself on Alexander the Great and even acquired a cloak he claimed was Alexander's. It seems he like to style himself The Great after Alexander but it's also likely that many used it ironically as they snickered behind his back at his pretensions.
+4
Level 73
May 2, 2021
KAMEHAMEHA!!!!!!!!!
+3
Level 76
May 2, 2021
What about Sejong The Great? He got his title for creating the Korean alphabet, bringing literacy and efficient communication to the people of Korea.
+1
Level 71
May 2, 2021
Giving the same epithet to all of these people is so dull and uncreative. If I ever become a king, I think I'll take a page from Smaug and ask people to call me "JWatson the Chiefest and Greatest of Calamities."
+1
Level 88
May 2, 2021
You missed a golden opportunity to include Jerry Seinfeld on this quiz (The Maestro episode)! :)
+2
Level 33
May 3, 2021
OMG where is gustavus adolphus?? :(((( fix it!
+1
Level 82
May 3, 2021
Pope Gregory I is widely known as Gregory the Great, the only Pope I can think of with this epithet
+2
Level 64
May 4, 2021
No Nate?
+1
Level 38
May 4, 2021
can you make Hotu Matu'a acceptable?
+1
Level 42
May 4, 2021
Needs Muta.
+1
Level 22
May 4, 2021
Tsaraja
+1
Level 52
May 4, 2021
Fredrick as a type-in for Frederick? And Knut for Cnut?
+2
Level 52
Nov 19, 2021
Where is the Polish king Casimir (in Polish Kazimierz)? He lived in 1310-1370. He's called the great because of his wisdom and great dyplomacy.

I'm from Poland BTW.

+1
Level 79
Apr 29, 2022
Please accept more spellings of Kamehameha. Of all the weird spellings that are accepted on this site, I feel like this name should be given a LOT more room for misspelling than most.
+1
Level 55
Feb 26, 2024
2 things. Maybe accept Aethelred for Alfred

And secondly, maybe add Rama the Great of Thailand, as a more recent example.