Google to Update Map Names for Gulf of Mexico and Denali Following Trump's Executive Order
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Google has announced that it will change the names of the Gulf of Mexico and Denali in its Google Maps service following an executive order by former President Donald Trump. The order, signed on January 20, 2025, mandates that the Gulf of Mexico be renamed the Gulf of America and that Denali, the highest peak in North America, be referred to as Mount McKinley in all official maps and communications from the U.S. federal government.
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Google has stated that it follows a longstanding practice of updating its maps to reflect official name changes as recorded by the U.S. Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). Once the GNIS is updated to reflect these new designations, Google Maps will reflect the changes for users in the United States. Users outside the U.S. will see both names, while users in Mexico will continue to see the Gulf of Mexico labeled as such.
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The renaming is part of a broader set of executive actions taken by Trump upon his inauguration, which has sparked debate among cartographers, mapmakers, and the general public. This move is seen as part of Trump's effort to revert some of the name changes made during the Obama administration, including the re-designation of Mount McKinley back to Denali in 2015.
