Atwater

Atwater is a surname of English origin and a toponym used for several places in North America. In the United States, Atwater refers to Atwater, California, a city in Merced County, and to Atwater Village, a neighborhood of Los Angeles. There is also Atwater, Minnesota, a small city in Kandiyohi County. The name is also associated with other minor communities and geographic features.

The surname Atwater is borne by various people, most notably Wilbur Olin Atwater (1844–1907), an American chemist and early nutritionist who helped establish modern methods for measuring the energy content of foods. His work led to the Atwater values, a system of caloric energy factors used to estimate calories from carbohydrates, proteins, fats, and alcohol in foods. The commonly cited factors are 4 kcal/g for carbohydrates, 4 kcal/g for protein, 9 kcal/g for fat, and 7 kcal/g for alcohol.

In addition to these uses, Atwater appears in street and district names tied to history or local figures. The term is sometimes encountered in historic or genealogical contexts due to the surname.