Atitlán means "between the waters". In the Nahuatl language, "atl" is the word for water, and "titlan" means between. The "tl" at the end of the word "atl" is dropped when the lexeme is combined with suffixes (because it is a grammatical suffix), to which is added the -ti- connector for certain adverbs, and the -tlan suffix which means "in between, beside, near" and the elements are combined to form "Atitlán".
The area supports extensive coffee and avocado orchards and a variety of farm crops, most notably corn and onions. Significant agricultural crops include: corn, onions, beans, squash, tomatoes, cucumbers, garlic, chile verde, strawberries and pitahaya fruit. The lake itself is a significant food source for the largely indigenous population.