# Bartholomew (surname)

Source: https://namelineage.com/surname/bartholomew/  
Publisher: Name Lineage. Counts from the US Census Bureau; origin and etymology from Wiktionary; bearers from Wikidata. Data updated 2026-11-11.

A surname.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Origin | Greek |
| Type | patronymic, formed from a father’s (or ancestor’s) given name |
| People in the US (2010 Census) | 15,339 |
| US rank (2010) | 2,374 of 162,253 |
| How often | about 1 in every 20,128 people |
| Change since 2000 | +4.4% (14,696 in 2000) |
| Pronunciation | /bɑɹˈθɑləmju/, 4 syllables |
| Variant spellings | none recorded |

## Etymology

From Latin Bartholomaeus, from Ancient Greek Βαρθολομαῖος (Bartholomaîos), from Aramaic בר תלמי (bar tolmai, “son of Talmai; son of Ptolemy”), from בר (bar, “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. The ending -ew underwent a similar evolution to that seen in Hebrew (ultimately from Latin Hebraeus) and Jew (from Latin Iudaeus, with loss of the -ud-). The name's pronunciation was changed to match the spelling; contrast French Barthélemy from the same source.

## Who carries it

Share of people named Bartholomew in the 2010 US Census by the Census's own race and ethnicity groups. The Census suppresses a share when the count behind it is small.

| Group | Share |
|---|---|
| White (not Hispanic) | 85% |
| Black (not Hispanic) | 9.3% |
| Hispanic or Latino (any race) | 2.5% |
| Asian and Pacific Islander | 0.7% |
| American Indian and Alaska Native | 0.6% |
| Two or more races | 2.1% |

## Where

Wikidata records people named Bartholomew in the United States, the United Kingdom and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.

## People named Bartholomew

- Freddie Bartholomew, American actor (1924–1992)
- Dave Bartholomew, American musician, bandleader, composer, arranger, and record producer (1918–2019)
- Ken Bartholomew, American speed skater (1920–2012)
- John George Bartholomew, British cartographer (1860-1920) and founder of Edinburgh Geographical Institute and later
- Summer Bartholomew, American actress
- Reginald Bartholomew, American diplomat (1936-2012)

## Similar surnames

Barthelemy, Bartlett, Bartley, Bartels, Bartel, Bartell, Barthel, Bartolo, Bartolome, Bartelt, Bartle, Bartolotta.

## How to read these numbers

A Census count is people alive and counted in 2010, not births, and names occurring fewer than 100 times are not published at all. Ethnicity shares are the Census's own categories.