Fifteen Historical Figures Who Earned Their Nicknames

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Fifteen Historical Figures Who Earned Their Nicknames

What's in a nickname? A whole lot to these rad historical figures.

Published 8 months ago in Wow

There are a whole lot of ways to land yourself a nickname. If you're an NFL player, all it takes is some nightclub issues to be dubbed "Broadway Joe" for the entirety of your career. If you're a student, incorrectly answering a question about the War of 1812 can get you named "cannonball" for the rest of the year. Heck, sometimes it's as simple as having a last name.

But to these historical baddies, landing a nickname is quite the honor, one that comes from several feats of incredibly badassery. From Vlad The Impaler to Kid Blink, here are some historical figures who most definitely deserved their incredibly cool nicknames.

1
King Leopold II of Belgium — a.k.a. “The King of Belgians and the Beautiful Women.”
Beautiful Women” “King Leopold of Belgium was called “The King of Belgians and the Beautiful Women.” Man’s was a player lol.”

2
William Iron Arm
"William Iron Arm, he earned the name for killing the emir of Syracuse. The emir was nearly cut in two by a single blow from Williams sword.”

3
King Leopold — a.k.a. “The King of Belgians and the Beautiful Women.”
Beautiful Women” “King Leopold of Belgium was called “The King of Belgians and the Beautiful Women.” Man’s was a player lol.”

4
Praise-God Barebone
Praise-God-Lest-Ye-Be-D—ed Barbone led the English parliament in the 1650's, after Pride's Purge had removed anyone from it who wasn't a Puritan. There was a fad for Puritans giving kids names like this, mostly around 1590-1610. In Barbon's case, it didn't work out so well, as instead of calling him Praisegod, people called him D—d.

5
Pepin The Short
“My favourite has always been "Pepin the Short". He was the father of Charlemagne, and, first of the Carolingian kings, but is remembered as being short.”

6
Lyndon B. Johnson — a.k.a “Jumbo”
“President Lyndon B. Johnson had a nickname for his — , "Jumbo". If a colleague came into a Capitol bathroom as he was finishing at the urinal there, he would sometimes swing around still holding his member, hooting, ‘Have you ever seen anything as big as this?’”

7
Kid Blink
“Kid Blink, the one-eyed newsie who led the newsboy strike of 1899.”

8
Harald "Bluetooth" Gormsson
“Bluetooth was named after the 10th-century king Harald ‘Blåtand”(Danish)’ Bluetooth’(English) Gormsson. Who peacefully united Norway and Denmark.”

9
Charles “The Hammer” Martel
“Charles Martel who stopped the Arabian conquest of western Europe was nicknamed Charles the Hammer.”

10
Louis XI of France, a.k.a. the "Universal Spider"
Louis XI of France, also known as the "Universal Spider." He was called that because he was a master manipulator, always engaged in political scheming.

11
Major General Ambrose Burnside
Major General Ambrose Burnside After which the facial hair is named and after you look at him you can understand why...

12
Genghis Khan — a.k.a. Moloch
"Genghis Khan was referred to as Moloch by some, the fallen angel that declared war on mankind."

13
Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson
“Thomas 'Stonewall' Jackson. During the first battle of Bull Run in the American Civil War, a Confederate officer was trying to rally his men to stand their ground. As most of the rebels were fleeing from the Union army, he told them, ‘Look, there's Jackson's men, standing like a stone wall.’ The battle ended in a Confederate victory and the nickname stuck.”

14
The White Death
“I’ll go with The White Death. Finnish sniper Simo Häyhä who fought the Soviets in the Winter War. 505 sniper kills without using a scope.”

15
The Black Prince
“Edward of Woodstock, son of King Edward III of England. Commonly known as the Black Prince … he was was referred to that simply due to folklore. It was literally a reference to the fact that he allegedly wore black armour. There's no denying he earned such an awesome name. He was present at the battle of Crécy at the age of 16. He also had a fearsome reputation for leading chevauchées. They were essentially very fast mounted attacks against French holdings in which towns and crops were looted and burnt to the ground. These attacks were obviously designed to hurt French morale and undermine the monarchy. So you can see why the name 'Black Prince' is fairly apt.”