Atlanta and the Nickname Hotlanta

Where did the name Atlanta come from? And how did the city of Atlanta get the nickname Hotlanta?

Atlanta was once called "Standing Peachtree" by the Cherokee Indians and Creek Indians who lived there. In the 1830's white settlers built the Western and Atlantic Railroad which terminated in the area now known as Atlanta. The settlers named the town "Terminus". At that time the town was also referred to by the nicknames "Deanville" and "Thrasherville", after Lemuel Dean and John Thrasher, two local area merchants and homebuilders. In the 1840's, president of the Western and Atlantic Railroad and former Georgia governor Wilson Lumpkin renamed the town "Marthasville" after his daughter Martha.

In 1847, J. Edgar Thompson, the chief engineer of the Western and Atlantic Railroad, renamed the town "Atlanta". Some accounts state that the town continued to be named after Lumpkin's daughter since Martha's middle name was Atalanta, a Greek mythological name. However some stories say that Thompson recommended the name "Atlantica-Pacifica" after the Western and Atlantic Railroad and that this was later abbreviated to "Atlanta". Either way, the town became incorporated as "Atlanta" on December 29, 1847.

Many years later, in the 1970's, the city of Atlanta began to be referred to as Hotlanta, an ingenious merging of the words "Hot" and "Atlanta".

Some say that the term Hotlanta dates back to the Civil War and the burning of Atlanta. Others say that the use of the word Hotlanta is related to the hot weather and humidity of Atlanta.

However, it is widely believed that the nickname Hotlanta refers to the music scene and lively nightlife of Atlanta. The "Hot" in Hotlanta denotes cool, trendy, hip and popular, rather than the warm temperatures of Atlanta. It is also alleged that the idea for the nickname Hotlanta originated from the 1971 instrumental song recorded by the Allman Brothers Band, "Hot 'Lanta"

In any case, the nickname Hotlanta is a very descriptive one that continues to be popular with Atlanta residents and visitors to the city.

Hotlanta is not the only nickname of the city of Atlanta. Other prevalent, but perhaps not as popular or descriptive, nicknames include The Big Peach, The ATL, Peach City, The Little Apple, A Town, The Big A, City of Peace, City of Trees, Dogwood City, Gate City of the South, Gateway of the South, The City Too Busy to Hate and New York of the South.