Appalachian Mountains
While exploring inland along the northern coast of Florida in 1528, the members of the Narvaez expedition, including Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca, found a Native American village near present-day Tallahassee, Florida whose name they transcribed as Apalchen or Apalachen [a.pa'la.tSen]. The name was soon altered by the Spanish to Apalachee and used as a name for the tribe and region spreading well inland to the north. Panfilo de Narvaez's expedition first entered Apalachee territory on June 15, 1528, and applied the name. Now spelled "Appalachian," it is the fourth-oldest surviving European place-name in the US.
What was the name eventually used for?
as a name for the tribe and region spreading well inland to the north
The name was soon altered by the Spanish to Apalachee and used as a name for the tribe and region spreading well inland to the north.
the name