Meaning & origin
How it developed
In English usage, Ptolemy developed from Πτολεμαῖος.
The story
Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 2003. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin.
From dated birth records
Ptolemy through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 57
- 57 boys · 0 girls
- Most popular year
- 2016
- 9 babies
- 2025
- 7
- #10,426 for boys
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- —
- Too few births to compare
By the numbers
In 2025, this name appeared in 7 U.S. birth records for boys, ranking No. 10,426 among boys’ names. The recent annual counts are too incomplete to establish a ten-year comparison. Its largest published annual count for boys was 9 in 2016.
From Social Security birth records and U.S. Census name counts for this exact spelling. Other spellings are counted separately.
Ptolemy’s family of names
In English usage, Ptolemy developed from the Ancient Greek form Πτολεμαῖος. In English usage, Ptolemy has a conventional equivalent in the Turkish form BATLAMYUS. In English usage, Ptolemy has a conventional equivalent in the Azerbaijani form Bətləmius.
The ring: across languages.
Around the world
Ptolemy has relatives in 35 languages. Lines run from its Ancient Greek roots to each of them.
Ancient Greekwhere Ptolemy comes from · 1 name
Across languages 32
Equivalents and cognates in other languages, plus older forms it grew from.
- ptwꜣrwmysequivalent
- PtolemeuszPolish
- Πτολεμαῖοςroot · Ancient Greek
- بطلمیوسOttoman Turkish, Persian
- PtolemaiosSwedish, German
- TolomeoSpanish, Italian
- PtolomeoSpanish
- PtolomaidhScottish Gaelic
Show 24 moreShow fewer
- Птолеме́йRussian
- PtolemeuRomanian, Portuguese
- PtolomeuPortuguese
- ПтоломејMacedonian
- PtolemėjusLithuanian
- PtolemajsLatvian
- PtolemaeusLatin
- 프톨레마이오스Korean
- プトレマイオスJapanese
- तुरमयHindi
- תּלמיHebrew
- ΠτολεμαίοςGreek
- PtolemäusGerman
- პტოლემეGeorgian
- PtoléméeFrench
- PtolemæusDanish
- ⲡⲧⲟⲗⲉⲙⲁⲓⲟⲥCoptic
- 托勒密Mandarin
- ПтолемейBulgarian
- PtolemeyAzerbaijani
- BətləmiusAzerbaijani
- ՊտղոմէոսClassical Armenian
- ՊտղոմեոսArmenian
- بَطُلِيمُوسArabic
People named Ptolemy
- Ptolemy XI Alexander IIEgyptian ruler
- Ptolemy ReidPrime Minister of Guyana, teacher, veterinarian, politician (1912-2003)
- Ptolemy Slocumactorborn 1975
Listed by how widely each person is written about, which says nothing about the name itself.
Appears in
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