Magnus

Look up Magnus in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Magnus, meaning "great" in Latin, was sometimes used as a first name among Romans but was not particularly common among them. The best-known Roman bearing the name was the third-century usurper. The name gained wider popularity in the Middle Ages, various European peoples, and their royal houses, being introduced to it upon being converted to the Latin-speaking Catholic Christianity. This was especially the case with Scandinavian royalty and nobility.

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 = "house of might/power".^{[citation needed]}

Magnus may refer to:

People

People with the sole name Magnus

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 (1316–1374)

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 of Livonia (1540–1583), also Duke of Holstein

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)

Other

• Pompey Magnus, Roman consul and general who was given the honorific "Magnus"
• Magnus (Roman usurper) (died 235)
• Magnus Maximus, Roman usurper and Western Roman Emperor (died 388)
• Montius Magnus, 4th-century Roman Quaestor
• Magnus of Nisibis, Alexandrian doctor and professor of the 4th century
• Magnus (consul 460) (c. 390 or 405 – 475)
• Magnus (bishop), Roman Catholic Bishop of Turku between 1291 and 1308
• Magnus, Prince of Anhalt-Köthen (1455-1524)

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 (1075-1115?)
• Albertus Magnus (born 1193-1206, died 1280), German theologian and philosopher

People with the family name Magnus

• Elisabeth von Magnus, Austrian singer
• Heinrich Gustav Magnus, professor of chemistry
• Heinrich Magnus, German physicist who discovered the Magnus effect
• Ludwig Immanuel Magnus, German mathematician
• Wilhelm Magnus, German mathematician
• Siobhan Magnus, American singer

In fiction

• Leon Magnus, a character from Tales of Destiny
• Will Magnus, a scientist character in the DC Comics universe
• Dr. Helen Magnus, Ashley Magnus, characters in the Canadian fantasy TV series Sanctuary

People with the given name Magnus

• Magnus W. Alexander, German engineer
• Magnus Arvedson, Swedish ice hockey player
• Magnus Bahne, Finnish footballer
• Magnus Bäckstedt, a Swedish road cyclist
• Magnus Betnér, a Swedish comedian
• Magnus Carlsen, Norwegian chess grandmaster, the world chess champion and No. 1 ranked player in the world
• Magnus Erlendsson, Earl of Orkney
• Magnus Hirschfeld, German physician and sexologist
• Magnus Larsson, former professional tennis player from Sweden
• Magnus Magnusson, Icelandic-born BBC personality and Mastermind quiz-master
• Magnus Manske, German biochemist and developer, developed first version of MediaWiki software
• Magnus Norman, former professional Swedish tennis player
• Max Magnus Norman, contemporary artist
• Magnús Ver Magnússon of Iceland, four-time World’s Strongest Man champion
• Magnus Samuelsson, a 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
• Prince Sverre Magnus of Norway, Prince of Norway
• Magnus Pyke, (1908—1992), a British scientist and media figure

In fiction

• Magnus Bane, a character in the Mortal Instruments and Infernal Devices series by Cassandra Clare
• Magnus Eisengrim, a character in the Deptford Trilogy
• Magnus Gallant, a main character in Ogre Battle 64
• Magnus (Marvel Comics), two characters in the Marvel universe
• Magnus Pym, the central character of A Perfect Spy
• Magnus, Robot Fighter, a comic book character published by Gold Key and Valiant comics
• Magnus the Red, a character in the Warhammer 40,000 universe
• Magnus, the official mascot of Cleveland State Vikings
• Magnus (vampire), a character in The Vampire Chronicles by Anne Rice
• Magnus is revealed to be the real name of the Doctor Who character the Master
• Ultra Magnus, several characters in the Transformers universe
• Magnus, a significant character from Kid Icarus: Uprising
• Magnus Hammersmith, an antagonist in Metalocalypse.
• Magnus, a historical character in the lore of the Bethesda game The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

Pseudonyms

• 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)

Species

Latin binomial abbreviations for species

See also

• Manus (disambiguation)
• Magnes (disambiguation)
• Magnusson (disambiguation)

This page or section lists people that share the same given name or the same family name. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change that link to point directly to the intended article.