<P> While exploring inland along the northern coast of Florida in 1528 , the members of the Narváez expedition , including Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca , found a Native American village near present - day Tallahassee , Florida , whose name they transcribed as Apalchen or Apalachen ( IPA : ( apaˈlatʃen ) ) . 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 . Pánfilo de Narváez '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 U.S. After the de Soto expedition in 1540 , Spanish cartographers began to apply the name of the tribe to the mountains themselves . The first cartographic appearance of Apalchen is on Diego Gutiérrez ' map of 1562 ; the first use for the mountain range is the map of Jacques le Moyne de Morgues in 1565 . Le Moyne was also the first European to apply `` Apalachen '' specifically to a mountain range as opposed to a village , native tribe , or a southeastern region of North America . </P>
<P> While exploring inland along the northern coast of Florida in 1528 , the members of the Narváez expedition , including Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca , found a Native American village near present - day Tallahassee , Florida , whose name they transcribed as Apalchen or Apalachen ( IPA : ( apaˈlatʃen ) ) . 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 . Pánfilo de Narváez '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 U.S. After the de Soto expedition in 1540 , Spanish cartographers began to apply the name of the tribe to the mountains themselves . The first cartographic appearance of Apalchen is on Diego Gutiérrez ' map of 1562 ; the first use for the mountain range is the map of Jacques le Moyne de Morgues in 1565 . Le Moyne was also the first European to apply `` Apalachen '' specifically to a mountain range as opposed to a village , native tribe , or a southeastern region of North America . </P>
what is the origin of the word appalachian
what is the origin of the word appalachian
a Native American village near present - day Tallahassee , Florida
a Native American village near present - day Tallahassee , Florida