William A. Read 
Indian Place Names in Alabama [PDF ebook] 

"What is the ‘meaning’ of names like Coosa and Tallapoosa? Who named the Alabama and Tombigbee and Tennessee rivers? How are Cheaha and Conecuh and Talladega pronounced? How did Opelika and Tuscaloosa get their names? Questions like these, which are asked by laymen as well as by historians, geographers, and students of the English language, can be answered only by study of the origins and history of the Indian names that dot the map of Alabama. from the Foreword Originally published by Professor Read in 1937, this volume was revised, updated, and annotated in 1984 by James B. Mc Millan and remains the single best compedium on the topic.