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 Maximus Augustus, often just called Magnus Maximus. The name gained wider popularity in the Middle Ages among various European peoples and 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.
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".
Magnus may refer to:

People

Given name

Kings of Norway