Hi. My maternal family his this last name, and we are unaware of how it was obtained. It is believed to have been the given last name of my great great great grandfather, as he did not keep the last name of his slave holders.

We have been unable to identify if this was the first slave holders last name or if it was a name given to whomever came to the US. This side of the family is said to have been created in GA, but that is all the information we have. The last names Attas or Ates may be a derivative.

Please visit our website at http://www.atlasfamily.org