It is named for the Atlas of mythology, because it supports the head in the same way as Atlas held the world on his shoulders.
ɪ t WORD_BOUNDARY ɪ z WORD_BOUNDARY n eɪ m d WORD_BOUNDARY f ə ɹ ð ɪ WORD_BOUNDARY æ t l ə s WORD_BOUNDARY ʌ v WORD_BOUNDARY m ɪ θ ɑ l ə d̠ʒ i WORD_BOUNDARY b ɪ k ʌ z WORD_BOUNDARY ɪ t WORD_BOUNDARY s ə p ɔ ɹ t s WORD_BOUNDARY ð ə WORD_BOUNDARY h ɛ d WORD_BOUNDARY ɪ n ð ə WORD_BOUNDARY s eɪ m WORD_BOUNDARY w eɪ WORD_BOUNDARY æ z WORD_BOUNDARY æ t l ə s WORD_BOUNDARY h ɛ l d WORD_BOUNDARY ð ə WORD_BOUNDARY w ɜː l d WORD_BOUNDARY ɔ n WORD_BOUNDARY h ɪ z WORD_BOUNDARY ʃ oʊ l d ə ɹ z WORD_BOUNDARY