Ask "who is the tallest person in the world" and, historically speaking, there's actually a clear, well-documented answer — unlike most "greatest of all time" debates, like the ongoing arguments over the smartest people in history or who counts among the most recognized historical figures of all time. Extreme height in humans is almost always caused by a medical condition, usually gigantism, where the pituitary gland produces excess growth hormone, often starting in childhood. That means the tallest people in recorded history aren't just tall — they're medical outliers whose height was carefully measured, documented by doctors, and in many cases verified by organizations like Guinness World Records.
Some names on this list you'll already recognize. Others were sideshow performers in the 19th and early 20th centuries, when extreme height was — uncomfortably, by today's standards — treated as entertainment rather than a medical condition to manage. A few are still alive today, still holding modern height records that haven't been broken in decades.
Here are 20 of the tallest people ever documented, starting with the tallest man in the world in recorded history.
1. Robert Wadlow — The Tallest Man Ever Recorded
Robert Wadlow, born in Illinois in 1918, remains the tallest person in recorded history at 8 feet 11.1 inches (2.72 meters), a height reached because a pituitary tumor caused his body to produce growth hormone continuously, with no natural stopping point. He was still growing at the time of his death at just 22 years old. Despite his size, Wadlow was known as the "Gentle Giant" for his kind, soft-spoken personality, and his height record, verified by Guinness World Records, has stood unbroken for over 80 years.
2. John Rogan — The Second Tallest Man in History
John Rogan, an American born in 1868, reached a documented height of roughly 8 feet 9 inches, making him the second-tallest verified person in history. Unlike Wadlow, Rogan's height came with severe complications — a spinal condition eventually left him unable to walk, and he spent much of his life confined to a specially built wheelchair.
3. Väinö Myllyrinne — The Tallest Finn on Record
Väinö Myllyrinne reached 2.51 meters (8 feet 3 inches), making him the tallest Finnish person ever documented. He served in the Finnish military during World War II before his height, and the mobility challenges that came with it, led to his discharge, after which he worked in more sedentary jobs for the rest of his life.
4. Don Koehler — America's Tallest Man of His Era
Standing 2.48 meters (8 feet 2 inches), Don Koehler was recognized by Guinness World Records as the tallest man alive during much of his adult life, from the 1960s until his death in 1981. Unlike many people with extreme height, Koehler lived a relatively active life and worked for years in agricultural and factory jobs in his native Illinois.
5. Bernard Coyne — A Height Cut Short
Bernard Coyne, an American born in 1897, had reached 2.48 meters (8 feet 2 inches) by the time he died at just 23 years old — meaning he may have grown even taller had he lived longer. His rapid growth was linked to gigantism, and he remains one of the youngest people on record to reach such an extreme height.
6. Édouard Beaupré — The Willow Bunch Giant
Édouard Beaupré, born in Saskatchewan, Canada, in 1881, grew to 2.51 meters (8 feet 3 inches) and became a circus strongman and performer, billed internationally as "the Willow Bunch Giant." He died at 23, and — in a detail that reflects how differently the era treated people with his condition — his body was displayed as a museum exhibit for decades before finally being given a proper burial in 1990.
7. Ella Ewing — The Missouri Giantess
Ella Ewing, born in Missouri in 1872, grew to approximately 2.44 meters (8 feet) and became a well-known sideshow and circus performer of her era, billed as the "Missouri Giantess." She used her earnings to build a home for her aging parents, and she remains one of the tallest women documented in 19th-century America.
8. Anna Haining Bates (Anna Swan) — Half of History's Tallest Couple
Anna Haining Bates, known professionally as Anna Swan, was a Canadian performer who reached 2.41 meters (7 feet 11 inches). She toured with P.T. Barnum's shows and later married fellow performer Martin Van Buren Bates — together, they were billed as the tallest married couple in recorded history.
9. Martin Van Buren Bates — The Kentucky Giant
Martin Van Buren Bates, standing 2.36 meters (7 feet 9 inches), served as a Confederate officer during the American Civil War before becoming a performer known as the "Kentucky Giant." His marriage to Anna Swan, another towering performer, made the couple a sensation of their era.
10. Angus MacAskill — The Strongest Giant on Record
Angus MacAskill, a Scottish-Canadian performer born in 1825, reached 2.36 meters (7 feet 9 inches) and is notable for having grown to that height without any documented pituitary disorder, making his proportional, symmetrical build unusual among history's tallest people. He was renowned for extraordinary feats of strength, reportedly able to lift weights far beyond what his height alone would suggest.
11. Zeng Jinlian — The Tallest Woman Ever Verified
Zeng Jinlian, born in China in 1964, reached 2.48 meters (8 feet 1 inch), making her the tallest woman ever verified by Guinness World Records. Her extreme growth began at just four months old and never fully stopped, a pattern consistent with an aggressive pituitary condition, and she died at 17 due to complications related to her height.
12. Trijntje Keever — A Legendary Early Giant
Trijntje Keever, said to have lived in the Netherlands in the early 1600s, was historically recorded at an extraordinary 2.54 meters (8 feet 4 inches) — a claim that would make her one of the tallest women in history, though the measurement methods of the era make the figure impossible to independently verify by modern standards.
13. Sandy Allen — America's Tallest Woman of the Late 20th Century
Sandy Allen, an American born in 1955, reached 2.31 meters (7 feet 7 inches) and held the Guinness World Record for tallest living woman for over two decades. She spoke openly about the medical challenges of her height, including multiple surgeries to manage pituitary tumors, and became a public advocate for others living with gigantism.
14. Jane Bunford — Britain's Tallest Woman
Jane Bunford, born in England in 1895, reached approximately 2.41 meters (7 feet 11 inches), making her the tallest woman ever recorded in the United Kingdom. Scoliosis caused by her rapid growth eventually left her unable to stand fully upright in her final years.
15. Yao Ming — Basketball's Global Giant
Yao Ming, the retired Chinese NBA star, stands 2.29 meters (7 feet 6 inches) — remarkable not because of a growth disorder, but simply through natural height combined with a family of unusually tall relatives, including both of his parents. His height, paired with his basketball career, made him one of the most recognized tall figures in modern sports history.
16. André the Giant — Pop Culture's Most Famous Giant
André the Giant, the French professional wrestler and actor born André René Roussimoff, stood roughly 2.24 meters (7 feet 4 inches), with some sources citing him even taller at his peak. His gigantism was never treated during his lifetime, contributing to health issues that shortened his life, but his fame — especially from the film The Princess Bride — made him arguably the most widely recognized giant in modern pop culture.
17. Sultan Kösen — The Tallest Living Man Today
Sultan Kösen, born in Turkey in 1982, stands 2.51 meters (8 feet 2.8 inches) and currently holds the Guinness World Record for tallest living man. His gigantism, caused by a pituitary tumor, was eventually treated with surgery to slow further growth, and he's remained a fixture of "world's tallest man" headlines for over a decade.
18. Brahim Takioullah — Morocco's Towering Record-Holder
Brahim Takioullah, from Morocco, stands 2.46 meters (8 feet 1 inch) and also holds a Guinness World Record for having the largest feet of any living person. He's frequently mentioned alongside Sultan Kösen in "world's tallest living man" discussions.
19. Morteza Mehrzad — The Tallest Paralympic Athlete
Morteza Mehrzad, an Iranian sitting volleyball player, stands approximately 2.46 meters (8 feet 1 inch), making him one of the tallest competitive athletes in the world. He helped lead Iran's national sitting volleyball team to Paralympic gold, using his extraordinary reach as a defining advantage in the sport.
20. Leonid Stadnyk — The Unofficial Contender
Leonid Stadnyk, a Ukrainian veterinarian, was informally measured at as much as 2.57 meters (8 feet 5 inches), which would make him taller than Robert Wadlow — but he declined the repeated official Guinness World Records measurements needed for verification, so his height is widely cited but not formally recognized as a record.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is the tallest person in the world, ever recorded?
Robert Wadlow, an American who lived from 1918 to 1940, holds the verified record at 8 feet 11.1 inches (2.72 meters) — the tallest person in documented history.
Who is the tallest man alive today?
Sultan Kösen, from Turkey, currently holds the Guinness World Record for tallest living man at 8 feet 2.8 inches (2.51 meters).
How tall was the world's tallest man ever?
Robert Wadlow reached 8 feet 11.1 inches (2.72 meters) before his death at age 22, and medical experts believe he was still growing at the time.
Who is the tallest woman in history?
Zeng Jinlian of China is the tallest woman ever verified by Guinness World Records, at 8 feet 1 inch (2.48 meters).
What causes people to grow so tall?
Nearly all documented cases of extreme height are linked to gigantism, a condition where the pituitary gland produces too much growth hormone — often starting in early childhood — usually caused by a benign tumor. It's a medical condition, not simply an extreme version of normal height.
Final Thoughts
Extreme height, throughout history, has almost always come with a medical story attached — one that earlier eras rarely understood and often exploited for entertainment. Robert Wadlow's record has now stood for over 80 years, a rare kind of endurance shared by other record-holders across history, like the oldest people ever recorded or the popes with the longest reigns, but as this list shows, he's far from the only person whose height reshaped how the world saw what a human body could become.