The nickname “Big Ben” most likely comes from Sir Benjamin Hall, a large, loud politician who oversaw the installation of the great bell in the mid‑1800s, though the exact origin is not certain.

What Big Ben Actually Is

  • The name technically refers to the huge Great Bell inside the clock tower at the Palace of Westminster, not the tower itself.
  • The tower people point to as “Big Ben” has been officially called Elizabeth Tower since 2012, renamed in honor of Queen Elizabeth II’s Diamond Jubilee.

How It Got The Name

There are two main stories behind why it is called Big Ben.

  1. Sir Benjamin Hall theory
    • Sir Benjamin Hall was the Commissioner of Works when the bell was installed.
    • He was reportedly a tall, stout man with a booming voice and the nickname “Big Ben,” and his name was inscribed on the bell, so many historians see this as the most likely origin.
  1. Boxer Ben Caunt theory
    • Another tale links the name to Ben Caunt, a heavyweight boxing champion of the era, also nicknamed “Big Ben.”
    • The idea is that Londoners liked using his name for anything especially large, so the giant bell picked up the same nickname.

Why The Name Stuck

  • People in Parliament and workers around the site seem to have used “Big Ben” informally at first, and the catchy nickname just stuck in popular speech over time.
  • Today, “Big Ben” is used casually for the bell, the clock, and the whole tower, even though that’s not strictly accurate in official terms.

TL;DR: It is called “Big Ben” after a big, loud “Ben” from Victorian Britain—almost certainly Sir Benjamin Hall, though some credit boxer Ben Caunt—and the nickname became so popular that it outgrew the bell and attached itself to the whole clock tower.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.