Why Google is calling the Gulf of Mexico the Gulf of America for US users

Google Maps has updated its naming conventions for US-based users, now displaying the body of water previously known as the Gulf of Mexico as the "Gulf of America."

The change follows an executive order signed by former US President Donald Trump, who sought to "honor American greatness" by renaming geographic features linked to American history.

“People using Maps in the US will see ‘Gulf of America,’ and people in Mexico will see ‘Gulf of Mexico.’ Everyone else will see both names,” Google said in a statement Monday.

According to Google, the platform follows a longstanding policy of aligning its geographic names with official government sources.

The executive order, titled "Restoring Names That Honour American Greatness" (Executive Order 14172), instructs the US Secretary of the Interior to implement the name change within 30 days.

The White House statement accompanying the order defines the newly named Gulf as the "US Continental Shelf area bounded to the northeast, north, and northwest by Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida, extending to the maritime boundary with Mexico and Cuba."

Mount McKinley name change not taken effect yet

The renaming of the Gulf was part of Trump’s broader effort to restore names that "reflect America’s historical legacy."

The order also includes a provision to revert the name of Mount Denali, North America’s highest peak, back to Mount McKinley.

In 2015, former President Barack Obama changed the name of the mountain from Mount McKinley to Denali, the Indigenous name used for centuries by the Koyukon Athabascan people.

Trump’s order criticized this move as "an affront to President McKinley’s life, his achievements, and his sacrifice."

It further drew parallels between McKinley and Trump, noting that McKinley "championed tariffs" and was assassinated "in an attack on our Nation’s values and our success."

While the Gulf of America name change has been implemented on Google Maps, the Mount McKinley change has not yet taken effect.

The US Department of the Interior confirmed that it had updated government maps, with Secretary Doug Burgum sharing a screenshot on X that read, "It’s official!"

Mixed reactions and international response

Trump’s decision to rename the Gulf has sparked strong reactions both domestically and internationally.

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum sarcastically suggested renaming North America as "Mexican America" in response to the move.

In the US, the change has been welcomed by some of Trump’s supporters as a symbolic act of reclaiming American identity.

However, critics argue that the move is unnecessary and politically motivated.

The renaming of Mount Denali has also drawn backlash from Indigenous groups in Alaska, who see the attempt to revert the name as dismissive of their cultural heritage.

During a flight over the Gulf on Air Force One en route to the Super Bowl in New Orleans, Trump reinforced his stance, calling the renaming a "historic moment" in reinstating "American pride in our nation’s history and achievements."