 Used in 1542 by Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo to describe a Pacific Coast Range (Santa Cruz Mountains), the term "sierra nevada" was a general identification of less familiar ranges toward the interior.In 1776, Pedro Font's map applied the name to the range currently known as the Sierra Nevada.The literal translation is "snowy mountains", from "sierra" "a range of hills", 1610s, from Spanish "sierra" "jagged mountain range", lit.