Ptolemy is a name derived from Ancient Greek. Common variants include Ptolemaeus (Latin), Tolomeo (Italian) and Talmai (Hebrew). Etymology Ptolemy is the English form of the Ancient Greek name Πτολεμαῖος (Ptolemaios), a derivative of πτόλεμος, an Epic form of πόλεμος 'war'. 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: Phoenician: 𐤐𐤕𐤋𐤌𐤉𐤎 (ptlmyš) or 𐤐𐤕𐤋𐤌𐤉𐤔 (ptlmys) Hebrew and Aramaic: תלמי Talmai Middle Persian 𐭯𐭲𐭫𐭬𐭥𐭱 (ptlmywš) 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 (Greek Bartolomaios and English Bartholomew) may be related. Ptolemais is formed from this name by the Greek feminine adjectival ending -i(d)s. Claudius Ptolemaeus Ptolemy 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. Early Greek rulers and generals named Ptolemy Ptolemy (King 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 Alexander the Great Ptolemy (general) or Polemaios (died 309 BC) – Macedonian general and nephew of Antigonus I Monophthalmus Ptolemy (son of Pyrrhus) (295–272 BC) – a son of king Pyrrhus of Epirus Ptolemy of Epirus – King of the Greek frontier kingdom of Epirus c. 237 BC – 234 ВС Egyptian Ptolemaic dynasty The Ptolemaic dynasty, of Macedonian origin, ruled Hellenistic Egypt for nearly 300 years, from 305 BC to 30 BC. The kings of this dynasty, the first of which was Ptolemy I Soter (303–282 BC), were all named Ptolemy, as were several other members of the dynasty. Other people named Ptolemy or Ptolemaeus Born before 20th century Ptolemy Macron (fl. 2nd century BC), governor of Coele-Syria