Atherton High School is a public school in the Highlands district of Louisville, Kentucky, United States, and is part of the Jefferson County Public School district. It opened in 1924 as J.M. Atherton High School for Girls at 1418 Morton Avenue. It is named after John McDougal Atherton, a local businessman and politician who was instrumental in changing Louisville's school system administration from trustees to a board of education. The school became coeducational in 1950.

John McDougal Atherton was an American businessman, property developer, economist, investor and politician based in Louisville, Kentucky. Atherton was elected to one term as a member of the Kentucky House of Representatives from 1869 to 1871, and served as a Democrat. As a third generation distiller, he was best known for Atherton Whiskey, a brand he owned until 1899.