Lake Ontario Renamed to Lake America by Executive Order

On Saturday, Google announced a significant change: it officially updated the name of “Lake Ontario” to “Lake America” for users in the United States. This decision follows an executive order signed by President Donald Trump earlier in the week, directing the renaming of this smaller Great Lake located along the U.S.-Canada border.

According to the announcement from Google, users in Canada will still see “Lake Ontario,” while people in other parts of the world will encounter both names. This change seems to echo Google’s previous adjustment in naming the “Gulf of Mexico” as the “Gulf of America” last year.

The timing of Trump’s executive order is notable, coming amidst rising trade tensions with Canada. Just days before the order, trade discussions had soured; Canada accused the U.S. of making last-minute demands, while the U.S. countered that Canada had proposed new requirements that undermined the negotiations.

Even with the name change in place in the U.S., Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney affirmed that Canada would stick with the historic name, “Lake Ontario.”

Federal agencies in the U.S. seem to be adhering to the new name promptly. For instance, the State Department acknowledged a mix-up, stating, “It was brought to our attention that Lake America was erroneously labeled as Lake ‘Ontario’ on our website. We have corrected this mistake and apologize for deadnaming the lake.”

Interestingly, President Trump hinted that this might not be the last name change. He suggested that, with a Gulf and a Lake now renamed, we might see a shift in the names of the Atlantic or Pacific Oceans as well.