Google Maps has changed the name of Lake Ontario to 'Lake America' in the United States. This change occurred late Saturday, following an executive order issued by President Donald Trump on Thursday, which directed the rebranding of the lake in official government databases. This order is part of an ongoing dispute over tariffs with Canada, which shares a border with the lake. In January 2025, Trump had previously ordered the renaming of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America as part of the same trade conflict.
Following the update from the US Department of the Interior, which governs naming conventions, mapping services including Google, Apple, and Microsoft adopted the new name. However, Apple Maps and Bing Maps have not yet reflected this change, although they are expected to do so. As of Sunday morning, the federal government's Geographic Names Information System database still listed Lake Ontario, indicating that updates were in progress.
Google stated that while they are not legally required to use official names, they typically align with government databases like the Geographic Names Information System. The visibility of the name change depends on the user's location: users in the US will see 'Lake America,' while those in Canada will continue to see 'Lake Ontario,' and users outside of both countries will see both names.
The decision to alter geographic names has sparked significant discussion within open-source mapping communities, such as OpenStreetMap, which allows for the recognition of both US and foreign names. MapQuest has publicly stated that it will not implement the name change in response to Trump's order.