Google Maps Updates Gulf of Mexico to Gulf of America for US Users

President Donald Trump signs a proclamation renaming the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America aboard Air Force One, enroute to New Orleans, La., on Feb. 9, 2025. Roberto Schmidt/ AFP

Google Maps has officially updated its platform to reflect the recent renaming of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America, a change that began appearing for U.S. users on Monday. This move was made in response to President Donald Trump’s executive order issued on Jan. 20, which directed the name change.

According to a Google blog post on Feb. 10, the company has started implementing the name change following the official update of the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).

Google said that this action aligns with their “longstanding practices” of applying name changes when they are updated in official government sources.

The name change on Google Maps is not universal, it noted. As outlined in the blog post, “People using Maps in the U.S. will see ‘Gulf of America,’ and people in Mexico will see ‘Gulf of Mexico.’ Everyone else will see both names.”

In a Jan. 27 statement posted on social media platform X, Google said that using different names based on the user’s location is consistent with the company’s established policies.

“When official names vary between countries, Maps users see their official local name. Everyone in the rest of the world sees both names,” the company said.

Trump’s executive order cited the gulf’s importance to the United States as justification for the name change. According to the White House, the order describes the gulf as “an integral asset to our once burgeoning Nation” and highlights its role in trade, oil and gas production, fisheries, and the maritime industry.

The executive order directed the Secretary of the Interior to “take all appropriate actions to rename as the ‘Gulf of America’ the U.S. Continental Shelf area bounded on the northeast, north, and northwest by the States of Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida and extending to the seaward boundary with Mexico and Cuba in the area formerly named as the Gulf of Mexico.”

The implementation of the change has been swift across federal agencies. The U.S. Coast Guard began using the new name just one day after the executive order was issued, referring to “the maritime border between Texas and Mexico in the Gulf of America” in its communications.

Trump has moved quickly to cement the name change, declaring Feb. 9 as “the first-ever Gulf of America Day” while flying over the newly renamed body of water.

In the proclamation, Trump stated, “As my Administration restores American pride in the history of American greatness, it is fitting and appropriate for our great Nation to come together and commemorate this momentous occasion and the renaming of the Gulf of America.”

While the Gulf of America name change has been implemented, a parallel effort to rename Denali back to Mount McKinley has faced opposition in Alaska. The Alaska Senate passed a unanimous resolution on Feb. 7, urging Trump to maintain Denali as the official name for North America’s tallest mountain.

State Rep. Maxine Dibert, who sponsored the resolution, stated in a Jan. 27 Instagram post, “Denali is more than a mountain—it is a cornerstone of Alaska’s history, a tribute to our diverse culture, and a testament to the people who have cherished this land for millennia.”