From the noun בר (bar) “one of” (usually to mean a “son”) and the verb תלם (talam) “to plow”. The name Bartholomew means Son of Talmai, and thus “One of the plowmen”.

English form of Βαρθολομαῖος (Bartholomaios), which was the Greek form of an Aramaic name meaning precisely “son of Talmai”. In the New Testament Bartholomew is the nickname of an apostle, perhaps the same person as the apostle Nathanael. According to tradition he was a missionary in India before returning westward to Armenia, where he was martyred by flaying. Because of the popularity of this saint the name became very common especially during the Middle Ages.

Bartholomew (or rather Bartholomaios) in the Bible is one of the twelve apostles of Jesus, and three of the four gospels speak of Bartholomew (Matthew 10, 3 ; Mark 3, 18 and Luke 6, 14 but John does not mention him) and always in proximity to Philip. John, however, speaks of a man named Nathanael, who was presented to Christ by Philip, Bartholomew’s companion (John 1, 45 and 21, 2). This has led scholars to assume that Bartholomew and Nathanael are the same person, namely a man named Nathanael Bartholomew.

The name Bartholomew occurs four times in the New Testament.