Why is Britain called Great Britain?
Answered Most Recently Kartoffelgeliebter (from www.http://wiki.answers.com)
There are two reasons both valid:

1. Romans called it 'Larger/Greater Britain' to distinguish it from 'Brittany' - which in Latin has the same name and stil does today in french, Italian e.g. Grande Bretagne vs Bretagne

2. Britain refers to Ireland and England (though Ireland is not a part of Britain), King James went one step further and called it Great Britain when it merged with Scotland.

It means that when the kingdom is united, it is powerful and great. In fact the word 'Great' is only used n English. All other languages use 'Big" e.g. Gross Britanien, Grand Bretagne, Gran Bretania etc.' it is just the media that have corrupted the meaning for headline usage.

None of this really correct. The Romans called the islands "Britania" - there was never any reference to its size in the name. Brittany was named much later by Britons fleeing the Romans in Britania.

Britain refers to England and Wales. The Union with Scotland in 1707 formed Great Britain. The "Great" in the name simply refers to the larger land mass. As then and of now it NEVER referes to any political, economic or military greatness as most of the word seems to think.