Atlas
A masculine name of Greek origin meaning "to bear" or "support".
Name Census estimates that about 21,995 living Americans carry the first name Atlas. It sits at #101 in the overall ranking, outside the top 50 but still well-represented. It is a predominantly male name (94.8% of registrations). The average person named Atlas today is around 6 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Atlas births was 2024 (3,574 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Atlas. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
Key insights
- • Atlas is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 6 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
- • Atlas is on the rise. The most recent decade saw more than double the registrations of the decade before it.
People living today
22K
~ 1 in 15,583 Americans
Peak year
2024
3,574 babies that year
Average age
6
years old
2024 SSA rank
#101
Tracked since 1883
Gender
Gender distribution for Atlas
Atlas leans heavily male at 94.8% of total registrations, but 1,185 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Atlas as a male name
- Ranked #101 in 2024
- 3,417 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2024 (3,417 births)
Atlas as a female name
- Ranked #1,414 in 2024
- 157 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2021 (189 births)
Popularity
Atlas: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Atlas from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 15 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2020s, with 14,943 total registrations. The name continues to be given at rates close to its all-time high, suggesting it has not yet fallen out of fashion.
Babies born per year
Decades
Atlas by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Atlas during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Atlas' live
The SSA's state-level files cover 51 states and territories. California, Texas, Florida recorded the most babies named Atlas, while Delaware, District of Columbia, Vermont recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 407 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Atlas
The name Atlas originates from Greek mythology and is derived from the word "Atlantis," referring to the legendary island mentioned in Plato's dialogues Timaeus and Critias. The name is associated with the Titan Atlas, who was condemned by Zeus to hold up the celestial spheres on his shoulders for eternity.
In Greek mythology, Atlas was one of the Titans, a primordial race of gods who ruled the cosmos before the Olympian gods. He was known for his immense strength and endurance, and his name is thought to derive from the word "atlao," meaning "to bear" or "to endure." The story of Atlas holding up the heavens has been a powerful symbol of strength, perseverance, and the burden of responsibility throughout history.
The name Atlas first appeared in written records in ancient Greek literature, such as Homer's Odyssey, where he is described as a "skilled navigator" and the father of the nymph Calypso. It has been used as a personal name since ancient times, though it was relatively rare until the Renaissance period when interest in classical culture and mythology was revived.
One of the earliest recorded individuals with the name Atlas was Atlas of Arcadia, a Greek mythographer who lived in the 5th century BCE. He wrote a collection of stories about the genealogies of gods and heroes, which has unfortunately been lost to history.
In the 16th century, the renowned Dutch cartographer Gerardus Mercator named the first comprehensive collection of maps "Atlas" after the mythological figure. This association of the name with cartography and exploration has further solidified its symbolic connection with endurance and bearing the weight of knowledge.
Other notable historical figures with the name Atlas include:
1. Atlas Van Rensselaer (1765-1839), an American soldier and politician who served in the New York State Assembly and as a brigadier general in the War of 1812.
2. Atlas Børresen (1898-1976), a Norwegian explorer and sailor who led several expeditions to Svalbard and Greenland in the early 20th century.
3. Atlas Shrugged (1957), a novel by Ayn Rand that popularized the name in the United States. The title refers to the Greek myth and serves as a metaphor for the novel's themes of individualism and the pursuit of happiness.
4. Atlas Ramachandran (born 1956), an Indian-American neuroscientist known for his research on phantom limbs and synesthesia.
5. Atlas Pearce (1976-2014), an Australian professional wrestler and actor who competed under the ring name Atlas Rotten.
People
Atlas + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Atlas as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with A
Other first names starting with A with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Atlas: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Atlas?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 21,995 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Atlas going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 15,583 US residents.
Is Atlas a common name?
We classify Atlas as "Uncommon". It ranks above 98.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 22,642 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Atlas most popular?
The single biggest year for Atlas was 2024, when 3,574 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Atlas is about 6 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Atlas a male name?
Yes, 94.8% of people registered as Atlas in the SSA data are male. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.