# Atwater (surname)

Source: https://namelineage.com/surname/atwater/  
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 | not recorded |
| Type | place, taken from where an ancestor lived or came from |
| People in the US (2010 Census) | 4,289 |
| US rank (2010) | 7,739 of 162,253 |
| How often | about 1 in every 71,985 people |
| Change since 2000 | +5.5% (4,067 in 2000) |
| Pronunciation | not recorded |
| Variant spellings | Attwater |

## Etymology

From at + water, a toponymic surname for someone who lived by a river or lake.

## Who carries it

Share of people named Atwater 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) | 60% |
| Black (not Hispanic) | 34% |
| Hispanic or Latino (any race) | 2.2% |
| Asian and Pacific Islander | 0.4% |
| American Indian and Alaska Native | 0.4% |
| Two or more races | 2.8% |

## Where

Wikidata records people named Atwater in the United States.

## People named Atwater

- Lee Atwater, American political consultant and strategist (1951–1991)
- Tanya Atwater, American geophysicist and marine geologist (born 1942)
- Wilbur Olin Atwater, American agricultural chemist (1844–1907); developer of the respiration calorimeter
- Edith Atwater, American stage, film and television actress (1911-1986)
- Barry Atwater, American actor (1918-1978)
- Steve Atwater, American football safety

## 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.