The name Athaliah comes from the Hebrew עתליהו (ʿatalyāhu), where it is most infamously associated with the daughter of either King Ahab of Israel (2 Kings 8:18; 2 Chronicles 21:6) or King Omri of Israel (2 Kings 8:26; 2 Chronicles 22:2). Athaliah became queen of Judah when her son Ahaziah was killed (cf. 2 Kings 9:27; 2 Chronicles 22:10–12).

As the variant עתליה (ʿatalyāh), the name is either the son of Jeroham mentioned in 1 Chronicles 8:26, or the father of Jeshaiah of Elam who returned with Ezra from Babylon mentioned in Ezra 8:7, meaning the name is used by both men and women in the Bible.

This theophoric name is a combination of the Semitic verb עתל (ʿ-ṯ-l), which could mean "to be eminent, upright," and the shortened form of the personal name of the Hebrew deity, יה (yāh) or יהו (yāhu), rendering "Yah(weh) is exalted."