I don't believe it is an Ancient Egyptian name because the Ptolemies were a Greek dynasty and spoke Greek/used Greek names. Arsinoe was the name of the mother of
Ptolemy I -who was a Macedonian general before he became king of Egypt.
I don't know what Arsinoe means but I believe according to Greek mythology she was the mother of Asclepios (father
Apollo). Asclepios' mother is also listed as Coronis which is either an alternate name or a different person altogether.
This is purely a guess but perhaps the first part derives from the Greek word 'arsis' meaning raised/lifted and the second part comes from 'nous' meaning intellect/mind. Therefore Arsinoe could mean something along the lines of "raised intelligence" (?).
This message was edited 2/20/2007, 6:31 AM