List of people with the most children
Updated: 5/24/2026, 6:51:09 PM Wikipedia source
This is a list of women said to have given birth to 20 or more children and men said to have fathered more than 25 children.
Tables
· Mothers and couples
69
69
Total children birthed
69
Mother or couple
(if known)
Valentina and Feodor Vassilyev
Approximate year of last birth
1765
Notes
A Russian woman named Valentina Vassilyeva and her husband Feodor Vassilyev are alleged to hold the record for the most children a couple has produced. She gave birth to a total of 69 children – sixteen pairs of twins, seven sets of triplets and four sets of quadruplets – between 1725 and 1765, a total of 27 pregnancies. 67 of the 69 children were
57
57
Total children birthed
57
Mother or couple
(if known)
Mr and Ms Kirillov
Approximate year of last birth
1755
Notes
The first wife of peasant Yakov Kirillov from the village of Vvedensky, Russia, gave birth to 57 children in a total of 21 births. She had four sets of quadruplets, seven sets of triplets and ten sets of twins. All of the children were alive in 1755, when Kirillov, aged 60, was presented at court. As with the Vassilyev case, the truth of these clai
53
53
Total children birthed
53
Mother or couple
(if known)
Barbara and Adam Stratzmann
Approximate year of last birth
1498
Notes
It is claimed that Barbara Stratzmann (c. 1448–1503) of Bönnigheim, Germany, gave birth to 53 children (38 sons and 15 daughters) in a total of 29 births by 1498. She had one set of septuplets, one set of sextuplets, four sets of triplets and five sets of twins. Nineteen of the children were stillborn, while the eldest surviving lived to be eight y
44
44
Total children birthed
44
Mother or couple
(if known)
Mariam Nabatanzi Babirye
Approximate year of last birth
2016
Notes
Mariam Nabatanzi from Uganda gave birth to 44 children (43 survived infancy) by the age of 36. This included 3 sets of quadruplets, 4 sets of triplets and 6 sets of twins, due to a rare genetic condition causing hyperovulation. In 2019, at the age of 40, she underwent a medical procedure to prevent any further pregnancies. As of April 4, 2023 she h
42
42
Total children birthed
42
Mother or couple
(if known)
Elizabeth and John Mott
Approximate year of last birth
1720
Notes
Elizabeth Mott of Monks Kirby, Warwickshire, married in 1676 and produced 42 live-born children. She died in 1720. There are not good records for this as it was in the 18th century.
41
41
Total children birthed
41
Mother or couple
(if known)
Alice Hookes
Approximate year of last birth
1553
Notes
According to the inscription on a gravestone in Conwy Church cemetery, Gwynedd, North Wales, Nicholas Hookes (died 1637) was the 41st child of his mother Alice Hookes.
39
39
Total children birthed
39
Mother or couple
(if known)
Elizabeth and William Greenhill
Approximate year of last birth
1681
Notes
Thomas Greenhill was the last child of 39 by his mother Elizabeth (1615–1681) and William Greenhill. The family consisted of 7 sons and 32 daughters. Not only is this a large number of live newborns, but is unusual in that all but one pair of twins were single births.
35
35
Total children birthed
35
Mother or couple
(if known)
Ms and Mr Harrison
Approximate year of last birth
1736
Notes
Ms Harrison, the wife of an undertaker residing in Vere Street, London, gave birth to her 35th child by one husband in 1736.
33
33
Total children birthed
33
Mother or couple
(if known)
Mary and John Jonas
Approximate year of last birth
1892
Notes
Mary Jonas (1814–1899) gave birth to 33 children, including 15 sets of boy–girl twins. All were christened, but few reached adulthood. Ten children were still alive when their father John died in 1892.
33
33
Total children birthed
33
Mother or couple
(if known)
Moddie and Purcell Oliver
Approximate year of last birth
1959
Notes
Ms Moddie Mae Oliver, aged 50, wife of a Lumberton, North Carolina, sharecropper, was expecting her 33rd child in 1959. At that time, 22 of her children were alive.
32
32
Total children birthed
32
Mother or couple
(if known)
Maria Addolorata Casalini
Approximate year of last birth
1970
Notes
Ms Casalini (born 1929) of Brindisi, Italy, married at 17 and gave birth to her 32nd child on 11 November 1970. She had two sets of quadruplets, one of triplets, one of twins and nineteen single births. Only 15 children survived.
32
32
Total children birthed
32
Mother or couple
(if known)
Madalena and Raimundo Carnauba
Approximate year of last birth
1961
Notes
Madalena Carnauba of Ceilândia, Brazil married at 13 and gave birth to 32 children: 24 sons and 8 daughters.
32
32
Total children birthed
32
Mother or couple
(if known)
Maria Benita Olivera
Approximate year of last birth
1989
Notes
Ms Olivera (born 1939) of San Juan, Argentina, gave birth to her 32nd child on 31 January 1989. All children were believed to be alive at that time. She was married twice, and gave birth to a set of triplets when she was 13. She later gave birth to two sets of twins.
30
30
Total children birthed
30
Mother or couple
(if known)
Rebecca Town
Approximate year of last birth
1851
Notes
Ms Town (1807–1851) of Keighley, Yorkshire, had 30 children, but only one reached age 3.
29
29
Total children birthed
29
Mother or couple
(if known)
Mary Alice Carey and Samuel Peter Swartwood
Approximate year of last birth
1899
Notes
Mary Alice Carey married Samuel Peter Swartwood on April 28, 1871, in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, at the age of twelve. Family has 29 children, She gave birth to her first child at age fifteen and had 29 children over 27 years.
28
28
Total children birthed
28
Mother or couple
(if known)
Griffith and Elizabeth Johnson
Approximate year of last birth
1790
Notes
Elizabeth G Johnson was born in 1732 in Montgomery, Maryland. She married Griffith Johnson on 16 February 1766, in Annapolis, Maryland. They had 28 children in 31 years. She died on 30 January 1790, in Oldtown, Maryland, at the age of 58, and was buried there.
28
28
Total children birthed
28
Mother or couple
(if known)
Mabel Murphy
Approximate year of last birth
1949
Notes
Ms Murphy (born 1898) of Lisnaskea, Co. Fermanagh, N. Ireland was reported to have given birth to 28 children (12 stillborn) in 32 years of marriage by December 1949, but this claim has not been fully substantiated.
27
27
Total children birthed
27
Mother or couple
(if known)
Irene (née Cooke) and James Arthur Robinson
Approximate year of last birth
1936
Notes
Ms Robinson of Oyen, Alberta gave birth to her 27th child in 1936. She had 27 children, including six sets of twins in a 24-year period. Eleven children died as babies.
27
27
Total children birthed
27
Mother or couple
(if known)
Marie-Elise Chamberland and Heliodore Cyr
Approximate year of last birth
1959
Notes
Marie-Elise Chamberland and Heliodore Cyr married in 1928 and gave birth to 27 children by 1959, all single births. 19 of them survived to adulthood. Mr Cyr, a potato farmer from Saint-François-de-Madawaska, New Brunswick, appeared on the TV show I've Got A Secret three times – after the births of his 25th, 26th and 27th children.
26
26
Total children birthed
26
Mother or couple
(if known)
Marilouise (Landry) and William Croteau
Approximate year of last birth
1919 (c.)
Notes
Marielouise and William Croteau had 26 children in St. Patrice-de-Beaurivage, Québec including six sets of twins. Two died as infants, one at 10 months, and one at four years. 21 survived to adulthood. The last to survive was Madeleine Croteau Houle who lived to be 102 and died on January 31, 2021.
25
25
Total children birthed
25
Mother or couple
(if known)
Wéber Andrásné Szirotek Teréz
Approximate year of last birth
1899
Notes
Ms Wéber (b. 30 September 1855) of Csömör, Hungary gave birth to 25 children between 1872 and 1899. She was awarded with a silver medal on 20 August 1930 on the 'Magyar anyák nemzeti ünnepe' (Hungarian Mothers National Day).
25
25
Total children birthed
25
Mother or couple
(if known)
Lapa Piagenti and Giacomo di Benincasa
Approximate year of last birth
1347 (c.)
Notes
Their 23rd child was Saint Catherine of Siena.
25
25
Total children birthed
25
Mother or couple
(if known)
Ada Watson
Approximate year of last birth
1931
Notes
Ms Watson (1886–1974) of Cambridge gave birth to 25 children, including three sets of twins, during the period 1904–1931. All of the children attained majority.
24
24
Total children birthed
24
Mother or couple
(if known)
Catherine Ngin Kit Chit (Oct 4, 1904-Oct 12, 1993) and Joseph Goh Yong Twang (Jun 15, 1896-Dec 16, 1956) of Singapore
Approximate year of last birth
1951
Notes
Mrs. Ngin Kit Chit (Catherine) gave birth to 24 children while married to Mr. Goh Yong Twang (Joseph), all single births. They had enough male children to have a football (soccer) team.
24
24
Total children birthed
24
Mother or couple
(if known)
Kathleen Scott
Approximate year of last birth
1958
Notes
Ms Scott (b. 4 July 1914) of Dublin gave birth to her 24th child on 9 August 1958. Twenty of her children were still alive in 1990.
23
23
Total children birthed
23
Mother or couple
(if known)
Christine of Mecklenburg-Güstrow and Louis Christian, Count of Stolberg-Gedern
Approximate year of last birth
1705
Notes
The great-great-great-grandmother of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom had 23 children in 19 pregnancies between 1684 and 1705 (including four sets of twins); 11 of them survived to adulthood.
23
23
Total children birthed
23
Mother or couple
(if known)
Queen Darejan and King Heraclius II of Georgia
Approximate year of last birth
1807 (c.)
Notes
They had a total of 23 children, 13 of whom lived to adulthood.
23
23
Total children birthed
23
Mother or couple
(if known)
Tabatha Marcum and Silas Mainord
Approximate year of last birth
1811 (c.)
Notes
Married in 1811, they lived in Overton County, Tennessee, and produced 23 children. One of their daughters, Syreana, later became the mother of 17.
23
23
Total children birthed
23
Mother or couple
(if known)
Grace Bagnato
Approximate year of last birth
1938
Notes
Grace Bagnato and her husband had 23 children; nine of them were conceived in order to compete for a bequest by a Toronto eccentric, in what became known as the Great Stork Derby.
23
23
Total children birthed
23
Mother or couple
(if known)
Irene and Charles DeMello
Approximate year of last birth
1958
Notes
Irene DeMello of Tiverton, Rhode Island, gave birth to her 23rd child in February 1958 at the age of 40 in her 25 years of marriage. There were no multiple births. Seventeen of the children were alive, the eldest being 23.
23
23
Total children birthed
23
Mother or couple
(if known)
Mary and Sylvester Hemsing
Approximate year of last birth
1951 (c.)
Notes
Mary Hemsing (1913–2014) of Rolling Hills, Alberta, Canada, gave birth to 11 boys and 12 girls, one of whom was stillborn.
23
23
Total children birthed
23
Mother or couple
(if known)
Alina and Juho Tyni
Approximate year of last birth
1955
Notes
A couple in Taivalkoski, Finland had 23 children. Two of them died very young.
22
22
Total children birthed
22
Mother or couple
(if known)
Lady Emily FitzGerald
Approximate year of last birth
1778
Notes
Emily FitzGerald, Duchess of Leinster and her first husband James FitzGerald, 1st Duke of Leinster, had nineteen children born between 1748 and 1773. Later she married her children's tutor William Ogilvie; they had three children, who were born between years 1775 and 1778.
22
22
Total children birthed
22
Mother or couple
(if known)
Ms and Mr Hostetter
Approximate year of last birth
1941
Notes
Roy Hostetter, a 46-year-old Pennsylvania miner, and his wife, aged 42, announced the birth of their 22nd child in May 1941.
22
22
Total children birthed
22
Mother or couple
(if known)
Charlotte and Marlon Story
Approximate year of last birth
1946
Notes
Charlotte Story of Bakersfield, California, gave birth to her 22nd child in July 1946. At the time, 19 of the other 21 children, including four sets of twins, were alive. Marion and Charlotte Story participated in You Bet Your Life in 1950.
22
22
Total children birthed
22
Mother or couple
(if known)
Ms Dick Renata
Approximate year of last birth
1948
Notes
Ms Dick Renata, a Maori, of Hawkes Bay, New Zealand, gave birth to her 22nd child in November 1948. Fourteen of her children survived, including the second born, who was 21 at the time she gave birth to the 22nd, and was himself a father.
22
22
Total children birthed
22
Mother or couple
(if known)
Madeleine and Marce Devaud
Approximate year of last birth
1952
Notes
Madeleine Devaud, wife of a village dairyman of La Gorre, western France, gave birth to her 22nd child, a boy, in March 1952, at the age of 42. The Devaud couple, married for 24 years, had 13 girls and seven boys. Two other children died in infancy.
22
22
Total children birthed
22
Mother or couple
(if known)
Mary Chaloner Hale
Approximate year of last birth
1789
Notes
The wife of General John Hale (1728–1806), Mary Hale (1743–1803, born Mary Chaloner in Guisborough, Yorkshire, England) bore 22 offspring between the years of 1765 and 1789, including her first child, John Hale.
22
22
Total children birthed
22
Mother or couple
(if known)
Mabel Constable
Approximate year of last birth
1950 (c.)
Notes
Ms Constable (born 1920), of Long Itchington, Warwicks, gave birth to 22 children, including a set of triplets and two sets of twins.
22
22
Total children birthed
22
Mother or couple
(if known)
Margaret McNaught
Approximate year of last birth
1945 (c.)
Notes
Ms McNaught (born 1923), of Balsall Heath, Birmingham, gave birth to 22 children, 12 boys (2 of them died in infancy) and 10 girls, all single births.
22
22
Total children birthed
22
Mother or couple
(if known)
Effie (née Estes) and Charles Dickey
Approximate year of last birth
1914 (c.)
Notes
From Clinton, Maine, Ms Dickey gave birth to 22 children, all single births. All of them lived to adulthood, with 18 of them living at least 70 years of age (the others died at ages 30, 58, 60 and 67).
22
22
Total children birthed
22
Mother or couple
(if known)
Unidentified Romani woman
Approximate year of last birth
1998
Notes
A 38-year-old Romani woman of Lom, Bulgaria, gave birth to her 22nd child in March 1998. She and her husband had no jobs. 17 children lived with them and five were in orphanages.
22
22
Total children birthed
22
Mother or couple
(if known)
Alice (née Spencer) & John Jennings
Approximate year of last birth
1660 (c.)
Notes
Jennings was an MP of St. Albans before the English Civil War. He names 3 of these children in his will, dated 1642, and his wife's will names 7 of them, dated 1663. Their granddaughter was Sarah Churchill, Duchess of Marlborough.
22
22
Total children birthed
22
Mother or couple
(if known)
Sue and Noel Radford
Approximate year of last birth
2020
Notes
Sue (Suzanne) Radford has given birth to 22 children as of April 2020, 11 boys and 11 girls, all single births. Alfie (their 17th) was stillborn. At this time, their eldest son (Christopher) is 30 years old. They have six grandchildren. They have a bakery which is the family business and live in Morecambe, United Kingdom. All of them are healthy an
22
22
Total children birthed
22
Mother or couple
(if known)
Alvin and Lucille Miller
Approximate year of last birth
1966
Notes
Alvin and Lucille resided in Waseca, Minnesota, where Lucille gave birth to 22 children and they cared for several more. Their daughter Helen Miller recounted her experiences in the memoir "21 Siblings: Cheaper by the Two Dozen".
21+
21+
Total children birthed
21+
Mother or couple
(if known)
Mary Susannah Roberts (née Sautelle) and John Roberts
Approximate year of last birth
1749 (c.)
Notes
18th-century Irish architect and his wife. Of their children, said to number 21 or 24, only eight survived to adulthood, including the painters Thomas Roberts and Thomas Sautelle Roberts.
21
21
Total children birthed
21
Mother or couple
(if known)
Johanna O'Sullivan and William O'Daly
Approximate year of last birth
1837
Notes
They had 21 children in 29 years, 6 sons and 15 daughters, born between 1808 and 1837 in Gurrane, Currans, County Kerry, Ireland. There were no multiple births, and all of the children were born alive – it is likely that there were a number of stillborn children too. Four children died in childhood, and the last child, Bridget Russell, died in 1923
21
21
Total children birthed
21
Mother or couple
(if known)
Barbara Bremner and Thomas Burns
Approximate year of last birth
1978
Notes
Barbara and Thomas resided in Rogers Park on the north side of Chicago. Barbara gave birth to 21 single birth live children. She had her first daughter in 1951, and last in 1978. They supported their children on Tom's salary as an electrician, and Barbara ran a secretarial and phone-answering service, called Barb's Wire, from her home for many year
21
21
Total children birthed
21
Mother or couple
(if known)
Olivia (née Whitmore) and Arthur Guinness
Approximate year of last birth
1783
Notes
Guinness was an Irish brewer. Only ten of their children lived to adulthood.
21
21
Total children birthed
21
Mother or couple
(if known)
Ann Clark Skerrett and Jeremiah Lear
Approximate year of last birth
1812
Notes
Their 20th child was English artist, illustrator, musician, author and poet Edward Lear (born 1812).
21
21
Total children birthed
21
Mother or couple
(if known)
Olivia (née Gutenberger) and Rudolph Schoelzel Sr.
Approximate year of last birth
1949
Notes
They had 21 children in 24 years, 11 sons and 10 daughters, born between 1925 and 1949 in Colby, Wisconsin, USA. There were no multiple births. One son died in infancy in 1947, and one son also died in 1947, aged 21.
21
21
Total children birthed
21
Mother or couple
(if known)
Domitille (née Brun) and Pierre Martin
Approximate year of last birth
1861
Notes
They had 21 children in 25 years, 11 sons and 10 daughters, born and baptized between 1835 and 1861 in Saint-Cyprien-de-Napierville, Québec, Canada. There were no multiple births.
21
21
Total children birthed
21
Mother or couple
(if known)
Teodora (née Lopez) and Raymundo Olivas
Approximate year of last birth
1853 (c.)
Notes
Born in 1809 in Los Angeles, Raymundo Olivas met his future wife, Teodora Lopez, in Santa Barbara. They were married in 1832, and together they had 21 children – 13 boys and eight girls. In 1841 Raymundo built the Olivas Adobe, an important part of Ventura city's cultural heritage.
21
21
Total children birthed
21
Mother or couple
(if known)
Josephine & Michael Salzo Sr.
Approximate year of last birth
1923 (c.)
Notes
The 21 children included the first known surviving set of quadruplets in New Haven, Connecticut; triplets; and two sets of twins.
21
21
Total children birthed
21
Mother or couple
(if known)
Anna and Henry Crocker
Approximate year of last birth
1963 (c.)
Notes
18 of their children lived to adulthood.
21
21
Total children birthed
21
Mother or couple
(if known)
Ms and Mr Albert Cunningham
Approximate year of last birth
1930
Notes
The couple from Iron Mountain, Michigan, had their 21st child in September 1930 after 27 years of marriage. Seventeen of their children were alive.
21
21
Total children birthed
21
Mother or couple
(if known)
Elizabeth Hudson
Approximate year of last birth
1955
Notes
Ms Hudson, of London, the wife of a paint sprayer, gave birth to her 21st child in February 1955, at the age of 45. Sixteen of the children were alive.
21
21
Total children birthed
21
Mother or couple
(if known)
Mary and Wara Tengu
Approximate year of last birth
1968
Notes
The Maori couple from Hamilton, New Zealand, had their 21st child in January 1968; the mother was then 42 years old. They already had five grandchildren.
21
21
Total children birthed
21
Mother or couple
(if known)
Ofelia Llanes Gaxiola
Approximate year of last birth
1960 (c.)
Notes
Ms Ofelia Llanes Gaxiola, of Culiacán, Sinaloa, the wife of a postman, gave birth to 21 children.
21
21
Total children birthed
21
Mother or couple
(if known)
Aliza and Meir Ben-Haroush
Approximate year of last birth
1969
Notes
Aliza Ben-Haroush of Haifa gave birth to her 21st child in July 1969 at the age of 46 and became the most prolific mother in Israel.
21
21
Total children birthed
21
Mother or couple
(if known)
Unidentified Indian woman
Approximate year of last birth
1970
Notes
Not much is known about this case except that a woman from Assam gave birth to her 21st child in 1970.
21
21
Total children birthed
21
Mother or couple
(if known)
Leonora and Yanosh Nameni
Approximate year of last birth
2013
Notes
Leonora Namenia, of Ostritsa, Hertsa Raion, Chernivtsi Oblast, gave birth to her 21st child in October 2013, at the age of 44, becoming the most prolific mother in Ukraine. Leonora and Yanosh are followers of the Apostolic Christian Church (Nazarene) and do not practice birth control. The Nameni family has 11 sons and 10 daughters, including two se
21
21
Total children birthed
21
Mother or couple
(if known)
Sebastiana Maria da Conceicao
Approximate year of last birth
2015
Notes
Sebastiana Maria da Conceicao, aged 51, gave birth to her 21st child in the city of Aracaju, Brazil, in May 2015. The boy joined the family of 10 brothers and 10 sisters, of whom 18 were alive.
20
20
Total children birthed
20
Mother or couple
(if known)
Louis and Mary Herbert
Approximate year of last birth
1935
Notes
17 of the children lived to adulthood. 2 died as infants and another drowned at the age of 3. There were 1 set of twins born in 1931. The first 8 children were born in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania and the last 12 were born in West Monroe, New York. The novel "Family on the Hill" by Ambrose Flack is loosely based on this family, Flack was their neighbo
20
20
Total children birthed
20
Mother or couple
(if known)
Jane (née Purdon) and Adam Loftus.
Approximate year of last birth
1590 (c.)
Notes
The archbishop of Armagh, and later of Dublin, and Lord Chancellor of Ireland, Adam Loftus, had 20 children with his wife Jane between c. 1559 and 1590, twelve of whom survived to adulthood.
20
20
Total children birthed
20
Mother or couple
(if known)
Catherine Marion de Druy and Antoine Arnauld
Approximate year of last birth
1612
Notes
Famous French lawyer Antoine Arnauld had 20 children with his wife Catherine Marion de Druy between 1588 and 1612, ten of whom survived to adulthood.
20
20
Total children birthed
20
Mother or couple
(if known)
Elizabeth Carleton
Approximate year of last birth
1681 (c.)
Notes
Elizabeth Carleton, daughter of Sir Dudley Carleton, had one child, daughter Elizabeth, with her first husband Thomas Barker, and 19 children with her second husband Giles Vanbrugh, 12 of whom survived infancy, including English architect and dramatist John Vanbrugh (1664–1726) and Commodore Governor of Newfoundland Philip Vanbrugh (c. 1681 – 1753)
20
20
Total children birthed
20
Mother or couple
(if known)
Marie Elisabeth of Eggenberg and Ferdinand Joseph
Approximate year of last birth
1685
Notes
Ferdinand Joseph had 20 children with his wife Marie Elisabeth of Eggenberg between 1657 and 1685 (all single births), of whom only five survived to adulthood.
20
20
Total children birthed
20
Mother or couple
(if known)
Anne Margrethe Rossing and Peder Horrebow
Approximate year of last birth
1718 (c.)
Notes
Danish astronomer Peder Horrebow and his wife Anne Margrethe Rossing had a total of 20 children. One of their sons, Christian Horrebow, born 1718, continued his father's astronomical studies.
20
20
Total children birthed
20
Mother or couple
(if known)
Barbe Arnault and Antoine Monneron
Approximate year of last birth
1758
Notes
Barbe Arnault and Antoine Monneron had 20 children between 1733 and 1758 (all single births), 12 of whom survived infancy. Their sons became well known Monneron brothers.
20
20
Total children birthed
20
Mother or couple
(if known)
Rosgen (née Fuld) and Hayum Lowenstein
Approximate year of last birth
1860 (c.)
Notes
Rosgen and Hayum Lowenstein of Langendernbach, Germany, had 20 children, 19 of whom survived to adulthood. The youngest child was born in 1860.
20
20
Total children birthed
20
Mother or couple
(if known)
Marie Verrault and Pierre Edouard Cauchon
Approximate year of last birth
1882
Notes
Born between 1853 and 1882 at Château-Richer, Québec, Canada, sixteen of the children died in infancy, and one as a young adult. There were no multiple births.
20
20
Total children birthed
20
Mother or couple
(if known)
Florestine Piché and Gaspard Beaupré
Approximate year of last birth
1881
Notes
Florestine Piché and Gaspard Beaupré had 20 children; the eldest of them was famous giant Édouard Beaupré, born in 1881 in Willow Bunch, Saskatchewan.
20
20
Total children birthed
20
Mother or couple
(if known)
Emma Catherine Padgett and Addison Bidwell Millard
Approximate year of last birth
1890
Notes
Addison Millard (1843–1898) and Emma Padgett (1849–1919) married in 1865 in Urbana, Maryland, and had 20 children, the last of whom was born in 1890. Six died in infancy. The family moved to Virginia in 1893, where they ran Colvin Run Mill for more than 50 years.
20
20
Total children birthed
20
Mother or couple
(if known)
Elise Steinmann and Leonhard Hauser
Approximate year of last birth
1928 (c.)
Notes
The couple had 20 children, seven of whom died as infants. Elise Steinmann (1848–1928) and Leonhard Hauser (1842–1915) were both born in Switzerland. they immigrated to the US in 1882, and settled in Greenwood (now Greenfield) near Rockford, Minnesota. 13 of their children were born in Switzerland, and seven in the US.
20
20
Total children birthed
20
Mother or couple
(if known)
Ella and James Lee Townsend
Approximate year of last birth
1917
Notes
Ella and James Lee Townsend, sharecroppers from Montgomery County, Mississippi, had a total of 20 children. The youngest of them was American voting rights activist, civil rights leader, and philanthropist Fannie Lou Hamer, born in 1917.
20
20
Total children birthed
20
Mother or couple
(if known)
Gertrude Louisa Rowe Goodley and George Thomas Jolley
Approximate year of last birth
1932
Notes
Gertrude and George married in 1905 and had 20 children between 1906 and 1932, when Gertrude was aged 46. The family were from the Tolaga Bay area on New Zealand's North Island. Issue 227 of the Gisborne Photo News carried a report in 1973 about a reunion of 140 of their descendants and noted that they had 215 direct descendants at that time.
20
20
Total children birthed
20
Mother or couple
(if known)
Mary and John Fullerton
Approximate year of last birth
1935 (c.)
Notes
Mary and John Fullerton from County Donegal, Ireland, had 20 children, the eldest of whom was Eddie Fullerton, born in 1935.
20
20
Total children birthed
20
Mother or couple
(if known)
Ms and Mr Rexford Oakley
Approximate year of last birth
1954
Notes
Ms Oakley, aged 54, from Scranton, Pennsylvania, gave birth to her 20th child in December 1954. 18 of the children, including the newborn, were alive.
| Total children birthed | Mother or couple (if known) | Approximate year of last birth | Notes |
| 69 | Valentina and Feodor Vassilyev | 1765 | A Russian woman named Valentina Vassilyeva and her husband Feodor Vassilyev are alleged to hold the record for the most children a couple has produced. She gave birth to a total of 69 children – sixteen pairs of twins, seven sets of triplets and four sets of quadruplets – between 1725 and 1765, a total of 27 pregnancies. 67 of the 69 children were |
| 57 | Mr and Ms Kirillov | 1755 | The first wife of peasant Yakov Kirillov from the village of Vvedensky, Russia, gave birth to 57 children in a total of 21 births. She had four sets of quadruplets, seven sets of triplets and ten sets of twins. All of the children were alive in 1755, when Kirillov, aged 60, was presented at court. As with the Vassilyev case, the truth of these clai |
| 53 | Barbara and Adam Stratzmann | 1498 | It is claimed that Barbara Stratzmann (c. 1448–1503) of Bönnigheim, Germany, gave birth to 53 children (38 sons and 15 daughters) in a total of 29 births by 1498. She had one set of septuplets, one set of sextuplets, four sets of triplets and five sets of twins. Nineteen of the children were stillborn, while the eldest surviving lived to be eight y |
| 44 | Mariam Nabatanzi Babirye | 2016 | Mariam Nabatanzi from Uganda gave birth to 44 children (43 survived infancy) by the age of 36. This included 3 sets of quadruplets, 4 sets of triplets and 6 sets of twins, due to a rare genetic condition causing hyperovulation. In 2019, at the age of 40, she underwent a medical procedure to prevent any further pregnancies. As of April 4, 2023 she h |
| 42 | Elizabeth and John Mott | 1720 | Elizabeth Mott of Monks Kirby, Warwickshire, married in 1676 and produced 42 live-born children. She died in 1720. There are not good records for this as it was in the 18th century. |
| 41 | Alice Hookes | 1553 | According to the inscription on a gravestone in Conwy Church cemetery, Gwynedd, North Wales, Nicholas Hookes (died 1637) was the 41st child of his mother Alice Hookes. |
| 39 | Elizabeth and William Greenhill | 1681 | Thomas Greenhill was the last child of 39 by his mother Elizabeth (1615–1681) and William Greenhill. The family consisted of 7 sons and 32 daughters. Not only is this a large number of live newborns, but is unusual in that all but one pair of twins were single births. |
| 35 | Ms and Mr Harrison | 1736 | Ms Harrison, the wife of an undertaker residing in Vere Street, London, gave birth to her 35th child by one husband in 1736. |
| 33 | Mary and John Jonas | 1892 | Mary Jonas (1814–1899) gave birth to 33 children, including 15 sets of boy–girl twins. All were christened, but few reached adulthood. Ten children were still alive when their father John died in 1892. |
| 33 | Moddie and Purcell Oliver | 1959 | Ms Moddie Mae Oliver, aged 50, wife of a Lumberton, North Carolina, sharecropper, was expecting her 33rd child in 1959. At that time, 22 of her children were alive. |
| 32 | Maria Addolorata Casalini | 1970 | Ms Casalini (born 1929) of Brindisi, Italy, married at 17 and gave birth to her 32nd child on 11 November 1970. She had two sets of quadruplets, one of triplets, one of twins and nineteen single births. Only 15 children survived. |
| 32 | Madalena and Raimundo Carnauba | 1961 | Madalena Carnauba of Ceilândia, Brazil married at 13 and gave birth to 32 children: 24 sons and 8 daughters. |
| 32 | Maria Benita Olivera | 1989 | Ms Olivera (born 1939) of San Juan, Argentina, gave birth to her 32nd child on 31 January 1989. All children were believed to be alive at that time. She was married twice, and gave birth to a set of triplets when she was 13. She later gave birth to two sets of twins. |
| 30 | Rebecca Town | 1851 | Ms Town (1807–1851) of Keighley, Yorkshire, had 30 children, but only one reached age 3. |
| 29 | Mary Alice Carey and Samuel Peter Swartwood | 1899 | Mary Alice Carey married Samuel Peter Swartwood on April 28, 1871, in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, at the age of twelve. Family has 29 children, She gave birth to her first child at age fifteen and had 29 children over 27 years. |
| 28 | Griffith and Elizabeth Johnson | 1790 | Elizabeth G Johnson was born in 1732 in Montgomery, Maryland. She married Griffith Johnson on 16 February 1766, in Annapolis, Maryland. They had 28 children in 31 years. She died on 30 January 1790, in Oldtown, Maryland, at the age of 58, and was buried there. |
| 28 | Mabel Murphy | 1949 | Ms Murphy (born 1898) of Lisnaskea, Co. Fermanagh, N. Ireland was reported to have given birth to 28 children (12 stillborn) in 32 years of marriage by December 1949, but this claim has not been fully substantiated. |
| 27 | Irene (née Cooke) and James Arthur Robinson | 1936 | Ms Robinson of Oyen, Alberta gave birth to her 27th child in 1936. She had 27 children, including six sets of twins in a 24-year period. Eleven children died as babies. |
| 27 | Marie-Elise Chamberland and Heliodore Cyr | 1959 | Marie-Elise Chamberland and Heliodore Cyr married in 1928 and gave birth to 27 children by 1959, all single births. 19 of them survived to adulthood. Mr Cyr, a potato farmer from Saint-François-de-Madawaska, New Brunswick, appeared on the TV show I've Got A Secret three times – after the births of his 25th, 26th and 27th children. |
| 26 | Marilouise (Landry) and William Croteau | 1919 (c.) | Marielouise and William Croteau had 26 children in St. Patrice-de-Beaurivage, Québec including six sets of twins. Two died as infants, one at 10 months, and one at four years. 21 survived to adulthood. The last to survive was Madeleine Croteau Houle who lived to be 102 and died on January 31, 2021. |
| 25 | Wéber Andrásné Szirotek Teréz | 1899 | Ms Wéber (b. 30 September 1855) of Csömör, Hungary gave birth to 25 children between 1872 and 1899. She was awarded with a silver medal on 20 August 1930 on the 'Magyar anyák nemzeti ünnepe' (Hungarian Mothers National Day). |
| 25 | Lapa Piagenti and Giacomo di Benincasa | 1347 (c.) | Their 23rd child was Saint Catherine of Siena. |
| 25 | Ada Watson | 1931 | Ms Watson (1886–1974) of Cambridge gave birth to 25 children, including three sets of twins, during the period 1904–1931. All of the children attained majority. |
| 24 | Catherine Ngin Kit Chit (Oct 4, 1904-Oct 12, 1993) and Joseph Goh Yong Twang (Jun 15, 1896-Dec 16, 1956) of Singapore | 1951 | Mrs. Ngin Kit Chit (Catherine) gave birth to 24 children while married to Mr. Goh Yong Twang (Joseph), all single births. They had enough male children to have a football (soccer) team. |
| 24 | Kathleen Scott | 1958 | Ms Scott (b. 4 July 1914) of Dublin gave birth to her 24th child on 9 August 1958. Twenty of her children were still alive in 1990. |
| 23 | Christine of Mecklenburg-Güstrow and Louis Christian, Count of Stolberg-Gedern | 1705 | The great-great-great-grandmother of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom had 23 children in 19 pregnancies between 1684 and 1705 (including four sets of twins); 11 of them survived to adulthood. |
| 23 | Queen Darejan and King Heraclius II of Georgia | 1807 (c.) | They had a total of 23 children, 13 of whom lived to adulthood. |
| 23 | Tabatha Marcum and Silas Mainord | 1811 (c.) | Married in 1811, they lived in Overton County, Tennessee, and produced 23 children. One of their daughters, Syreana, later became the mother of 17. |
| 23 | Grace Bagnato | 1938 | Grace Bagnato and her husband had 23 children; nine of them were conceived in order to compete for a bequest by a Toronto eccentric, in what became known as the Great Stork Derby. |
| 23 | Irene and Charles DeMello | 1958 | Irene DeMello of Tiverton, Rhode Island, gave birth to her 23rd child in February 1958 at the age of 40 in her 25 years of marriage. There were no multiple births. Seventeen of the children were alive, the eldest being 23. |
| 23 | Mary and Sylvester Hemsing | 1951 (c.) | Mary Hemsing (1913–2014) of Rolling Hills, Alberta, Canada, gave birth to 11 boys and 12 girls, one of whom was stillborn. |
| 23 | Alina and Juho Tyni | 1955 | A couple in Taivalkoski, Finland had 23 children. Two of them died very young. |
| 22 | Lady Emily FitzGerald | 1778 | Emily FitzGerald, Duchess of Leinster and her first husband James FitzGerald, 1st Duke of Leinster, had nineteen children born between 1748 and 1773. Later she married her children's tutor William Ogilvie; they had three children, who were born between years 1775 and 1778. |
| 22 | Ms and Mr Hostetter | 1941 | Roy Hostetter, a 46-year-old Pennsylvania miner, and his wife, aged 42, announced the birth of their 22nd child in May 1941. |
| 22 | Charlotte and Marlon Story | 1946 | Charlotte Story of Bakersfield, California, gave birth to her 22nd child in July 1946. At the time, 19 of the other 21 children, including four sets of twins, were alive. Marion and Charlotte Story participated in You Bet Your Life in 1950. |
| 22 | Ms Dick Renata | 1948 | Ms Dick Renata, a Maori, of Hawkes Bay, New Zealand, gave birth to her 22nd child in November 1948. Fourteen of her children survived, including the second born, who was 21 at the time she gave birth to the 22nd, and was himself a father. |
| 22 | Madeleine and Marce Devaud | 1952 | Madeleine Devaud, wife of a village dairyman of La Gorre, western France, gave birth to her 22nd child, a boy, in March 1952, at the age of 42. The Devaud couple, married for 24 years, had 13 girls and seven boys. Two other children died in infancy. |
| 22 | Mary Chaloner Hale | 1789 | The wife of General John Hale (1728–1806), Mary Hale (1743–1803, born Mary Chaloner in Guisborough, Yorkshire, England) bore 22 offspring between the years of 1765 and 1789, including her first child, John Hale. |
| 22 | Mabel Constable | 1950 (c.) | Ms Constable (born 1920), of Long Itchington, Warwicks, gave birth to 22 children, including a set of triplets and two sets of twins. |
| 22 | Margaret McNaught | 1945 (c.) | Ms McNaught (born 1923), of Balsall Heath, Birmingham, gave birth to 22 children, 12 boys (2 of them died in infancy) and 10 girls, all single births. |
| 22 | Effie (née Estes) and Charles Dickey | 1914 (c.) | From Clinton, Maine, Ms Dickey gave birth to 22 children, all single births. All of them lived to adulthood, with 18 of them living at least 70 years of age (the others died at ages 30, 58, 60 and 67). |
| 22 | Unidentified Romani woman | 1998 | A 38-year-old Romani woman of Lom, Bulgaria, gave birth to her 22nd child in March 1998. She and her husband had no jobs. 17 children lived with them and five were in orphanages. |
| 22 | Alice (née Spencer) & John Jennings | 1660 (c.) | Jennings was an MP of St. Albans before the English Civil War. He names 3 of these children in his will, dated 1642, and his wife's will names 7 of them, dated 1663. Their granddaughter was Sarah Churchill, Duchess of Marlborough. |
| 22 | Sue and Noel Radford | 2020 | Sue (Suzanne) Radford has given birth to 22 children as of April 2020, 11 boys and 11 girls, all single births. Alfie (their 17th) was stillborn. At this time, their eldest son (Christopher) is 30 years old. They have six grandchildren. They have a bakery which is the family business and live in Morecambe, United Kingdom. All of them are healthy an |
| 22 | Alvin and Lucille Miller | 1966 | Alvin and Lucille resided in Waseca, Minnesota, where Lucille gave birth to 22 children and they cared for several more. Their daughter Helen Miller recounted her experiences in the memoir "21 Siblings: Cheaper by the Two Dozen". |
| 21+ | Mary Susannah Roberts (née Sautelle) and John Roberts | 1749 (c.) | 18th-century Irish architect and his wife. Of their children, said to number 21 or 24, only eight survived to adulthood, including the painters Thomas Roberts and Thomas Sautelle Roberts. |
| 21 | Johanna O'Sullivan and William O'Daly | 1837 | They had 21 children in 29 years, 6 sons and 15 daughters, born between 1808 and 1837 in Gurrane, Currans, County Kerry, Ireland. There were no multiple births, and all of the children were born alive – it is likely that there were a number of stillborn children too. Four children died in childhood, and the last child, Bridget Russell, died in 1923 |
| 21 | Barbara Bremner and Thomas Burns | 1978 | Barbara and Thomas resided in Rogers Park on the north side of Chicago. Barbara gave birth to 21 single birth live children. She had her first daughter in 1951, and last in 1978. They supported their children on Tom's salary as an electrician, and Barbara ran a secretarial and phone-answering service, called Barb's Wire, from her home for many year |
| 21 | Olivia (née Whitmore) and Arthur Guinness | 1783 | Guinness was an Irish brewer. Only ten of their children lived to adulthood. |
· Fathers
Moulay Ismail Ibn Sharif
Moulay Ismail Ibn Sharif
Total births
868–1171
Father's name
Moulay Ismail Ibn Sharif
Approximate year of last birth
1727 (c.)
Notes
The monarch of Morocco who had a harem of 500 women, and fathered 525 boys and 342 girls by 1703 and achieved a 700th son in 1721. In total, Guinness World Records calculated the most children to one father at 1042. A research team at the University of Vienna suggested 1171 children from a report by Dominique Busnot.
Bertold Paul Wiesner
Bertold Paul Wiesner
Total births
900+
Father's name
Bertold Paul Wiesner
Notes
This scientist fathered up to 1000 children by artificial insemination by donor through the medical practice of his second wife Mary Barton, between 1942 (or earlier) and 1967. He also is the father of Eva Ibbotson by his first wife Anna Gmeyner, and two children by Mary Barton.
Simon Watson
Simon Watson
Total births
800+
Father's name
Simon Watson
Notes
British sperm donor, made headlines in 2016 for claiming to have sired over 800 children. He regularly posts updates of his new children to Twitter. In 2018, a child of Watson took a DNA test and matched with 40 siblings. Made headlines again in 2019 for getting 13 women pregnant in just 26 days.
Jonathan Jacob Meijer
Jonathan Jacob Meijer
Total births
500+
Father's name
Jonathan Jacob Meijer
Notes
Dutch musician who, in his 30s, may have fathered 200 children through sperm donation. The director of the Dutch Donor Child Foundation, told the Times that his offspring could number several hundred or even 1,000. In 2023 a Dutch court forbade Meijer from donating any more sperm with a potential fine of €100,000 per infraction.
King Augustus II the Strong
King Augustus II the Strong
Total births
360–380
Father's name
King Augustus II the Strong
Notes
King of Poland, lived 1670–1733
Paul Elden Kingston
Paul Elden Kingston
Total births
up to 300
Father's name
Paul Elden Kingston
Notes
Paul Kingston is the leader of the Latter Day Church of Christ, also known as the Kingston Clan or The Order in Utah.
King Sobhuza II
King Sobhuza II
Total births
210
Father's name
King Sobhuza II
Notes
King of Swaziland (now Eswatini), lived 1899–1982, is thought to have had 70 wives.
Sultan Ibrahim Njoya
Sultan Ibrahim Njoya
Total births
177
Father's name
Sultan Ibrahim Njoya
Notes
He was King of Bamum in Cameroon, lived 1860–1933, and is thought to have had 'around 600' wives. He was said to have had 149 children by December 1915.
Mohammed Bello Abubakar
Mohammed Bello Abubakar
Total births
170+
Father's name
Mohammed Bello Abubakar
Notes
Mohammed Bello Abubakar (1924–2017) of Nigeria married 86 women and had 170 children with them before being arrested in 2008 for polygamy for having more than four wives.
Ari Nagel
Ari Nagel
Total births
≥165
Father's name
Ari Nagel
Notes
The American maths professor has fathered more than 100 children via sperm donation.
Ancentus Ogwella Akukujulama
Ancentus Ogwella Akukujulama
Total births
160+
Father's name
Ancentus Ogwella Akukujulama
Notes
This Kenyan polygamist, known as "Danger", lived 1916–2010; he married "more than 100 times" and had fathered "at least 160 children". An unsubstantiated article from the East African Standard claimed he had 210 children: 104 daughters and 106 sons, by some 130 wives.
Jack Kigongo
Jack Kigongo
Total births
158
Father's name
Jack Kigongo
Notes
Kigongo lived in Kateerea, Uganda, 1909–2012; he had 27 wives, and when he died aged 103, had around 500 grandchildren.
Joe Donor
Joe Donor
Total births
150
Father's name
Joe Donor
Notes
As of July 2018, a 47-year-old man using the pseudonym Joe Donor claimed to have fathered up to 150 children by using a Facebook page to connect with women looking for free sperm, generally by having sex with "Joe" rather than through costly artificial insemination (though some customers do prefer syringes of his sperm). At the time of a 2014 inter
Anonymous sperm donor
Anonymous sperm donor
Total births
150
Father's name
Anonymous sperm donor
Notes
As of September 2011, an American sperm donor was found to have produced at least 150 children. This was the inspiration for the 2011 Canadian film Starbuck and its 2013 American remake Delivery Man.
Winston Blackmore
Winston Blackmore
Total births
145+
Father's name
Winston Blackmore
Notes
Leader of the Mormon fundamentalist sect called the Blackmore/Bountiful Community, he fathered children through as many as 25 wives.
Miên Định, Prince of Thọ Xuân
Miên Định, Prince of Thọ Xuân
Total births
144
Father's name
Miên Định, Prince of Thọ Xuân
Notes
Son of Minh Mang, fathered 144 children, including 78 sons and 66 daughters.
Emperor Minh Mạng
Emperor Minh Mạng
Total births
142
Father's name
Emperor Minh Mạng
Notes
He is reported to have fathered 142 children from 400 wives.
Misheck Doctor Nyandoro
Misheck Doctor Nyandoro
Total births
128
Father's name
Misheck Doctor Nyandoro
Notes
Nyandoro, a Zimbabwean man living in Chipinge, currently has 15 wives and 128 children.
Bodawpaya
Bodawpaya
Total births
120
Father's name
Bodawpaya
Notes
King of Burma, fathered 62 sons and 58 daughters
John Robert Dunn
John Robert Dunn
Total births
117
Father's name
John Robert Dunn
Notes
John Robert Dunn (1834–1895), a South African hunter and trader, was already married when he became an adviser to the Zulu king Cetshwayo, who granted him land, cattle, a chieftainship and two Zulu brides. He married 46 more Zulu women and fathered 33 sons and 46 daughters.
Saud of Saudi Arabia
Saud of Saudi Arabia
Total births
106–115
Father's name
Saud of Saudi Arabia
Notes
King Saud, son of Ibn Saud of Saudi Arabia, lived 1902–1969. According to one source he had 52 sons and about 54 daughters from 'a wider range of women' than his father (who had 22 wives); however, another source credited him with 115.
Matteo Valles
Matteo Valles
Total births
114
Father's name
Matteo Valles
Notes
One of America's most well known sperm donors. Although he is retired now, at age 25 he is estimated to have 114 children. This initially came to light due to starring on ABC's The Bachelorette Season 15.
Miên Trinh, Prince of Tuy Lý
Miên Trinh, Prince of Tuy Lý
Total births
114
Father's name
Miên Trinh, Prince of Tuy Lý
Notes
Another son of Minh Mang, fathered 77 sons and 37 daughters.
Ed Houben
Ed Houben
Total births
114
Father's name
Ed Houben
Notes
Houben was Europe's most prolific sperm donor. He advocates the use of natural methods.
Mindon Min
Mindon Min
Total births
110
Father's name
Mindon Min
Notes
King of Burma, fathered 110 children.
John Daniel Kingston
John Daniel Kingston
Total births
106+
Father's name
John Daniel Kingston
Notes
A member of a fundamentalist Mormon group, Kingston had 106 children by 14 wives as of 2004.
Murad III
Murad III
Total births
100+
Father's name
Murad III
Notes
It was said that Murad III fathered over a hundred children.
Pavel Durov
Pavel Durov
Total births
100+
Father's name
Pavel Durov
Notes
As of 29 June 2024, CEO of Telegram, Pavel Durov, said to have over 100 biological kids via sperm donation in 12 nations since 2010.
Lou Salvador
Lou Salvador
Total births
102
Father's name
Lou Salvador
Notes
The Filipino basketball player and actor fathered 102 children, including Alona Alegre, Phillip Salvador, and Ross Rival.
Bindusara
Bindusara
Total births
101
Father's name
Bindusara
Notes
Emperor Bindusara had 101 sons (one of them was Emperor Ashoka) from his 16 wives
Augustus John
Augustus John
Total births
≤100
Father's name
Augustus John
Notes
The Welsh painter is widely reported to have fathered 'up to 100 children', mostly outside marriage, although some believe that this figure is greatly exaggerated.
Genghis Khan
Genghis Khan
Total births
Most likely less than 100 (Highly contentious)
Father's name
Genghis Khan
Notes
According to popular myths and legends about his prolific number of offspring, Genghis Khan, the founder and first Khan of the Mongol Empire is rumoured to have fathered 100 or more children from his enormous harem. A 2003 study speculated that 16 million men alive today are likely direct descendants of him and/or his male relatives. However, a lat
Ramesses II
Ramesses II
Total births
88–103
Father's name
Ramesses II
Notes
Egyptian pharaoh; see list of children of Ramesses II
Juan Vicente Gómez
Juan Vicente Gómez
Total births
64–99
Father's name
Juan Vicente Gómez
Notes
Juan Vicente Gómez was the dictator of Venezuela from 1908 to 1935. He had sixteen children with his two official mistresses, and several others in affairs.
Donald L. Cline
Donald L. Cline
Total births
98
Father's name
Donald L. Cline
Notes
An American fertility doctor who illegally used his own sperm to impregnate his customers since the 1970s. DNA has been shown to link 94 siblings so far (in addition to the 4 children he had with his wife).
Bayinnaung
Bayinnaung
Total births
97
Father's name
Bayinnaung
Notes
The Burmese king had over 50 wives and 97 children. See Family of Bayinnaung.
Daad Mohammed Murad Abdul Rahman
Daad Mohammed Murad Abdul Rahman
Total births
96
Father's name
Daad Mohammed Murad Abdul Rahman
Notes
Balochi-Emirati who wants to have 100. He has married wives from different countries too.
Ziona
Ziona
Total births
94
Father's name
Ziona
Notes
Leader of the religious sect Pu Chana páwl, in the Mizoram state of India, has 94 children with 39 wives, as well as 33 grandchildren, and has, according to the Guinness Book of Records, the world's largest family.
Feodor Vassilyev
Feodor Vassilyev
Total births
87
Father's name
Feodor Vassilyev
Notes
Feodor Vassilyev, a peasant from Shuya, Russia, had 69 children with his first wife and 18 with his second. At least 82 of his children survived infancy.
Trần Viết Chu
Trần Viết Chu
Total births
86
Father's name
Trần Viết Chu
Notes
A peasant from Hải Lăng, Quảng Trị (Vietnam), he had 86 children with 12 wives.
Mongkut (Rama IV)
Mongkut (Rama IV)
Total births
82
Father's name
Mongkut (Rama IV)
Notes
King Mongkut, Thailand's fourth monarch, had 32 wives and concubines during his lifetime who produced at least 82 children, one of whom was Chulalongkorn. See list of children of Mongkut.
Jan Karbaat
Jan Karbaat
Total births
82
Father's name
Jan Karbaat
Notes
Dutch fertility doctor who used his own seed to impregnate patients. He has 11 children from his marriage, 22 donor children which were DNA-matched before his death, and an additional 49 children which were DNA-matched via sibling DNA matching after his death.
Chulalongkorn (Rama V)
Chulalongkorn (Rama V)
Total births
77
Father's name
Chulalongkorn (Rama V)
Notes
King Chulalongkorn, Thailand's fifth monarch, had 92 consorts during his lifetime who produced 77 children, of whom 33 were sons and 44 were daughters. See list of children of Chulalongkorn
Ibn Saud of Saudi Arabia
Ibn Saud of Saudi Arabia
Total births
75
Father's name
Ibn Saud of Saudi Arabia
Notes
King Abdulaziz, the first monarch of Saudi Arabia, lived 1876–1953; he had 45 recorded sons and about 30 daughters from 22 wives and concubines. By 2001 he had 2,500–3,500 direct descendants. See descendants of Ibn Saud.
Screamin' Jay Hawkins
Screamin' Jay Hawkins
Total births
75
Father's name
Screamin' Jay Hawkins
Notes
Hawkins, a rock and roll singer, had 57 confirmed children, possibly as many as 75.
Cecil Byran Jacobson
Cecil Byran Jacobson
Total births
75
Father's name
Cecil Byran Jacobson
Notes
This fertility doctor was suspected of fathering as many as 75 children by impregnating patients with his own sperm. During trial 15 children were confirmed through his DNA.
Taeng
Taeng
Total births
75
Father's name
Taeng
Approximate year of last birth
1812
Notes
Thai royal, King Phuttha Yotfa Chulalok's nephew, had 75 children with numerous wives.
Ben Seisler
Ben Seisler
Total births
74
Father's name
Ben Seisler
Notes
Seisler, who spent three years donating sperm to a Virginia sperm bank to offset law-school expenses, learned that his donations had produced 74 children.
Phuttha Loetla Naphalai (Rama II)
Phuttha Loetla Naphalai (Rama II)
Total births
73
Father's name
Phuttha Loetla Naphalai (Rama II)
Notes
King Phuttha Loetla Naphalai, Thailand's second monarch, had 73 children with 40 women.
Ramon Revilla Sr.
Ramon Revilla Sr.
Total births
72
Father's name
Ramon Revilla Sr.
Notes
Ramon Revilla Sr. was a Filipino actor and politician. He was known as the "Hari ng Agimat" (literally "King of Amulets") in Philippine films. With his extramarital affairs, his children numbered at least 39; Bong's spokesperson Portia Ilagan claimed that the number reached 72. In a 2004 interview with journalist Jessica Soho, Revilla admitted that
Mehtar Aman ul-Mulk
Mehtar Aman ul-Mulk
Total births
72
Father's name
Mehtar Aman ul-Mulk
Notes
Aman ul-Mulk, ruler of Chitral, now part of Pakistan (1821–1892), is known as the Lot Mitar or Great Mehtar. He had 72 children, as reported in Tribes of the Hindoo Koosh by Biddulph.
"Louis", a Dutch sperm donor
"Louis", a Dutch sperm donor
Total births
70
Father's name
"Louis", a Dutch sperm donor
Notes
A Dutch man born 1949/50 in the Netherlands to a Dutch mother and Surinamese father and raised in Suriname, Louis is a pseudonym. He donated between the 1982 and 2002 at three clinics, far exceeding the current limit of 25 donations. 70 live births are confirmed, of whom he has met 40 since 2011, but he estimates 200 in total; he doubts another est
John II, Duke of Cleves
John II, Duke of Cleves
Total births
66
Father's name
John II, Duke of Cleves
Notes
Duke of Cleves and called "the Babymaker" (German: der Kindermacher) for fathering sixty-three illegitimate children before his marriage to Mathilde of Hesse, with whom he had three children.
Heber C. Kimball
Heber C. Kimball
Total births
65
Father's name
Heber C. Kimball
Notes
First counselor to President Brigham Young of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, he fathered children through 17 of his 43 wives.
Rulon Jeffs
Rulon Jeffs
Total births
65
Father's name
Rulon Jeffs
Notes
President of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, he fathered children, including Warren Jeffs, with as many as 75 wives.
Christopher Layton
Christopher Layton
Total births
65
Father's name
Christopher Layton
Approximate year of last birth
1896
Notes
President of the St. Joseph Stake of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Thatcher, Arizona, and colonizer of multiple settlements in Arizona and Utah. He had 65 children with 10 wives.
John W Hess
John W Hess
Total births
64
Father's name
John W Hess
Notes
Lived 1824 to 1903 and was the President of the Davis Stake of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in 1894. Fathered 64 children with 7 wives as noted in his autobiography. His obituary indicated 65 children.
Thiệu Trị
Thiệu Trị
Total births
64
Father's name
Thiệu Trị
Notes
Emperor of Vietnam, he fathered children through 24 wives.
Norodom of Cambodia
Norodom of Cambodia
Total births
61
Father's name
Norodom of Cambodia
Notes
King of Cambodia, he fathered 61 sons and daughters with 47 wives.
Kashemsanta Sobhaga
Kashemsanta Sobhaga
Total births
61
Father's name
Kashemsanta Sobhaga
Notes
Thai royal, son of Mongkut, fathered 39 sons and 22 daughters.
Warren Jeffs
Warren Jeffs
Total births
60
Father's name
Warren Jeffs
Notes
President of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, he fathered children through as many as 70 wives.
Thado Minsaw
Thado Minsaw
Total births
58
Father's name
Thado Minsaw
Notes
Prince of Burma, fathered 32 sons and 26 daughters
Pinklao
Pinklao
Total births
58
Father's name
Pinklao
Notes
Thai royal, Front Palace
Gennadij Raivich
Gennadij Raivich
Total births
58
Father's name
Gennadij Raivich
Notes
Professor of perinatal neuroscience and private sperm donor, he fathered 58 children.
John Doyle Lee
John Doyle Lee
Total births
56
Father's name
John Doyle Lee
Notes
Utah pioneer and early leader of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, he had 18 wives and 56 children.
Brigham Young
Brigham Young
Total births
56
Father's name
Brigham Young
Notes
Second president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, he fathered 56 children through 16 of his 55 wives.
Perrigrine Sessions
Perrigrine Sessions
Total births
55
Father's name
Perrigrine Sessions
Notes
A member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and a son of Patty Bartlett Sessions, he had 55 children with eight wives.
Pan
Pan
Total births
55
Father's name
Pan
Notes
Thai royal, King Phuttha Yotfa Chulalok's nephew, had 34 sons and 18 daughters with numerous wives.
Mohammed bin Awad bin Laden
Mohammed bin Awad bin Laden
Total births
54+
Father's name
Mohammed bin Awad bin Laden
Notes
This Yemeni emigrant to Saudi Arabia married 22 times and fathered at least 54 children. Osama bin Laden is believed to have been his 17th son.
Merril Jessop
Merril Jessop
Total births
54
Father's name
Merril Jessop
Notes
Bishop and one-time de facto leader of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, he fathered 54 children with his first six wives.
Tokugawa Ienari
Tokugawa Ienari
Total births
53
Father's name
Tokugawa Ienari
Approximate year of last birth
1822
Notes
A Shogun of Tokugawa shogunate who lived 1773–1841, he fathered 26 sons and 27 daughters from 16 wives.
Wongsa Dhiraj Snid
Wongsa Dhiraj Snid
Total births
52
Father's name
Wongsa Dhiraj Snid
Notes
Thai royal, son of Rama II of Siam
Salem Juma'a
Salem Juma'a
Total births
52
Father's name
Salem Juma'a
Notes
Salem Juma'a from United Arab Emirates fathered 52 children through 12 wives. By November 2009 he was approximately 75 years old and ten of his children were dead. The other 42 were 21 sons and 21 daughters aged from 13 to 38 years old.
Shire Sharmarke Adan
Shire Sharmarke Adan
Total births
52
Father's name
Shire Sharmarke Adan
Notes
Shire Sharmarke of the Eidagale fathered a total of 52 children, 23 sons and 29 daughters
Nangklao (Rama III)
Nangklao (Rama III)
Total births
51
Father's name
Nangklao (Rama III)
Notes
King Nangklao, Thailand's third monarch, had 51 children with 37 women.
| Total births | Father's name | Approximate year of last birth | Notes |
| 868–1171 | Moulay Ismail Ibn Sharif | 1727 (c.) | The monarch of Morocco who had a harem of 500 women, and fathered 525 boys and 342 girls by 1703 and achieved a 700th son in 1721. In total, Guinness World Records calculated the most children to one father at 1042. A research team at the University of Vienna suggested 1171 children from a report by Dominique Busnot. |
| 900+ | Bertold Paul Wiesner | This scientist fathered up to 1000 children by artificial insemination by donor through the medical practice of his second wife Mary Barton, between 1942 (or earlier) and 1967. He also is the father of Eva Ibbotson by his first wife Anna Gmeyner, and two children by Mary Barton. | |
| 800+ | Simon Watson | British sperm donor, made headlines in 2016 for claiming to have sired over 800 children. He regularly posts updates of his new children to Twitter. In 2018, a child of Watson took a DNA test and matched with 40 siblings. Made headlines again in 2019 for getting 13 women pregnant in just 26 days. | |
| 500+ | Jonathan Jacob Meijer | Dutch musician who, in his 30s, may have fathered 200 children through sperm donation. The director of the Dutch Donor Child Foundation, told the Times that his offspring could number several hundred or even 1,000. In 2023 a Dutch court forbade Meijer from donating any more sperm with a potential fine of €100,000 per infraction. | |
| 360–380 | King Augustus II the Strong | King of Poland, lived 1670–1733 | |
| up to 300 | Paul Elden Kingston | Paul Kingston is the leader of the Latter Day Church of Christ, also known as the Kingston Clan or The Order in Utah. | |
| 210 | King Sobhuza II | King of Swaziland (now Eswatini), lived 1899–1982, is thought to have had 70 wives. | |
| 177 | Sultan Ibrahim Njoya | He was King of Bamum in Cameroon, lived 1860–1933, and is thought to have had 'around 600' wives. He was said to have had 149 children by December 1915. | |
| 170+ | Mohammed Bello Abubakar | Mohammed Bello Abubakar (1924–2017) of Nigeria married 86 women and had 170 children with them before being arrested in 2008 for polygamy for having more than four wives. | |
| ≥165 | Ari Nagel | The American maths professor has fathered more than 100 children via sperm donation. | |
| 160+ | Ancentus Ogwella Akukujulama | This Kenyan polygamist, known as "Danger", lived 1916–2010; he married "more than 100 times" and had fathered "at least 160 children". An unsubstantiated article from the East African Standard claimed he had 210 children: 104 daughters and 106 sons, by some 130 wives. | |
| 158 | Jack Kigongo | Kigongo lived in Kateerea, Uganda, 1909–2012; he had 27 wives, and when he died aged 103, had around 500 grandchildren. | |
| 150 | Joe Donor | As of July 2018, a 47-year-old man using the pseudonym Joe Donor claimed to have fathered up to 150 children by using a Facebook page to connect with women looking for free sperm, generally by having sex with "Joe" rather than through costly artificial insemination (though some customers do prefer syringes of his sperm). At the time of a 2014 inter | |
| 150 | Anonymous sperm donor | As of September 2011, an American sperm donor was found to have produced at least 150 children. This was the inspiration for the 2011 Canadian film Starbuck and its 2013 American remake Delivery Man. | |
| 145+ | Winston Blackmore | Leader of the Mormon fundamentalist sect called the Blackmore/Bountiful Community, he fathered children through as many as 25 wives. | |
| 144 | Miên Định, Prince of Thọ Xuân | Son of Minh Mang, fathered 144 children, including 78 sons and 66 daughters. | |
| 142 | Emperor Minh Mạng | He is reported to have fathered 142 children from 400 wives. | |
| 128 | Misheck Doctor Nyandoro | Nyandoro, a Zimbabwean man living in Chipinge, currently has 15 wives and 128 children. | |
| 120 | Bodawpaya | King of Burma, fathered 62 sons and 58 daughters | |
| 117 | John Robert Dunn | John Robert Dunn (1834–1895), a South African hunter and trader, was already married when he became an adviser to the Zulu king Cetshwayo, who granted him land, cattle, a chieftainship and two Zulu brides. He married 46 more Zulu women and fathered 33 sons and 46 daughters. | |
| 106–115 | Saud of Saudi Arabia | King Saud, son of Ibn Saud of Saudi Arabia, lived 1902–1969. According to one source he had 52 sons and about 54 daughters from 'a wider range of women' than his father (who had 22 wives); however, another source credited him with 115. | |
| 114 | Matteo Valles | One of America's most well known sperm donors. Although he is retired now, at age 25 he is estimated to have 114 children. This initially came to light due to starring on ABC's The Bachelorette Season 15. | |
| 114 | Miên Trinh, Prince of Tuy Lý | Another son of Minh Mang, fathered 77 sons and 37 daughters. | |
| 114 | Ed Houben | Houben was Europe's most prolific sperm donor. He advocates the use of natural methods. | |
| 110 | Mindon Min | King of Burma, fathered 110 children. | |
| 108+ | Fath-Ali Shah Qajar | The second Shah of the Qajar dynasty of Iran, Fath-Ali (1772–1834) had 48 daughters and 60 sons 'who survived infancy', as a result of the 160+ marriages by which he had consolidated his control over the country. Many of his descendants went on to become prominent figures. | |
| 106+ | John Daniel Kingston | A member of a fundamentalist Mormon group, Kingston had 106 children by 14 wives as of 2004. | |
| 100+ | Murad III | It was said that Murad III fathered over a hundred children. | |
| 100+ | Pavel Durov | As of 29 June 2024, CEO of Telegram, Pavel Durov, said to have over 100 biological kids via sperm donation in 12 nations since 2010. | |
| 102 | Lou Salvador | The Filipino basketball player and actor fathered 102 children, including Alona Alegre, Phillip Salvador, and Ross Rival. | |
| 101 | Bindusara | Emperor Bindusara had 101 sons (one of them was Emperor Ashoka) from his 16 wives | |
| ≤100 | Augustus John | The Welsh painter is widely reported to have fathered 'up to 100 children', mostly outside marriage, although some believe that this figure is greatly exaggerated. | |
| Most likely less than 100 (Highly contentious) | Genghis Khan | According to popular myths and legends about his prolific number of offspring, Genghis Khan, the founder and first Khan of the Mongol Empire is rumoured to have fathered 100 or more children from his enormous harem. A 2003 study speculated that 16 million men alive today are likely direct descendants of him and/or his male relatives. However, a lat | |
| 88–103 | Ramesses II | Egyptian pharaoh; see list of children of Ramesses II | |
| 64–99 | Juan Vicente Gómez | Juan Vicente Gómez was the dictator of Venezuela from 1908 to 1935. He had sixteen children with his two official mistresses, and several others in affairs. | |
| 98 | Donald L. Cline | An American fertility doctor who illegally used his own sperm to impregnate his customers since the 1970s. DNA has been shown to link 94 siblings so far (in addition to the 4 children he had with his wife). | |
| 97 | Bayinnaung | The Burmese king had over 50 wives and 97 children. See Family of Bayinnaung. | |
| 96 | Daad Mohammed Murad Abdul Rahman | Balochi-Emirati who wants to have 100. He has married wives from different countries too. | |
| 94 | Ziona | Leader of the religious sect Pu Chana páwl, in the Mizoram state of India, has 94 children with 39 wives, as well as 33 grandchildren, and has, according to the Guinness Book of Records, the world's largest family. | |
| 87 | Feodor Vassilyev | Feodor Vassilyev, a peasant from Shuya, Russia, had 69 children with his first wife and 18 with his second. At least 82 of his children survived infancy. | |
| 86 | Trần Viết Chu | A peasant from Hải Lăng, Quảng Trị (Vietnam), he had 86 children with 12 wives. | |
| 82 | Mongkut (Rama IV) | King Mongkut, Thailand's fourth monarch, had 32 wives and concubines during his lifetime who produced at least 82 children, one of whom was Chulalongkorn. See list of children of Mongkut. | |
| 82 | Jan Karbaat | Dutch fertility doctor who used his own seed to impregnate patients. He has 11 children from his marriage, 22 donor children which were DNA-matched before his death, and an additional 49 children which were DNA-matched via sibling DNA matching after his death. | |
| 77 | Chulalongkorn (Rama V) | King Chulalongkorn, Thailand's fifth monarch, had 92 consorts during his lifetime who produced 77 children, of whom 33 were sons and 44 were daughters. See list of children of Chulalongkorn | |
| 75 | Ibn Saud of Saudi Arabia | King Abdulaziz, the first monarch of Saudi Arabia, lived 1876–1953; he had 45 recorded sons and about 30 daughters from 22 wives and concubines. By 2001 he had 2,500–3,500 direct descendants. See descendants of Ibn Saud. | |
| 75 | Screamin' Jay Hawkins | Hawkins, a rock and roll singer, had 57 confirmed children, possibly as many as 75. | |
| 75 | Cecil Byran Jacobson | This fertility doctor was suspected of fathering as many as 75 children by impregnating patients with his own sperm. During trial 15 children were confirmed through his DNA. | |
| 75 | Taeng | 1812 | Thai royal, King Phuttha Yotfa Chulalok's nephew, had 75 children with numerous wives. |
| 74 | Ben Seisler | Seisler, who spent three years donating sperm to a Virginia sperm bank to offset law-school expenses, learned that his donations had produced 74 children. |
References
- His date of death
- 1,000–3,000 (wildly overestimated by myths)
- History of the James Lake, Jr. Family
- The Gentleman's Magazinehttps://books.google.com/books?id=oaFJAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA753
- The Prolongation of Lifehttps://books.google.com/books?id=N5c_AAAAYAAJ&pg=PA6
- Superfrauen. 11. Feminismus und Familie
- "World's most fertile woman who had 44 children by 36 stopped from having more babies"https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/worlds-most-fertile-woman-who-20589957
- The Uganda Times – Breaking News, International News, World News, Africa News, Ugandan Updates, Uganda News, Uganda Updates, Opihttps://web.archive.org/web/20230403162917/https://ugandatimes.ug/meet-the-worlds-most-fertile-abandoned-mother-of-44-children-in-uganda/
- The Guinness book of records 1988https://books.google.com/books?id=TqcxAQAAIAAJ
- wwwhttps://web.archive.org/web/20241211121857/https://www.ourwarwickshire.org.uk/content/article/warwickshires-biggest-family-monks-kirby
- ancestryhttps://www.ancestry.ca/genealogy/records/nicholas-hookes-24-2145fjt
- Bannerman, B . (1904). Miscellanea Genealogica Et Heraldica: Third Series. Vol 5. Mitchell Hughes and Clarke ISBN 978-1-https://books.google.com/books?id=Pkkq6uPaFIEC&dq=Elizabeth+Greenhill+39&pg=PA298
- The Guinness book of recordshttps://books.google.com/books?id=epbDg2U3SgoC&pg=PA12
- Mockett's Journal: A Collection of Interesting Matters Relating to Remarkable Personages, Ancient Buildings, Manners and Customs, &c., Beginning from the 50 : Also, Particulars of Various Churches, Origin of the Reculvers, Parochial Matters to St. Peter's: with Observations on Agriculture ... and the Price of Corn, Cattle, and Labour ...https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_3uJwzKNQAGAC
- Guinness Book of World Records 1979https://books.google.com/books?id=JVgJSE_dStQC&pg=PA32
- "The Overleigh Cemetery, Chester"https://www.chesterwalls.info/overleigh12.html
- Jethttps://books.google.com/books?id=EUIDAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA44
- Guinness Book of World Recordshttps://books.google.com/books?id=q0dNAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA25
- Diário do Nordestehttps://diariodonordeste.verdesmares.com.br/ultima-hora/pais/casal-de-cearenses-povoa-cidade-satelite-de-ceilandia-1.429096
- New Guinness Book of Recordshttps://books.google.com/books?id=zKQxAQAAIAAJ&pg=PA17