Google Maps Plans Name Changes for Gulf of Mexico, Denali in U.S.

Google has announced its plans to update two of the most prominent geographical landmarks, in compliance with an Executive Order from President Donald Trump.

In an X message, the tech giant announced that it would be changing Denali’s name to Mt. McKinley, and the Gulf of Mexico would be changed to the Gulf of America.

Google stated in its X post that it has a “longstanding practice” of changing names when government sources have updated them.

Google stated in a thread of posts that the U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System database (GNIS) is used to determine names.

Maps users will see the official local name when official names differ between countries. The rest of the world also sees both names. Google posted another message saying that the same thing applies to this country.

Trump had signed an executive directive on Inauguration day that ordered Mt. McKinley should be restored and the Gulf of Mexico renamed.

“A short time from now, we are going to be changing the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America, and we will restore the name of a great president, William McKinley, to Mount McKinley, where it should be and where it belongs. President McKinley made our country very rich through tariffs and through talent,” Trump said during his inaugural address.

Trump’s party was not immune to the opposition. Lisa Murkowski, Alaska senator, said in an X message on Jan. 20 that she “strongly disagreed” with Trump’s choice.

Murkowski stated, “Our nation’s tallest peak, which has been known as Denali for thousands of years, must be kept under the name given by Alaska’s Koyukon Athabascans who have cared for the land from time immemorial.”