To have never heard of the name Ptolemy, until I joined mumsnet?

[Nooneelseisallowedafergus]

Had you?

Yes. DH as well- he always said he wanted a Ptolemy.

We now have one- DS2. He's usually Tolly and he has a traditional middle name that we also use as an alternative nickname so he has options should he decide in the future that his parents were mad. It was mumsnet that made me go with it- there were loads of threads from people saying they loved it but were nervous about using it. I figured if there were that many people who liked it then it couldn't be too bad. He's 19 months and I don't regret it.

Ptolemy was indeed Greek (well, actually Macedonian in fact) - the Egyptian Ptolemaic line was founded by Ptolemy i Soter, one of the companions of Alexander the Great. During his lifetime Alexander conquered Egypt, founding Alexandria and the great Library there. When Alexander died suddenly, his wife was pregnant but Alexander had no actual heirs and hadn't named a successor; a fight broke out amongst the companions as they tried to divide up his empire between them. Ptolemy stole Alexander's body and took it to Egypt which he held as Pharoah; Alexander was buried in a tomb beneath the Great Library (although it's not known what happened to the body or the tomb when the Library was destroyed). Ptolemy was the first of the Ptolemaic pharoahs, and Cleopatra was one of his descendants. The Greek influence in Egyptian art & culture of the time is very clear and distinct.

So yes, I'd definitely heard of the name long before Mumsnet. Did you not do Ancient Greece & Egypt at school? I certainly did - at all the schools I attended it would usually crop up somewhere.

haven't done history since G.C.S.E's which was Second World War and Industrial revolution based.

I think the Ptelomy dynasty was descended from one of Alexander the Great's generals. When Alexander died the empire he'd conquered was split up and General Ptelomy ended up with Egypt. Cleopatra was one of his descendants. DH's family and the rest of my family wouldn't recognise the name either. DH now would because I have introduced him to the Ancient World which I was lucky enough to learn about at school.

Thanks notMarlene, I would of pronounced it Per-toll-emmy.

I've never heard of it!

How can it be unreasonable to not have heard of something?

My school failed me. And the last 4 years of my education cost my parents a lot of money.

I'm surprised to read that so few have heard the name Ptolemy or where it came from. Didn't your schools do History lessons about Ancient Egyptian civilisation? I suppose you dfon't know what a Pharaoh is either.

Depends on the class of school, of course!

I meant 'so many' not 'so few'.

No. I was surprised that so few had heard about Ptolemy.

I'm sad. I know. But I love history and old buildings so have rather a soft spot for Ptolemy Dean as he's nice to look at as well as good at what he does.

Yes I had. We didn't study classical Greek and Egyptian civilisation at school so I suppose it was something I picked through reading. Yule, I went to a private London day school in the sixties and I don't quite get your "class of school" or "snob" comment.

And I suggest that you try to forget it again as soon as possible!

Ptolemy Elrington is an amazing artist.

I have a soft spot for Ptolemy Dean too, it was a nice surprise to see him in the Westminster Abbey documentary!

I'd kind of vaguely heard of it, but definitely wasn't aware before mumsnet that people actually used it as a name for their children!

Yes. But then I live in a place where Ptolemys are two a penny.

Had heard of it but never heard of it used as a name in real modern life!

It never ceases to amaze me how comfortable people are with admitting how uneducated they are. How cute not.

Well none of us Know It All although some people are happy to try and give that impression. So I don't view it as evidence of lack of education but honesty. As it happens, I did have a classical education but rather than boast about it, I'd merely say that it came at the expense of rather more useful subject.

I knew the name as a historical reference. I had never heard of it used as a contemporary pretentious name until very recently.

Never heard of it and I am posh and educated.

Ds1 used to go to school with him, but always called him Tomalee instead!! I like the name, especially when shortened to Tolly.