Google Maps Will Soon Be Changing 'Gulf of Mexico' to 'Gulf of America'

Leah Barkoukis | January 28, 2025 9:00 AM

After an executive order signed last week by President Trump, the Interior Department announced the Gulf of Mexico would “officially” be renamed as the Gulf of America. Additionally, North America’s highest mountain will once again be called Mount McKinley. Both name changes “honor the legacy of American greatness,” the statement said.

“The U.S. Board on Geographic Names, under the purview of the Department of the Interior, is working expeditiously to update the official federal nomenclature in the Geographic Names Information System to reflect these changes, effective immediately for federal use,” the statement added.

Once that takes place, the Gulf of America will be reflected on Google Maps, the company said.

"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," the News From Google account wrote on X. "For geographic features in the U.S., this is when Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) is updated. When that happens, we will update Google Maps in the U.S. quickly to show Mount McKinley and Gulf of America.

"Also longstanding practice: When official names vary between countries, Maps users see their official local name. Everyone in the rest of the world sees both names. That applies here too," the company added.