This article was originally published on November 8, 2017. It was updated by Kirstie Landry on September 7, 2020. 

Parenthood is a lot different today than it was in the past. For starters, families are a lot smaller, and many couples carefully limit the number of kids they have. After all, taking care of just two kids can be chaotic, not to mention expensive.

Furthermore, it's important for people to consider that historically, families were much larger. It wasn’t uncommon for pre-20th century couples to have anywhere between five to 10 kids. Take into account pregnancy loss and infant mortality rates, and that would have been a lot of pregnancies, births, and child-rearing for women.

While many men throughout history have had average-sized families, it is interesting to take a look at the ones who have had the largest ones.

Many famous historical male figures have fathered large amounts of children. They weren’t all necessarily nice guys; they weren't marrying women for love and having children because they were passionate about fatherhood, but they still hold a place in history for their nearly inconceivable virility. In addition, something that people who are interested in this topic might find interesting is that they are very likely to be descendants of one of the people known for the number of children he fathered.

RELATED: 1 In 10 New Fathers Suffer From Postpartum Depression

9 Misheck Doctor Nyandoro – 128 Children, And Counting

via Pixabay

While one might think that all of the men who fathered an outstanding number of children only existed in the past, the truth is that some of them are alive and well today. One of those men is Misheck Doctor Nyandoro, who resides in Zimbabwe.

While Nyandoro might not be the person who holds the record for being the man with the most children, he still has a much larger family than most men do. According to herald.co.ze, he has 128 children. In fact, his family has grown so large that he’s literally made his own community.

Nyandoro claimed that he still feels as healthy as he did when he was 18 years old, which is something that some parents might be surprised by, considering the fact that being a father can be exhausting at times. This man also has at least 15 wives, so it is probably difficult for him to spend much one on one time with each of his children. Nevertheless, it doesn't seem as though he plans to stop having kids anytime soon.

8 Winston Blackmore – At Least 145 Children

via Pixabay, Darkside-550

According to sltrib.com, a man named Winston Blackmore is the father of 149 children from as many as 27 wives. Blackmore was found guilty of polygamy in 2017 after a prolonged legal battle with the province of British Columbia, which is located in Canada.

Blackmore took part in celestial marriages, which are plural marriages not legally registered with the governments. While these marriages may have been conducted in secret, records of them were found in a vault in Texas. Polygamy is illegal in Canada.

Out of the 27 wives he married over the years, 16 of them remained with him in 2016, which means that 11 of them were no longer with him at that point. This was probably a very difficult situation for some of his children to go through since kids are usually very affected if their parents split up.

7 Miên Định – 144 Children

via Pixabay, Balouriarajesh

If Miên Định first came to mind when trying to think of the most kids that were had by one man, then that is reasonable. According to en.wikipedia.org, this man was a part of the Nguyễn dynasty in Vietnam, and he also fathered 144 children.

But that is not the only interesting thing about Định. His father was Vietnamese emperor Minh Mang, and they both lived during the 19 century. In addition, it looks as though having lots of children was something that ran in his family.

Định had 78 sons, as well as 66 daughters. But his father had 142 children, which is also very interesting when one considers the fact that he did not live very long. Feeding just a few children can be hard for a dad (and a mom) to do, so it is hard to imagine what it would have been like to feed a family that large.

6 Osman Ali Khan, Asaf Jah VII, The Last Nizam Of Hyderabad – 149 Children

via Pixabay, Pexels

Osman Ali Khan, Asaf Jah VII, the last Nizam of Hyderabad had a really large family. Osman Ali Khan (1886 – 1967) was the last ruler of Hyderabad, a former country that’s now a region in south-central India. He had seven wives, countless mistresses and concubines, and he was also the father of 149 children, according to en.wikipedia.org.

But still, he is not the man with the most kids. In addition, there are some other interesting things to know about him. He was a very wealthy man, and he was even on the cover of Time in 1937.

One would think that he would have had a hard time taking care of all of his children. However, his finances must have helped at least a little bit. But still, raising that many kids had to be very difficult and expensive.

5 Anonymous Donor – At Least 150 Children

via Pikist

Men who choose to donate sperm might not think it is possible that they could end up fathering over 100 children, but that has happened before. According to nytimes.com, one anonymous donor ended up becoming the father of over 150 children.

This is an interesting story, but it is also very alarming as well. If the same person fathers a lot of children, then rare genetic illnesses may be passed onto many kids. It could also mean that inbreeding can take place between some of the offspring since they would not know that they were related.

If this particular sperm donor ever finds out how many children he has fathered, he'd likely be very surprised. Being the father of one child can be a challenge at times, but fathering 150 seems impossible. Even though this donor is not the man with the most kids, he might feel like he is.

4 Jack Kigongo – 158 Children

via Pixabay, StockSnap

Another man who had a lot of kids is Jack Kigongo (1909 – 2012), a Ugandan man believed to have fathered 158 with his 20 wives. When he died in 2012 at age 103, Kigongo had around 500 grandchildren. According to newvision.co.ug, he was thought to be the man who had fathered the most children in Uganda.

At the time of his death, Kigongo had 11 wives. While that might sound like a lot, it is nothing in comparison to how many women he actually married during his life. This man married 20 women.

Kigongo was once a very wealthy man, but he and his family did hit some hard times. One might think that could be due to how many children he was the father of, but that is not the case. But still, having that many kids can't be easy on anyone.

3 Ancentus Akuku – Nearly 200 Children

via Pixabay, Free-Photos

Ancentus Akuku is known for a few different things, including the fact that he was the father in an alarmingly large family. According to abcnews.go.com, he was the most prolific polygamist in Kenya. During Akuku's life, he married over 100 women, and he ended up fathering close to 200 children.

Akuku lived a very long life, since he did not pass away until he was in his 90s. Another interesting fact about him is that he had a certain nickname. Since many women were attracted to him because they thought he was handsome, his nickname was "Danger."

He had so many children that he built two schools just to educate his own kids, as well as a church explicitly for his gigantic family to attend. He also named each and every one of his children as a way to bond with them. Coming up with one or two names can be hard for many parents to do, so it's hard to imagine how this man came up with that many different names for all of his kids.

2 Ramesses II – More Than 162 Children

via Pixabay, Free-Photos

Ramesses the Great (1304 BCE – 1214 BCE) is often described as one of the most powerful and celebrated rulers of ancient Egypt. He lived an incredibly long life, which is really outstanding when one considers the fact that Egyptians tended to have very short lifespans around that time.

This legendary pharaoh spent 67 years on the throne. He had several wives with whom he created a very large family. Apparently, he claimed to have at least 162 children, according to content.time.com.

While some people tend to get wrapped up in parenthood, that does not seem to be the case for this historical figure. He accomplished a lot even though he had many kids to take care of.

1 Mohammed Bello Abubakar – More Than 200

[caption id="attachment_796412" align="alignnone" width="1800"] via Pixabay, StockSnap[/caption] Mohammed Bello Abubakar was a Nigerian polygamist who was married to 130 women when he died at age 93, according to dailymail.co.uk. It is believed that some of these women were still pregnant when he died, so it is hard to get an accurate number of how many children he actually ended up with. However, the one thing that is known for sure is that he had over 200 children, if one includes the unborn babies that his wives were said to be pregnant with when he died. While plenty of children grow up without their fathers around, that does not mean that it is easy. Unfortunately, it looks as though some of his kids have had to grow up without ever meeting him at all, if it is true that some of his spouses were with child at the time of his death.

Sultan Ibrahim Njoya – 177 Children

[caption id="attachment_796413" align="alignnone" width="1800"] Pixabay. Jump1987[/caption] Sultan Ibrahim Njoya was a polygamist king, intellectual, and inventor in Cameroon, and he is thought to have had around 600 wives and as many as 177 children by the time of his death, according to peoplepill.com. Njoya has been credited with developing the Bamum script (the alphabet of his native Bamum language), to help record and preserve the history of his people beyond oral storytelling. Another interesting fact about him is that 149 of his children were born by the year 1915. In addition, it seems that his culture mattered a lot to him since he was so passionate about it. Furthermore, that passion seems to have been passed down to one of his grandchildren because he created a school where children could learn about the Bamum script that was created by his grandfather. This just goes to show how a father has great influence over what his children and grandchildren do with their lives. Also, it seems that education was a big deal to Njoya, which is likely something all fathers can relate to.

King Sobhuza II – 210 Children

[caption id="attachment_796416" align="alignnone" width="1800"] via Pixabay, StockSnap[/caption] This former King of Swaziland, who lived between 1899 and 1982, is thought to have had 70 wives and 210 children, most of whom born somewhere between 1920 and 1970, according to face2faceafrica.com. When he died, he had more than 1,000 grandchildren. Not only does his claim to fame include a record number of offspring, he also holds the title of the longest verifiable reign of any monarch in recorded history – having held the title of King of Swaziland for 82 years and 254 days. It helps that he was crowned King at only four months old. Since he had so many children, one might think that he could get the award for most children born to one man, if there were such a thing. However, there are some other men out there who actually had more kids than him.

Augustus II The Strong - Possibly 365-382 Children

[caption id="attachment_796417" align="alignnone" width="1800"] via Pixabay, Faithfinder06[/caption] Augustus II The Strong was born in 1670, and his physical strength was supposedly extraordinary, which is why he got the nickname that he is known by today. But something else about him that is very extraordinary is the number of children that some people believe is fathered. According to history.info, he only had one legitimate son. While that might not sound like a lot, he also had a number of affairs, which resulted in some children of his being born out of wedlock. This is even something that he admitted to doing, but he did not tell anyone exactly how many children he had. Perhaps even he was unaware of how many kids he fathered. While he's not the man with the most children, he is certainly not far from it; some people believe that it is possible that he fathered between 365 and 382 children. While he might have been a great historical figure for other reasons, it doesn't look like this man was a very good father. Fathers should at least be able to name how many children they have.

Bertold P. Wiesner - 600 Children

[caption id="attachment_796419" align="alignnone" width="1800"] via Pixabay, Froot[/caption] There have been many cases of people fathering lots of children after donating their sperm, and this is one of them. According to huffpost.com, Bertold P. Weisner was a man who operated a fertility clinic. However, the problem is that many of the sperm donations that were made there, which ended up helping countless people have babies, came from him. It is believed that he is the father of 600 children, which is an outstanding number. But, that still does not make this man the one who has the most kids in the world. While he could have had other reasons for doing this, it is possible that he just might have been a father who enjoyed having a big family.

Ismail Ibn Sharif – 888 Children

[caption id="attachment_796421" align="alignnone" width="1800"] via Pixabay, Pezibear[/caption] Ismail Ibn Sharif is still not the man with the most children in the world, but he is very close to it. According to thenotsoinnocentsabroad.com, he was the father of 888 children, which has helped him secure the second spot on the list of men with the most children. For those who do not know, he was a Morrocan sultan, and his reign began in 1672, and it ended in 1727. Another thing that people should know about him was that he was very cruel. While most fathers try to treat their children kindly, he did things a bit differently. He treated some of his kids terribly. If fathers want to see how they should not treat their offspring, perhaps they should do some research on this man.

Genghis Khan – Possibly Thousands

[caption id="attachment_796424" align="alignnone" width="1800"] via Pixabay, BlueAngel16[/caption] Genghis Khan is known as one of the greatest warriors in the history of the world, but that is not the only thing he is known for. He is also known for being the man who had the most kids in the world. It seems that he holds the record for the most children born to one man. According to dailymail.co.uk, it is actually possible that he could have been the father of thousands of people. This means that a lot of men and women might even be able to trace their family history back to him. Perhaps this kind of research is something fathers might enjoy doing with their kids when they are old enough to understand it. READ NEXT: New TLC Show 'My Pregnant Husband' Documents Expecting Transgender Fathers Sources: The Herald, The Salt Lake Tribune, Wikipedia, The New York Times, New Vision, ABC News, Time, Daily Mail, People Pill, Face 2 Face Africa, History.info, HUFFPOST, The Not So Innocents Abroad