Google Maps will honor President Trump’s renaming of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America and Denali to Mount McKinley

One of Donald Trump’s first pledges after being sworn in as the 47th president of the USA was to rename both the Gulf of Mexico and Denali. This was very quickly acted upon when he signed a slew of executive orders -- something the White House described as “honoring American greatness”.

Seen variously as controversial, symbolic, patriotic, confrontational and more, the changes of the names have sparked global debate. One question that has been raised a lot over the last week has been whether the likes of Apple Maps and Google Maps will implement the changes as well -- although not globally.

See also:

• Download these free Windows themes before Microsoft closes the download page forever
• If you sign into your Microsoft account on a public or shared computer, you need to know this
• Microsoft is turning to forced updates to increase the number of Windows 11 24H2 users

While Apple is yet to speak out about the changes of name, Google has indicated that the nomenclature will be reflected in Google Maps. Although the executive orders have been signed to rubber stamp the renaming, it will take a while for the changes to filter down.

The US Department of Interior says:

As directed by the President, the Gulf of Mexico will now officially be known as the Gulf of America and North America’s highest peak will once again bear the name Mount McKinley. These changes reaffirm the Nation’s commitment to preserving the extraordinary heritage of the United States and ensuring that future generations of Americans celebrate the legacy of its heroes and historic assets. 

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.  

While the name changes have immediate effect at certain levels, Google is holding tight for now. In a post on X, the company said that it will make the changes, but not until the GNIS is officially updated:

Google also said: “We have a longstanding practice of applying name changes when they have been updated in official government sources. Name changes vary between countries, Maps users see their official local name. Everyone in the rest of the world sees both names. That applies here too”.

While Apple and other map providers are yet to comment, they are likely to take the same approach as Google.

Image credit: VRSprod / Dreamstime.com