Names in the Ptolemaic Dynasty, Their Meaning & How to Write Them in Original and in English

This post is a brief explanatory supplement to my articles about Cleopatra and the Ptolemaic Dynasty.

"Cleopatra -the Serpent of the Nile?"

"The Ptolemaic Dynasty of Egypt"

"The Crocodile, a Symbol of Egypt?"

The language of the Ptolemaic Family was Greek and their names are Greek. But names are changing between languages. I would prefer to write the Greek Κλεοπάτρα and Πτολεμαῖος as Kleopatra and Ptolemaios. It would be a consistent transliteration to Latin letters of the Greek original. However, I write in English here and chose to adhere to English standard with Cleopatra and Ptolemy.

Since the family in practice used only 4 different names, it is easy to discuss them all. Here are their meanings.

Πτολεμαῖος - Ptolemaios - Ptolemaeus - Ptolemy - means “warlike”. Perhaps related to the name Bartholomeus/Bartholomew.

Κλεοπάτρα - Kleopatra - Cleopatra - means "glory of the father".

Βερενίκη - Berenike - from Φερενίκη (Pherenikē) - means “bearer of victory”. This is the same name as “Veronica”.

Aρσινόη - Arsinoë - means “lifted mind” should probably be understood approximately as “clever”.

Let's also include Mark Antony, who did not belong to the family but is a prominent figure in the story about Cleopatra. His name is originally Latin, not Greek.

Marcus Antonius - Mark Antony - “Marcus” is probably derived from ”Mars”, the Roman god of war. “Antonius” was a gens, a Roman family name. According to Mark Antony himself, it was derived from Hercules' son Anton, from whom he claimed to be a descendant.

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