Masterpiece Generator Name Generator
How popular is the name Ptolemy?
Births per year, rank history and how many Ptolemies are alive today.
Ptolemy (male) is a rare boys' name in England and Wales, ranked 5120th in 2024 and given to 3 babies. The name peaked in 2004, when 23 babies were given the name, the 906th most popular that year. It has declined since 2004; the 2024 figure is roughly 13% of its peak.
The Ptolemy you are most likely to meet is around 19 years old. Half of all Ptolemies born in England and Wales are between 15 and 22, and there are at least 220 of them alive today. If you walk into a room of 100 males, there's less than a 1% chance that anyone will be called Ptolemy - on average, only one in every 1,378 such rooms contains a Ptolemy.
How many babies are named Ptolemy each year?
Where does Ptolemy rank among boys' names?
Where this data comes from
Figures from 1996 onwards are the Office for National Statistics' annual baby-name registrations for England and Wales, which record every name given to three or more babies in a year. Figures before 1996 are estimates: the ONS published only top-100 rankings at ten-year intervals back to 1904, so counts for those years are modelled from the rankings, calibrated against Douglas Galbi's long-run research into English name frequencies, and shown with an uncertainty band. Estimates of living bearers combine these birth figures with national life tables and ONS mid-year population estimates.
One limit worth naming: these figures count names as registered at birth. Anyone who changes their name later in life - including trans people, and anyone who adopts a different name by deed poll or simply by use - is not reflected here. Birth registrations record where a name began, not the name a person lives with.
Common questions
When was the name Ptolemy most popular?
Ptolemy peaked in 2004, when 23 babies in England and Wales were given the name.
How many people are called Ptolemy?
At least 220 people named Ptolemy born in England and Wales are alive today.
How old is the typical Ptolemy?
Most living Ptolemies are between 15 and 22; the most common age is about 19.
Is Ptolemy becoming more or less popular?
Declining: recent figures are a fraction of the 2004 peak.