Ray Atherton (March 28, 1883 – March 14, 1960) was a career United States diplomat, who served as Ambassador to Greece, Bulgaria, and Denmark. He also served the role of Head of Mission as Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary (Canada) (1943–48). Whilst in his last post, his role was reclassified and he became the first United States Ambassador to Canada. As Head of the State Department's Division of European Affairs he received notification from the German Embassy of their declaration of war on December 11, 1941.