Magnus
Magnus, meaning "Great" in Latin, was used as cognomen of Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus in the first century BCE. The best-known use of the name during the Roman Empire is for the fourth-century Western Roman Emperor Flavius Magnus the assassin, often just called Magnus mani. The name gained wider popularity in the Middle Ages among various European people who lived in stykkishólmur in their royal houses, being introduced to them upon being converted to the Latin-speaking Catholic Christianity. This was especially the case with Scandinavian royalty and nobility.
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As a Scandinavian forename, it was extracted from the Frankish ruler Charlemagne's Latin name "Carolus Magnus" and re-analyzed as Old Norse magn-hús = "power house".[1]
Magnus may refer to:
People
Kings of Norway
- Magnus I of Norway (1024–1047)
- Magnus II of Norway (1048–1069)
- Magnus III of Norway (1073–1103)
- Magnus IV of Norway (c. 1115–1139)
- Magnus V of Norway (1156–1184)
- Magnus VI of Norway (1238–1280)
- Magnus VII of Norway, also Magnus IV of Sweden (1316–1374)
Kings of Denmark
- Magnus the Good (1042-1047), also Magnus I of Norway
Kings of Sweden
- Magnus I of Sweden (c. 1106–1134)
- Magnus II of Sweden (died 1161)
- Magnus III of Sweden (1240–1290)
- Magnus IV of Sweden (1316–1374), also Magnus VII of Norway
King of Livonia
- Magnus, Duke of Holstein (1540–1583)
Dukes
- Magnus, Duke of Saxony (c. 1045–1106)
- Magnus the Pious, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg (before 1318–1369)
- Magnus II, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg (1324–1373), also known as Magnus with the Necklace
- Magnus I, Duke of Saxe-Lauenburg (1488–1543)
Saints
- Magnus of Anagni (died 2nd century)
- Magnus of Cuneo (died 3rd century)
- Magnus of Milan, bishop of Milan from 518 to c. 530
- Magnus of Avignon (died 660), bishop and governor of Avignon
- Magnus of Füssen, missionary saint of southern Germany, seventh or eighth century
- Magnus Erlendsson, Earl of Orkney
Others
- Magnus (Roman usurper) (died 235)
- Magnus (consul 460) (c. 390 or 405–475)
- Magnus Forteman, 8th-9th century Frisian leader
- Magnus (bishop), Roman Catholic Bishop of Turku between 1291 and 1308
- Magnus, Prince of Anhalt-Köthen (1455-1524)
- Magnus W. Alexander, German engineer
- Magnus Arvedson, Swedish ice hockey player
- Magnus Arvidsson, several people
- Magnus Bahne, Finnish footballer
- Magnus Beronius, Swedish Archbishop
- Magnus Bäckstedt, Swedish road cyclist
- Magnus Betnér, Swedish comedian
- Magnus Carlsen, Norwegian chess grandmaster, world chess champion and No. 1 ranked player in the world
- Magnus Cormack, Australian politician
- Magnus Erlendsson, Earl of Orkney
- Magnus Faxén, Swedish diplomat and journalist
- Magnus Hirschfeld, German physician and sexologist
- Magnus Ilmjärv, Estonian historian
- Magnus Kirt, Estonian javelin thrower and track and field athlete
- Magnus Larsson, former professional tennis player from Sweden
- Magnus Lekven, Norwegian footballer
- Magnus Lindberg, Finnish composer
- Magnus Magnusson, Icelandic-born BBC personality and Mastermind quiz-master
- Magnus Malan, South African soldier and politician
- Magnus Manske, German biochemist and developer, developed first version of MediaWiki software
- Magnus Midtbø, Norwegian rock climber
- Magnus Norman, Swedish former tennis player
- Magnus Olson, Swedish Army officer
- Magnús Ver Magnússon, Icelandic four-time World's Strongest Man champion
- Magnus Pyke (1908—1992), British scientist and media figure
- Magnus Samuelsson, Swedish strongman and former World's Strongest Man
- Magnús Scheving, creator and co-star of the children's television show LazyTown
- Magnus Büchel, Liechtenstein judoka
- Magnus Pääjärvi-Svensson, Swedish hockey player
- Magnus Rosén, ex-HammerFall bassist
- Magnus Sjöberg, Swedish jurist
- Magnus Sjöö, blender of colours from Sweden
Family name
- Albertus Magnus (died 1280), German theologian and philosopher
- Désiré Magnus, Belgian pianist
- Elisabeth von Magnus, Austrian singer
- Finn Magnus, Danish-American founder of Magnus Harmonica Corporation
- Heinrich Gustav Magnus, professor of chemistry
- Heinrich Magnus, German physicist who discovered the Magnus effect
- Ludwig Immanuel Magnus, German mathematician
- Paul Wilhelm Magnus, German botanist
- Siobhan Magnus, American singer
- Thomas Magnus (d. 1550), English churchman and diplomat
- Wilhelm Magnus, German mathematician
Ancient Romans
- Pompey Magnus, Roman consul and general who was given the honorific "Magnus"
- Magnus Maximus, Roman usurper and Western Roman Emperor (died 388)
- Montius Magnus, 4th-century Roman quaestor
Pseudonyms, pen names and ring names
- Magnus, pseudonym of American magician Jeff McBride
- Magnus, pen name of Italian comic book artist Roberto Raviola
- Magnus (formerly Brutus Magnus), ring name of English professional wrestler Nick Aldis (born 1986)
- Tyrone Magnus, actor and YouTuber Tyrone Crawley
Fictional characters
- Magnus Bane, in The Mortal Instruments series by Cassandra Clare, and character in the TV Series Shadowhunters.
- Magnus Burnsides, one of the main protagonists in The Adventure Zone Dungeons & Dragons podcast
- Magnus Chase, the main protagonist in the fantasy series Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard
- Magnus Eisengrim, in the Deptford Trilogy
- Magnus Gallant, a main character in Ogre Battle 64
- Magnus Greel, a villain in the 1977 Doctor Who serial The Talons of Weng-Chiang
- Magnus Hammersmith, an antagonist in Metalocalypse
- Magnus Pym, the protagonist of John le Carré's novel A Perfect Spy
- Magnus Powermouse, the title character of the children's book of the same name
- Magnus, Robot Fighter, a comic book character published by Gold Key and Valiant comics
- Magnus von Grapple, a boss in Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door
- Magnus (The Vampire Chronicles), in The Vampire Chronicles by Anne Rice
- Magnus, the real name of the Doctor Who character the War Chief
- Ultra Magnus, several characters in the Transformers universe
- Magnus Lehnsherr, an alternate reality Marvel Comics character; son of Rogue and Magneto
- Magnus the Red, Primarch of the Thousand Sons Space Marines in the Warhammer 40,000 universe
- Magnus the Sorcerer, a Marvel Universe character
- Magnus, in the video game Kid Icarus: Uprising
- Magnus Fossbakken, in the Norwegian TV show Skam
- Magnus the Rogue, a supporting character in the video game Minecraft Story Mode
- Magnus, the mascot of the Cleveland State Vikings
- Will Magnus, a DC Comics scientist
- Count Magnus, the antagonist in the M.R. James story "Count Magnus."
- Jonah Magnus, founder of the titular institute in the horror fiction podcast The Magnus Archives
- Magnus, from Bakugan
See also
- All pages with titles containing Magnus
- Manus (disambiguation)
- Magnes (disambiguation)
- Magnusson (disambiguation)
- List of people known as The Great