Google Maps has officially changed the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America following an order signed by President Donald Trump.
On Monday, Jan. 20, 2025, Trump signed 26 executive orders on his first day in office, including one to rename the Gulf of Mexico, the body of water between Florida and Texas, according to USA Today. He then proclaimed Sunday, Feb. 9, 2025, the inaugural “Gulf of America Day.”
“As my Administration restores American pride in the history of American greatness, it is fitting and appropriate for our great Nation to come together and commemorate this momentous occasion and the renaming of the Gulf of America,” Trump said in the proclamation, per USA Today.
The order also reversed a name change made during the Obama administration, restoring the name of the Alaskan mountain from “Denali” back to “Mount McKinley.”
According to USA Today, changing a geographic name usually takes at least six months as the U.S. Board on Geographic Names consults with states, tribes, mapmakers, and other stakeholders. However, Trump’s order called for the name change within 30 days.
In a Jan. 27, 2025, post on X, Google wrote that it has a “longstanding practice” of applying name changes once official government sources do so.
We’ve received a few questions about naming within Google Maps. We have a longstanding practice of applying name changes when they have been updated in official government sources.
— News from Google (@NewsFromGoogle) January 27, 2025
The technology company said in a blog post on Monday, Feb. 10, 2025, that the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) — a database maintained by the U.S. Geological Survey that serves as the country’s official database for geographic names — officially updated “Gulf of Mexico” to “Gulf of America.”
“As we announced two weeks ago and consistent with our longstanding practices, we’ve begun rolling out changes to reflect this update,” Google stated. “People using Maps in the U.S. will see “Gulf of America,” and people in Mexico will see “Gulf of Mexico.” Everyone else will see both names.”
