How Many People Are Named Ptolemy?
An estimated 50 people in the United States have the first name Ptolemy. It is almost exclusively a male name. The average bearer is 11 years old, and Ptolemy peaked in popularity in 2016 with 9 births that year.
Below you will find a full statistical profile of Ptolemy as a first name in the United States, including gender data, a year-by-year popularity timeline going back to 1880, a decade breakdown, and state-by-state birth registrations. You can also check how many people share the full name Ptolemy paired with any surname.
Key Insights
- Ptolemy is exceptionally rare. Fewer than 100 people with this name are estimated to be alive in the U.S. today.
Estimated Living Americans
50
About 1 in 6,855,087 people in the U.S.
Rarity
Very Rare
Predicted Gender
Male
100.0% confidence
Average Age
11
years old
Peak Year
2016
9 births
Total Registered
50
since 1880
Gender Distribution for Ptolemy
Ptolemy is almost exclusively a male name. Out of 50 total births registered, 100.0% were male.
Ptolemy as a male name
Ranked #13,670 in 2023
5 male births in 2023
Peak: 2016 (9 births)
Ptolemy: Popularity Over Time
SSA records for Ptolemy span from the 2000s to the 2020s, covering 3 decades of naming data. The most popular decade for this name was the 2010s, when 22 babies were registered. While Ptolemy is less common than at its peak in the 2010s, it remains a well-established name with steady registrations.
Ptolemy by Decade
How has Ptolemy tracked across different eras? The table below groups all SSA birth registrations into 10-year periods, with separate male and female counts. The colored bar shows each decade's share relative to the peak.
Ptolemy + Last Name Combinations
How many people share a full name with Ptolemy as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Names Similar to Ptolemy
Other first names starting with P with a similar number of bearers.
Ptolemy: Questions and Answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Ptolemy?
We estimate approximately 50 people named Ptolemy are alive in the United States today. This is based on SSA birth records from 1880 to 2024, adjusted for mortality using CDC life tables. About 1 in 6,855,087 Americans share this first name.
Is Ptolemy a common name?
Ptolemy is classified as "Very Rare" and is more popular than 54.3% of all first names in the SSA database. A total of 50 births have been registered with this name since 1880.
When was Ptolemy most popular?
Ptolemy reached peak popularity in 2016, when 9 babies were given this name. The average age of a living person named Ptolemy is approximately 11 years old, reflecting when the name was most commonly given.
Is Ptolemy a male name?
Ptolemy is predominantly male. 100.0% of people with this name are male. See the gender breakdown above for full details.
How many Ptolemy Smiths are there?
To find how many people share a specific full name, we combine first name and surname frequencies. Try: Ptolemy Smith, Ptolemy Johnson, Ptolemy Williams. You can also search any combination on our homepage.
Where does this data come from?
Our estimates use Social Security Administration birth records (1880 to 2024), adjusted for survival using CDC 2023 life tables broken down by sex. The U.S. population figure (342,754,338) is from the Census Bureau's July 2025 estimate. Full methodology.
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