Given name & surname
Atlas
“bear, undergo, endure”
Atlas is a surname from Latin, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European. It is used in English and German.
Original Ancient GreekἌτλας
Meaning & origin
What it means
Atlas goes back to Proto-Indo-European *telh₂-, meaning “bear, undergo, endure.”
Adapted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Where it comes from
An origin associated with this spelling is Greek.
How it developed
From Latin Ā̆tlās, from Ancient Greek Ἄτλας, from Proto-Indo-European *telh₂- (“bear, undergo, endure”); its root is Proto-Indo-European *telh₂- (bear).
Adapted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0)
The story
Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 1883. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin.
From dated birth records
Atlas through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 27,226
- 25,893 boys · 1,333 girls
- Most popular year
- 2025
- 4,558 babies
- 2025
- 4,558
- #75 for boys · #1,478 for girls
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- +143%
- Rising fast
Where it’s given
By the numbers
In 2025, this name appeared in 4,413 U.S. birth records for boys, ranking No. 75 among boys’ names. Average annual use for boys was 143.9% higher in 2021–2025 than in 2016–2020. It also appeared in 145 birth records for girls in 2025. In 2025, California and Texas shared the largest reported state-level birth count for boys with this name (398 each). Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 6,845 as a first name in 2020; 1,827 as a surname in 2020.
From Social Security birth records and U.S. Census name counts for this exact spelling. Other spellings are counted separately.
Atlas’s family of names
Atlas has a related form in Atlass. Atlas has a related form in Attlas. Atlas has a related form in Attlass.
Inner ring: nicknames and forms · outer: across languages.
Around the world
Atlas has relatives in 4 languages. Lines run from its Ancient Greek roots to each of them.
Ancient Greekwhere Atlas comes from · 1 name
Nicknames & forms 3
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
Across languages 3
Equivalents and cognates in other languages, plus older forms it grew from.
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