Ptolemy (name)


Ptolemy is a male given name, derived from Ancient 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 and its nobility. The earliest recorded use of the name is in the Iliad of Homer. During the Hellenistic period, Ptolemy I Soter, a general of Alexander the Great, founded the Ptolemaic dynasty which ruled their Kingdom in Ancient Egypt. All male rulers of the dynasty bore the name 'Ptolemy', the last being Ptolemy XII Auletes, father of Cleopatra. Common variants include Ptolemaeus, Tolomeo and Talmai.

Etymology

Ptolemy is the English form of the Ancient Greek name Πτολεμαῖος, a derivative of πτόλεμος, an Epic form of πόλεμος 'war' and the suffix -αῖος -aios meaning 'pertaining' or 'belonging to'. A nephew of Antigonus I Monophthalmus was called Polemaeus, the normal form of the adjective. Ptolemaios is first attested in Homer's Iliad and is the name of an Achaean warrior, son of Piraeus, father of Eurymedon.
The name Ptolemaios varied over the years from its roots in ancient Greece, appearing in different languages in various forms and spellings:
  • Ptolemaios
  • Phoenician: ?????? or ??????
  • Hebrew and Aramaic: תלמי Talmay
  • Middle Persian ?????? Patlamyōš
  • Baṭlamīūs/ Ptolemaios
  • Baṭulīmūs
The name Ptolemy spread from its Greek origins to enter other languages in Western Asia during the Hellenisation that followed the conquest of the known world by Alexander the Great.

The Aramaic name Bar-Talmai 'son of Talmai' may be related ³
Ptolemais is formed from this name by the Greek feminine adjectival ending -is.

Claudius Ptolemaeus

commonly refers to Claudius Ptolemaeus, 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 for nearly 300 years, from 305 BC to 30 BC. The Greco-Egyptian pharaonic dynasty of Macedonian origin was established by Ptolemy I Soter, and the male dynastic successors were all also named Ptolemy. Dynasty members who ruled Egypt include:
Several dynasty members ruled other territories not in Egypt:
  • Ptolemy Apion, King of Cyrene
  • Ptolemy Philadelphus , King of Syria, Phoenicia, and Cilicia
  • Ptolemy of Mauretania, client king of Mauretania for Rome

    Early Greek rulers and generals named Ptolemy

  • Ptolemy of Thebes – mythical ruler of the ancient Greek city of Thebes
  • Ptolemy of Aloros – Regent of Macedon
  • Ptolemy – Macedonian bodyguard and general of Alexander the Great
  • Ptolemy – Macedonian bodyguard and general of Alexander the Great
  • Ptolemy – Macedonian officer of Alexander the Great
  • Ptolemy – Macedonian general
  • Ptolemy – a son of king Pyrrhus of Epirus
  • 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, governor of Coele-Syria and Phoenicia.
  • Ptolemaeus of Commagene, satrap and then first King of Commagene
  • Ptolemy son of Abubus, governor of Jericho 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
  • Ptolemy , governor of biblical Abilene, a district of the disputed region of Coele-Syria
  • Ptolemy of Mauretania
  • Ptolemaeus Chennus, a grammarian who lived in the Alexandrine Greek culture of Roman Egypt
  • Ptolemaeus and Lucius, Christian martyrs
  • Ptolemy , a religious philosopher who was active in Roman Italy and Gaul
  • Ptolemy-el-Garib, a Peripatetic pinacographer whose Life of Aristotle
  • Ptolemy I of Tusculum, a count of Tusculum who asserted his family's descent from the Roman Julii
  • Ptolemy II of Tusculum, a count of Tusculum who married Bertha, daughter of Henry V, Holy Roman Emperor
  • Ptolemaios Sarigiannis, a Greek Army officer

    Born in 20th century or later

  • Ptolemy Tompkins – American author
  • Ptolemy Dean – British architect, author, and TV presenter
  • Ptolemy Slocum – American actor
  • Barry Ptolemy – American film director and producer

    People named Tolomeo or Tolomei

  • Tolomeo da Lucca or Bartholomew of Lucca, a medieval Italian historian
  • Bernardo Tolomei, founder of the Olivetan Roman
  • Tolomeo Gallio, an Italian cardinal
  • Tolomeo Faccendi, an Italian sculptor
  • Tolomeo Mwansa, a Zambian football goalkeeper
  • Giovanni Battista Tolomei, Italian Jesuit priest, theologian, and cardinal

    Uses in arts and entertainment

  • The Ptolemy is a large reed organ built by Harry Partch, the American composer, named in tribute to Claudius Ptolemaeus
  • 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
  • Ptolemaios and Ptolemaios 2 are fictional spacecraft in the anime television series Mobile Suit Gundam 00 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 and cousin to Ptolemy IX
  • Ptolemaic Terrascope 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 Claudius Ptolemaeus
  • The Last Days of Ptolemy Grey is a novel by Walter Mosley, 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