'''Ateker''', or '''ŋaTekerin''', is a common name for the closely related [[Lango people]], [[Jie (Uganda)|Jie]], [[Karamojong people|Karamojong]], [[Kumam]], [[Turkana people|Turkana]], [[Toposa people|Toposa]], [[Nyangatom people|Nyangatom]] and [[Teso people|Teso]] peoples and their languages.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Skpj197tU0oC&pg=PA410|title=The State of the World's Animal Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture|last1=Rischkowsky|first1=Barbara|last2=Pilling|first2=Dafydd|date=2007|publisher=Food & Agriculture Org.|isbn=9789251057629|pages=410|language=en}}</ref> These ethnic groups inhabit an area across [[Uganda]] and [[Kenya]]. ''Itung'a'' (a vernacular term meaning "people of one language")<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UYu4AAAAIAAJ&q=ateker+people|title=The Iteso during the asonya|last=Webster|first=James Bertin|date=1973|publisher=East African Pub. House|pages=xxi|language=en}}</ref> and ''Teso'' have been used among ethnographers, while the term [[Teso-Turkana languages|Teso-Turkana]] is sometimes used for the languages, which are of [[Eastern Nilotic languages|Eastern Nilotic]] stock. ''Ateker'' means 'clan' or 'tribe' in the [[Teso language]]. In the [[Lango language (Uganda)|Lango language]], the word for clan is ''atekere''.
In the [[Turkana language]], ''Ateker'' means a distinct group with related customs, laws and lifestyle and who share a common ancestry. Members of one ''Ateker'' have a common character of mutual respect in their diversity. Each member group of ''Ateker'' occupies its own territory and exercises authority over its own land and people independent of each other.
