Bartholomew is a Hebrew masculine name of Greek & Aramaic origin.
It means “son of Talmai”. Talmai is an old Hebrew name, meaning “furrow” and it’s a name of several characters of the Bible’s Old Testament.
Proving the complexity but at the same time, the knowledge emerging from the wealth of given names, Talmai itself is associated with the Greek name «Πτολεμαίος» (pron. Ptolemaios) Ptolemy in English.
Ptolemy means “warlike” and bonds the name Bartholomew with the notions of power and authority because it was the name of the great Ptolemaic dynasty.
According to the Bible’s New Testament, Bartholomew was one of the twelve apostles of Jesus. During the Middle Ages, the popularity of Saint Bartholomew made this a quite common name.
Feminine form of the name is Bartolomea.
Other forms of the name are Βαρθολομαίος (Vartholomaios), Bartolomé, Bart, Bartol, Bartel, Bartek, Bartholomei, Mees, Bartal, Barta, Bertalan, Toli, Bartos, Bardo, Varfolomei.
Bartholomew is a rarely used name in the U.S.A. In 1971 it was ranked #964 in the Social Security Administration’s name popularity list.
A famous bearer of the name is Bartholomew “Bart” Freundlich.