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.
9 Misheck Doctor Nyandoro – 128 Children, And Counting
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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.