Overview
- President Donald Trump signed an executive order to rename Lake Ontario as “Lake America” for U.S. federal use on Thursday, Aug. 27, and the U.S. Geographic Names Information System adopted the change.
- Google said it updated Google Maps to reflect the GNIS designation so U.S. users now see “Lake America,” Canadian users still see “Lake Ontario,” and users outside North America see both names.
- Some mapping services have refused to follow the U.S. change: MapQuest publicly declined to rename the lake and Apple Maps had not adopted “Lake America” as of the latest reports.
- Canadian and Indigenous leaders rejected the renaming, with Prime Minister Mark Carney and Ontario Premier Doug Ford publicly reaffirming the name Lake Ontario and Indigenous groups calling the order erasure of long‑standing place names.
- Practical effects include mixed labels on embedded maps and government websites, possible U.S. congressional efforts to overturn the order, and a wider signal that presidential renaming can reshape digital maps without creating international legal recognition.