Indigenous peoples of varying cultures lived in Alabama for thousands of years before European colonization. These included tribes involved in trade with northeastern tribes by the Ohio River during the Burial Mound Period (1000 BCE – 700 CE) and ...Read more

The Moundville Archaeological Site in Hale County, Alabama, was occupied by Native Americans of the Mississippian culture from 1000 to 1450 CE. It is the second-largest complex of the classic Middle Mississippian era, after Cahokia in present-day Illinois.

The use of state names derived from Native American languages is common in the U.S.; an estimated 26 states have names of Native American origin.

Some scholars suggest the word may come from the Choctaw alba (meaning ‘plants’ or ‘weeds’) and amo (meaning ‘to cut’, ‘to trim’, or ‘to gather’), potentially meaning ‘clearers of the thicket’ or ‘herb gatherers’.

An 1842 article in the Jacksonville Republican proposed that “Alabama” meant ‘Here We Rest’, a notion popularized in the 1850s through the writings of Alexander Beaufort Meek.

As early as 1702, the French called the tribe the Alibamon, and French maps identified the river as Rivière des Alibamons.

The name “Alabama” first appears in written accounts from the Hernando de Soto expedition of 1540, with Garcilaso de la Vega using Alibamo, the Knight of Elvas using Alibamu, and Rodrigo Ranjel using Limamu.

Historical spellings of the word “Alabama” include Alibamo, Alibamu, Limamu, Alibamon, Alibamu, Alabamo, Alebamon, Alibama, Alibamou, Alabamu, and Allibamou.

In the Alabama language, the word for a person of Alabama lineage is Albaamo (or variously Albaama or Albàamo in different dialects; the plural form is Albaamaha).

The name of the Alabama River and state is derived from the Alabama people, a Muskogean-speaking tribe whose members lived just below the confluence of the Coosa and Tallapoosa rivers on the upper reaches of the river.