Google Maps has updated its service to reflect President Donald Trump's executive order renaming Lake Ontario to "Lake America" for users within the United States. The change, announced Saturday, aligns with the company's policy of updating map data to correspond with official government sources.
For users in the U.S. accessing Google Maps, the body of water will now be displayed as "Lake America." This name was introduced by Trump on Thursday as part of measures related to an ongoing trade dispute with Canada.
In contrast, users in Canada will continue to see "Lake Ontario," a name with historical roots dating back to the 17th century, predating both Canada and the United States. Scholars note that the name "Lake Ontario" originates from an Iroquois word often translated as "shining sea" or "beautiful lake."
Globally, Google Maps will display "Lake Ontario (Lake America)" when users hover over the location.
This action by Google Maps is not without precedent. In a similar move following Trump's return to office, the company renamed the Gulf of Mexico to the "Gulf of America" and reverted the name of Denali in Alaska back to "Mount McKinley" on its maps. Those earlier changes also sparked criticism, with some users pointing to Google CEO Sundar Pichai's attendance at Trump's inauguration and reporting that Google Maps deleted negative reviews following the name changes.
Critics have voiced their discontent with the latest renaming. One user on X described the move as "genuinely disturbing," while another called it "weak," asserting that "no one is calling it that."
Some expressed disappointment with what they perceived as a lack of principle, with one user stating on X that the episode highlighted "how many people and institutions and corporations don’t actually stand for anything and will capitulate to bad people at a moments notice when having principles is even slightly inconvenient to them."