Since 2000, historians from Brevard County have worked to name this stretch of land to Ponce de León Island due to a theory originated by Douglas Peck that the Spanish explorer and soldier Juan Ponce de León first landed there in 1513 as the first European to set foot in Florida.

[1] The American Indian Association of Florida also proposed the name Ais Island for this area, sparking a controversy.

[3] Arguments against naming the barrier island include claims that he was actively involved in the Higuey massacre in Hispaniola.

[clarification needed] and then in 1508 chosen by the Spanish Crown to lead the conquest and exploitation of Puerto Rico and the enslavement of the Taino native people there, for gold mining operations.

On the map he indicated the land we know as Brevard County as the 'Province of Ais', as it was typical in those days to designate a region of specific tribal domination and generally took its name from the ruling cacique.