Etymology

From Ancient Greek Βαρθολομαῖος ‎(Bartholomaîos), from Aramaic בר תלמי ‎(bar tolmai, “son of Talmai; son of Ptolemy”), from ברא ‎(bra, “son”) and תלמי ‎(tolmai, “Talmai; Ptolemy”). It has long been unclear whether the Apostle's father was named after the biblical Talmai, king of Geshur, or one of the Greek Ptolemies, as the two originally unrelated names were conflated in Jewish Aramaic.