The name comes from Greek mythology. Not from the mythical lost underwater city of Atlantis -- although that might have come into it, too. But from the phrase (translated from Greek) "Sea of Atlas". Remember in Greek stories Atlas was the poor guy -- well, God really, so not that badly off -- who got stuck with the job for eternity of holding the sky and the Earth apart. In later western culture we have the misconception that this was holding the Earth on his shoulders, and this is exactly how Atlas is often portrayed.
Atlas earned this punishment for being on the wrong side in a war between the Gods.
The Greek historian Herodotus mentioned the Atlantic called as such in some writings dating from 450 BC. To the Greeks the Atlantic was the World Ocean, they didn't know about others. They thought the lost city of Atlantis was in the Mediterranean, though.
So what did other cultures call the Atlantic Ocean, before the Greek name gained predominance? Honestly, I don't know. It seems very likely that the Vikings, north and south Americans and Africans must have all had their own name for what we all call the Atlantic, though.
Atlas earned this punishment for being on the wrong side in a war between the Gods.
The Greek historian Herodotus mentioned the Atlantic called as such in some writings dating from 450 BC. To the Greeks the Atlantic was the World Ocean, they didn't know about others. They thought the lost city of Atlantis was in the Mediterranean, though.
So what did other cultures call the Atlantic Ocean, before the Greek name gained predominance? Honestly, I don't know. It seems very likely that the Vikings, north and south Americans and Africans must have all had their own name for what we all call the Atlantic, though.