Atticus is a masculine name of Greek origin meaning “from Attica.” [1] [2] The name is often used in reference to Atticus Finch, a heroic lawyer who represents an African American man accused of rape by a white woman in a racist Southern United States town in Harper Lee’s 1960 novel To Kill a Mockingbird. Usage of the name continued to increase even after the publication of the 2015 sequel Go Set a Watchman, a novel which presents a more conflicted version of Atticus Finch who also holds racist beliefs.[3][4][5][6] The name has been steadily increasing in usage in the United States. It has been among the top 1,000 names for boys in the United States since 2004 and among the top 300 since 2020.[7]

Atticus
Gregory Peck as Atticus Finch and Brock Peters as defendant Tom Robinson in a scene from To Kill a Mockingbird.
GenderMasculine
Origin
Word/nameGreek
Meaning“From Attica

People

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Fictional people

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Notes

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  1. ^ ((cite web url = https://nameberry.com/babyname/atticus))
  2. ^ Griffin, Jennifer (2011). 1,107 Baby Names That Stand The Test of Time. Workman Publishing New York. p. 457. ISBN 978-0-7611-8016-6.
  3. ^ Redmond Satran, Pamela (14 July 2015). "Atticus is top trending baby name: Can he survive racist portrayal of namesake?". today.com. Retrieved 4 June 2022.
  4. ^ Harris, Elizabeth A. (14 July 2015). "The Name Atticus Acquires an Unwelcome Association". The New York Times. Retrieved 4 June 2022.
  5. ^ Temple, Emily (7 June 2021). "Why is everyone still naming their babies "Atticus"?". lithub.com. Lit Hub. Retrieved 4 June 2022.
  6. ^ Sandel, Abby (7 October 2020). "Baby Name Atticus: Handsome and Principled". appellation.net. Appellation Mountain(blog). Retrieved 4 June 2022.
  7. ^ "Popularity of a Name (United States Social Security Administration)". www.ssa.gov.