Ptolemy (, ''Ptolemaios'') is a male given name, derived from

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek (, ; ) includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the classical antiquity, ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Greek ...

and meaning 'warlike'. It is formed from the Epic Greek πτόλεμος ''ptolemos'' meaning 'war'. The name was used throughout the Greek world, but was particularly popular in

ancient Macedon Macedonia ( ; , ), also called Macedon ( ), was an Classical antiquity, ancient monarchy, kingdom on the periphery of Archaic Greece, Archaic and Classical Greece, which later became the dominant state of Hellenistic Greece. The History of ...

and its nobility. The earliest recorded use of the name is in the

Iliad The ''Iliad'' (; , ; ) is one of two major Ancient Greek epic poems attributed to Homer. It is one of the oldest extant works of literature still widely read by modern audiences. As with the ''Odyssey'', the poem is divided into 24 books and ...

Homer Homer (; , ; possibly born ) was an Ancient Greece, Ancient Greek poet who is credited as the author of the ''Iliad'' and the ''Odyssey'', two epic poems that are foundational works of ancient Greek literature. Despite doubts about his autho ...

. During the

Hellenistic In classical antiquity, the Hellenistic period covers the time in Greek history after Classical Greece, between the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC and the death of Cleopatra VII in 30 BC, which was followed by the ascendancy of the R ...

period,

Ptolemy I Soter Ptolemy I Soter (; , ''Ptolemaîos Sōtḗr'', "Ptolemy the Savior"; 367 BC – January 282 BC) was a Macedonian Greek general, historian, and successor of Alexander the Great who went on to found the Ptolemaic Kingdom centered on Egypt. Pto ...

, a general of

Alexander the Great Alexander III of Macedon (; 20/21 July 356 BC – 10/11 June 323 BC), most commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of the Ancient Greece, ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia (ancient kingdom), Macedon. He succeeded his father Philip ...

, founded the

Ptolemaic dynasty The Ptolemaic dynasty (; , ''Ptolemaioi''), also known as the Lagid dynasty (, ''Lagidai''; after Ptolemy I's father, Lagus), was a Macedonian Greek royal house which ruled the Ptolemaic Kingdom in Ancient Egypt during the Hellenistic period. ...

which ruled their Kingdom in

Ancient Egypt Ancient Egypt () was a cradle of civilization concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile River in Northeast Africa. It emerged from prehistoric Egypt around 3150BC (according to conventional Egyptian chronology), when Upper and Lower E ...

. All male rulers of the dynasty bore the name 'Ptolemy', the last being

Ptolemy XII Auletes Ptolemy XII Neos Dionysus ( – 51 BC) was a king of the Ptolemaic Kingdom of Ancient Egypt, Egypt who ruled from 80 to 58 BC and then again from 55 BC until his death in 51 BC. He was commonly known as Auletes (, "the Flautist"), referring to ...

, father of

Cleopatra Cleopatra VII Thea Philopator (; The name Cleopatra is pronounced , or sometimes in both British and American English, see and respectively. Her name was pronounced in the Greek dialect of Egypt (see Koine Greek phonology). She was ...

. Common variants include Ptolemaeus (Latin), Tolomeo (Italian) and

Talmai Talmai (, ; 'my furrows') is a name in the Bible referring to a number of minor people. Its Aramaic version was associated with the Greek Ptolemy (see that article for the list of corresponding names and surnames), and is the origin of Bartholom ...

(Hebrew).

Etymology

''Ptolemy'' is the English form of the

name Πτολεμαῖος (''Ptolemaios''), a derivative of πτόλεμος, an

Epic Epic commonly refers to: * Epic poetry, a long narrative poem celebrating heroic deeds and events significant to a culture or nation * Epic film, a genre of film defined by the spectacular presentation of human drama on a grandiose scale Epic(s) ...

form of πόλεμος 'war'The change from ''polemos'' to ''ptolemos'' is an example of a type of linguistic compounding called terpsimbrotos. The ''pt-'' in ''ptolemos'' (vs. earlier ''polemos'') "war" is thought to arise from a re-analysis of the compound word ''*phere-t-polemos'', metathesised to ''phere-ptolemos''. George Dunkel, "Two old problems in Greek: πτόλεμος and τερψίμβροτος", ''Glotta'' 70:3/4:197-225 (1992) . and the suffix -αῖος ''-aios'' meaning 'pertaining' or 'belonging to'. A nephew of

Antigonus I Monophthalmus Antigonus I Monophthalmus ( , "Antigonus the One-Eyed"; 382 – 301 BC) was a Ancient Macedonians, Macedonian Greek general and Diadochi, successor of Alexander the Great. A prominent military leader in Alexander's army, he went on to control lar ...

was called ''Polemaeus'', the normal form of the adjective. ''Ptolemaios'' is first attested in

and is the name of an Achaean warrior, son of Piraeus, father of Eurymedon.Homer, ''Iliad'', 4.228
on Perseus The name ''Ptolemaios'' varied over the years from its roots in

ancient Greece Ancient Greece () was a northeastern Mediterranean civilization, existing from the Greek Dark Ages of the 12th–9th centuries BC to the end of classical antiquity (), that comprised a loose collection of culturally and linguistically r ...

, appearing in different languages in various forms and spellings: * * * * * * ''Ptolemaios'' * Phoenician: 𐤐𐤕𐤋𐤌𐤉𐤎 (ptlmys) or 𐤐𐤕𐤋𐤌𐤉𐤔 (ptlmyš) *

Hebrew Hebrew (; ''ʿÎbrit'') is a Northwest Semitic languages, Northwest Semitic language within the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family. A regional dialect of the Canaanite languages, it was natively spoken by the Israelites and ...

and

Aramaic Aramaic (; ) is a Northwest Semitic language that originated in the ancient region of Syria and quickly spread to Mesopotamia, the southern Levant, Sinai, southeastern Anatolia, and Eastern Arabia, where it has been continually written a ...

: תלמי (tlmy) '' Talmay'' *

Middle Persian Middle Persian, also known by its endonym Pārsīk or Pārsīg ( Inscriptional Pahlavi script: , Manichaean script: , Avestan script: ) in its later form, is a Western Middle Iranian language which became the literary language of the Sasania ...

𐭯𐭲𐭫𐭬𐭥𐭱 (ptlmywš) ''Patlamyōš'' * ''Baṭlamīūs/ Ptolemaios'' * ''Baṭulīmūs'' The name ''Ptolemy'' spread from its Greek origins to enter other languages in

Western Asia West Asia (also called Western Asia or Southwest Asia) is the westernmost region of Asia. As defined by most academics, UN bodies and other institutions, the subregion consists of Anatolia, the Arabian Peninsula, Iran, Mesopotamia, the Armenian ...

during the

Hellenisation Hellenization or Hellenification is the adoption of Greek culture, religion, language, and identity by non-Greeks. In the ancient period, colonisation often led to the Hellenisation of indigenous people in the Hellenistic period, many of the te ...

that followed the conquest of the known world by

. The Aramaic name ''Bar-

'' 'son of Talmai' (Greek ''Bartolomaios'', English

Bartholomew Bartholomew was one of the twelve apostles of Jesus according to the New Testament. Most scholars today identify Bartholomew as Nathanael, who appears in the Gospel of John (1:45–51; cf. 21:2). New Testament references The name ''Bartholomew ...

) may be related (

Bartholomew the Apostle Bartholomew was one of the twelve apostles of Jesus according to the New Testament. Most scholars today identify Bartholomew as Nathanael, who appears in the Gospel of John (1:45–51; cf. 21:2). New Testament references The name ''Bartholomew ...

is thus thought to have been the son of a Ptolemy.)³ Ptolemais is formed from this name by the Greek feminine adjectival ending ''-i(d)s''.

Claudius Ptolemaeus

Ptolemy Claudius Ptolemy (; , ; ; – 160s/170s AD) was a Greco-Roman mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, geographer, and music theorist who wrote about a dozen scientific treatises, three of which were important to later Byzantine science, Byzant ...

commonly refers to Claudius Ptolemaeus (ca. 90 AD–ca. 168 AD), a writer, geographer, mathematician, astronomer and astrologer who lived in the Alexandrine Greek culture of Roman Egypt.

Ptolemaic dynasty

Ptolemy was the name of several pharaohs of the Ptolemaic dynasty who ruled

Hellenistic Egypt The Ptolemaic Kingdom (; , ) or Ptolemaic Empire was an ancient Greek polity based in Ancient Egypt, Egypt during the Hellenistic period. It was founded in 305 BC by the Ancient Macedonians, Macedonian Greek general Ptolemy I Soter, a Diadochi, ...

for nearly 300 years, from 305 BC to 30 BC. The

Greco-Egyptian The Egyptian Greeks, also known as Egyptiotes () or simply Greeks in Egypt (), are the Greeks, ethnic Greek community from Egypt that has existed from the Hellenistic period until the aftermath of the Egyptian revolution of 1952, Egyptian coup d' ...

pharaonic dynasty of Macedonian origin was established by

(303–282 BC), and the male dynastic successors were all also named Ptolemy. Dynasty members who ruled Egypt include: *

Ptolemy II Philadelphus Ptolemy II Philadelphus (, ''Ptolemaîos Philádelphos'', "Ptolemy, sibling-lover"; 309 – 28 January 246 BC) was the pharaoh of Ptolemaic Egypt from 284 to 246 BC. He was the son of Ptolemy I, the Macedonian Greek general of Alexander the G ...

Ptolemy III Euergetes Ptolemy III Euergetes (, "Ptolemy the Euergetes, Benefactor"; c. 280 – November/December 222 BC) was the third pharaoh of the Ptolemaic dynasty in Egypt from 246 to 222 BC. The Ptolemaic Kingdom reached the height of its military and economic ...

Ptolemy IV Philopator Ptolemy IV Philopator (; "Ptolemy, lover of his Father"; May/June 244 – July/August 204 BC) was the fourth pharaoh of Ptolemaic Egypt from 221 to 204 BC. Ptolemy IV was the son of Ptolemy III and Berenice II. His succession to the throne was ...

Ptolemy V Epiphanes Ptolemy V Epiphanes Eucharistus (, ''Ptolemaĩos Epiphanḗs Eukháristos'' "Ptolemy the Manifest, the Beneficent"; 9 October 210–September 180 BC) was the Pharaoh, King of Ptolemaic Egypt from July or August 204 BC until his death in 180 BC. ...

* Ptolemy VI Philometor * Ptolemy VII Neos Philopator *

Ptolemy VIII Physcon Ptolemy VIII Euergetes II Tryphon (, ''Ptolemaĩos Euergétēs Tryphōn'', "Ptolemy the Benefactor, the Opulent"; c. 184 BC – 28 June 116 BC), nicknamed Physcon (, ''Physkōn'', "Fatty"), was a king of the Ptolemaic dynasty in Egypt. He was ...

Ptolemy IX Lathyros Ptolemy IX Soter II Ptolemy IX also took the same title 'Soter' as Ptolemy I. In older references and in more recent references by the German historian Huss, Ptolemy IX may be numbered VIII. (, ''Ptolemaĩos Sōtḗr'' 'Ptolemy ...

Ptolemy X Alexander I Ptolemy X Alexander I (, ''Ptolemaĩos Aléxandros'') was the Ptolemaic king of Cyprus from 114 BC until 107 BC and of Egypt from 107 BC until his death in 88 BC. He ruled in co-regency with his mother Cleopatra III as Ptolemy Philometor Soter ...

* Ptolemy XI Alexander II *

Ptolemy XIII Theos Philopator Ptolemy XIII Theos Philopator (, ''Ptolemaĩos''; c. 62 BC – 13 January 47 BC) was Pharaoh of Egypt from 51 to 47 BC, and one of the last members of the Ptolemaic dynasty (305–30 BC). He was the son of Ptolemy XII and the brother of and co ...

* Ptolemy XIV Philopator * Ptolemy XV Caesarion Several dynasty members ruled other territories not in Egypt: * Ptolemy Apion, King of Cyrene (150–145 BC) *

Ptolemy Philadelphus (son of Cleopatra) Ptolemy Philadelphus (, ''Ptolemaios Philadelphos,'' "Ptolemy the brother-loving", August/September 36 BC – 29 BC) was a Ptolemaic prince and was the youngest and fourth child of Greek Ptolemaic Queen Cleopatra VII of Egypt, and her third with ...

(36 BC – 29 BC), King of Syria, Phoenicia, and Cilicia (34-30 BC) *

Ptolemy of Mauretania Ptolemy of Mauretania (, ''Ptolemaîos''; ; 13 9BC–AD40) was the last Roman client king and ruler of Mauretania for Rome. He was the son of Juba II, the king of Numidia and a member of the Berber Massyles tribe, as well as a descendant of th ...

, client king of Mauretania (20–40 AD) for Rome

Early Greek rulers and generals named Ptolemy

* Ptolemy of Thebes (12th century BC) – mythical ruler of the ancient Greek city of Thebes * Ptolemy of Aloros (ruled 368 to 365 BC) – Regent of Macedon * Ptolemy (somatophylax) (died 334 BC) – Macedonian bodyguard and general of Alexander the Great * Ptolemy (son of Seleucus) (died 333 BC) – Macedonian bodyguard and general of Alexander the Great * Ptolemy (son of Philip) (4th century BC) – Macedonian officer of

* Ptolemy (nephew of Antigonus I Monophthalmus) (died 309 BC) – Macedonian general * Ptolemy (son of Pyrrhus) (295–272 BC) – a son of king

Pyrrhus of Epirus Pyrrhus ( ; ; 319/318–272 BC) was a Greeks, Greek king and wikt:statesman, statesman of the Hellenistic period.Plutarch. ''Parallel Lives'',Pyrrhus... He was king of the Molossians, of the royal Aeacidae, Aeacid house, and later he became ki ...

* Ptolemy of Epirus – King of the Greek frontier kingdom of Epirus c. 237 BC – 234 ВС

Other people named Ptolemy or Ptolemaeus

Born before 20th century

* Ptolemy Macron (fl. 2nd century BC), governor of Coele-Syria and Phoenicia. * Ptolemaeus of Commagene (201 BC - 130 BC), satrap and then first King of Commagene * Ptolemy son of Abubus, governor of

Jericho Jericho ( ; , ) is a city in the West Bank, Palestine, and the capital of the Jericho Governorate. Jericho is located in the Jordan Valley, with the Jordan River to the east and Jerusalem to the west. It had a population of 20,907 in 2017. F ...

(ca. 130 BC) in the First Book of the Maccabees; instigated the death of Simon Maccabees; and for whom Dante named the section of Hell reserved for traitors to guests ('Ptolemaea') * Ptolemy (son of Mennaeus) (rule ended ca. 40 BC), governor of biblical Abilene, a district of the disputed region of Coele-Syria *

(d.40 AD) *

Ptolemaeus Chennus Ptolemy Chennus or Chennos ("quail") ( ''Ptolemaios Chennos''), was an Alexandrine grammarian during the reigns of Trajan and Hadrian. According to the ''Suda'', he was the author of an historical drama named ''Sphinx'', of an epic, ''Anthomeros'' ...

(2nd century AD), a grammarian who lived in the Alexandrine Greek culture of Roman Egypt * Ptolemaeus and Lucius (d. c. 165 AD), Christian martyrs * Ptolemy (Gnostic) (c. 180 AD), a religious philosopher who was active in Roman Italy and Gaul *

Ptolemy-el-Garib Ptolemy-el-Garib (Arabic, more correctly ''al-gharīb'', "Ptolemy the foreigner," explained as meaning "Ptolemy the unknown") (fl. c. 300 AD) was a Hellenistic pinacographer, probably of the Peripatetic school, who wrote a ''Life of Aristotle'' no ...

(fl. c. 300 AD), a Peripatetic pinacographer whose ''Life of Aristotle'' * Ptolemy I of Tusculum (d.1126), a count of Tusculum who asserted his family's descent from the Roman

Julii The gens Julia was one of the most prominent patrician families of ancient Rome. From the early decades of the Republic, members of this gens served in the highest offices of the Roman state, beginning with Gaius Julius Iulus, consul in 489 ...

* Ptolemy II of Tusculum (d.1153), a count of Tusculum who married Bertha, daughter of Henry V, Holy Roman Emperor * Ptolemaios Sarigiannis (1882–1958), a Greek Army officer

Born in 20th century or later

* Ptolemy Tompkins (born 1962) – American author * Ptolemy Dean (born 1968) – British architect, author, and TV presenter * Ptolemy Slocum (born 1975) – American actor * Barry Ptolemy (born 1969) – American film director and producer

People named Tolomeo or Tolomei

* Tolomeo da Lucca or Bartholomew of Lucca (Bartolomeo Fiadoni c. 1236 – c. 1327), a medieval Italian historian *

Bernardo Tolomei Bernardo Tolomei (10 May 1272 – 20 August 1348) was an Italian Catholic priest and the founder of the Congregation of the Blessed Virgin of Monte Oliveto. In the Roman Martyrology he is commemorated on 20 August, but in the Benedictine calen ...

(1272–1348), founder of the Olivetan Roman * Tolomeo Gallio (1527–1607), an Italian cardinal * Tolomeo Faccendi (1905–1970), an Italian sculptor * Tolomeo Mwansa (1941-2014), a Zambian football goalkeeper * Giovanni Battista Tolomei (1653–1726), Italian Jesuit priest, theologian, and cardinal

Uses in arts and entertainment

*''The Ptolemy'' (1934) is a large reed organ built by Harry Partch, the American composer, named in tribute to

Claudius Ptolemaeus Claudius Ptolemy (; , ; ; – 160s/170s AD) was a Greco-Roman mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, geographer, and music theorist who wrote about a dozen scientific treatises, three of which were important to later Byzantine, Islamic, and ...

*'' Tolomeo'' is an opera by Handel composed in 1728, a fictionalisation of some events in the life of Ptolemy IX Lathyros, king of Egypt *Alderman Ptolemy Tortoise is a character in '' The Tale of Mr. Jeremy Fisher'' by

Beatrix Potter Helen Beatrix Heelis (; 28 July 186622 December 1943), usually known as Beatrix Potter ( ), was an English writer, illustrator, natural scientist, and conservationist. She is best known for her children's books featuring animals, such as '' ...

*''Ptolemaios'' and ''Ptolemaios 2'' are fictional spacecraft in the anime television series ''

Mobile Suit Gundam 00 is a Japanese anime television series, the eleventh installment in Sunrise studio's long-running ''Gundam'' franchise comprising two seasons. The series is set on a futuristic Earth and is centered on the exploits of the fictional paramilit ...

'' and film '' Mobile Suit Gundam 00 the Movie: A Wakening of the Trailblazer'' *'' Ptolemy's Gate'', published 2005, is the third book in ''The Bartimaeus Trilogy'', a fantasy series by the English author Jonathan Stroud. The series includes a character called Ptolemy, from 2nd century BC Ptolemaic Egypt, who is nephew to

Ptolemy VIII Ptolemy VIII Euergetes II Tryphon (, ''Ptolemaĩos Euergétēs Tryphōn'', "Ptolemy the Benefactor, the Opulent"; c. 184 BC – 28 June 116 BC), nicknamed Physcon (, ''Physkōn'', "Fatty"), was a king of the Ptolemaic dynasty in Egypt. He was t ...

and cousin to Ptolemy IX *''

Ptolemaic Terrascope {{Infobox magazine , image_file = pto.png , image_size = , image_caption = ''Ptolemaic Terrascope'' logo , editor = Phil McMullen (1988–2005) Pat Thomas (2005-07) , editor_title = , staf ...

'' is a magazine founded in 1989. The name was inspired by "Ptolemy the turtle, who lives at Terrascope Towers". Various artworks and logos feature an astronomer peering through a 'terrascope', so Ptolemaic may here refer to

*''The Last Days of Ptolemy Grey'' is a novel by

Walter Mosley Walter Ellis Mosley (born January 12, 1952) is an American novelist, most widely recognized for his crime fiction. He has written a series of best-selling historical mysteries featuring the hard-boiled detective Easy Rawlins, a black private in ...

, later adapted into a miniseries of the same name, whose titular character is a lonely 93-year-old man with dementia. * ''Ptolemy'', a track by Aphex Twin from the 1992 album '' Selected Ambient Works 85–92'' * ''Ptolemaea'', a song by Ethel Cain from her debut album Preacher's Daughter

Footnotes

{{given name Etymologies Ancient Greece * Cultural history Hellenistic Egyptians