How did the FLorida Keys get their name?

Juan Ponce de León, the Spanish explorer, called the islands Los Martires (The Martyrs) after several crew members died in a skirmish with the Calusa Indians. Ponce de León called the larger island in the area Cayo Hueso (Bone Island) because of a pile of dead bodies he found there. Other explorers referred to the island chain as the Cayos de las Tortugas (Turtle Keys) and sometimes as the Martyrs. Around the 1700s, English pirates and sailors started calling the island chain “The Florida Keys.”