Linguistics
The chroniclers of the de Soto Expedition recorded the name of the Coosa as Coça. This Medieval Spanish spelling would be pronounced today as "Koo-sha." The early French maps recorded several member towns of the Creek Confederacy as being occupied by the Cousha or Coushetta, in their transliterated form of the name as they heard it.
The Cherokee first appeared to use the word kusa to mean the Creek people of the Upper Towns, who were competitors and enemies. According to James Mooney, they called the Muskogee Creek "Ani'-Ku'sa or Ani'-Gu'sa, from Kusa, their principal town". English speakers adopted "Coosa" as a frontier English version of the early Cherokee word. The contemporary Cherokee name for all Creek Indians is ani-kusa.
Read more about this topic: Coosa Chiefdom