- Origin: Greek Πτολεμαῖος
- Meaning: “aggressive, warlike.”
- Gender: Male
- Eng (PTAHL-e-mee, TAHL-e-mee)
Derived from the ancient Greek male name Πτολεμαῖος (Ptolemaios), which in turn comes from πτόλεμος (ptólemos), meaning “war” or “battle.”
The word ptólemos is an older Aeolic dialectal form of πόλεμος (pólemos), the standard Classical Greek word for “war,” sharing the same root with the English word, “polemic.”
Ptolemy I Soter (367–283 BCE) was a general of Alexander the Great and later became Pharaoh of Egypt, founding the Ptolemaic Dynasty (323–30 BCE). This dynasty ruled Egypt for nearly three centuries and ended with Cleopatra VII, the most famous bearer of the family’s legacy.
Claudius Ptolemaeus (Ptolemy) (2nd century CE) was the famed Greek astronomer, mathematician, and geographer of Alexandria, whose Almagest shaped Western astronomy for over a millennium.
According to the Book of 1 Maccabees (135/4 BC), Ptolemy of Jericho betrayed his father-in-law, Simon the High Priest, by murdering him and his two sons while they slept as guests under his roof. This act of treachery is used in Dante Alighieri’s The Inferno, in which the ninth circle of Hell is called Ptolomea after him, a frozen realm reserved for those who betray their guests.
Ptolomy is also the name of an early Christian saint.
In the English-speaking world, Ptolomy has been used on and off since the 18th-century. It appeared in the U.K’s top 500 boys’ names in 2004, ranking in at #906.
A modern bearer is American author, Ptolemy Tompkins. Celebrity couple Gretchen Mol and Tod Williams bestowed this on their son in 2007.
Common English short forms include: Tollie, Tolly, and Tal.
International Variations
- Butlimus بطليموس (Arabic)
- Ptghomeos Պտղոմեոս (Armenian)
- Ptaljemej Пталемей (Belarusian)
- Ptolemej Птолемей (Bulgarian, Croatian, Serbian, Ukrainian)
- Ptolemeu, Tolomeu (Catalan)
- Ptolomeos ⲡⲧⲟⲗⲉⲙⲉⲟⲥ (Coptic)
- Ptolemy (Another English form)
- Ptolémée (French)
- Tolomaes (Gaelic)
- Ptolomeu (Galician, Occitanian, Romanian)
- Ptolemäus (German)
- Ptolemaiosz (Hungarian)
- Ptólmæos (Icelandic)
- Tolomeo (Italian, Spanish)
- Tolommeo (Italian)
- Ptolomaeus (Latin)
- Ptolemajs (Latvian)
- Ptolemėjus (Lithuanian)
- Ptolomey, Ptolomej Птолемей (Macedonian, Russian)
- Tolomé (Piedmontese)
- Ptolomeusz (Polish)
- Ptolomeu (Portuguese)
- Ptolemæus (Scandinavian)
- Ptolomaidh (Scottish-Gaelic)
- Tulumeu (Sicilian)
- Ptolomaj (Slovenian)
- Ptolemeo, Ptolomeo (Spanish)
- Batlamyus (Turkish)
Female forms include the sensual Ptolemaïs (Πτολεμαΐς) and the Italian, Tolomea.
Sources
Gender: Masculine
Gender: Feminine
Another interesting Polish offshoot is Polonia, which is rare in Poland these days but might make an interesting choice for Polish-American parents who want to honour their heritage as polonia is a term used to describe the Polish diaspora in the United States. She may be the Polish-American answer to the Irish-American, Erin.
Origin: Hebrew גַבְרִיאֵל Γαβριηλ
Gender: Masculine