Google Maps to change name of Gulf of Mexico to Gulf of America

The name change comes from an executive order signed by Donald Trump in the days following his inauguration.

The change will be visible in the US, while in Mexico, it will remain the Gulf of Mexico.

Both names will appear to Google Maps users outside of the country.

In a statement on X, the tech company said it had a "longstanding practice of applying name changes when they have been updated in official government sources."

We’ve received a few questions about naming within Google Maps. We have a longstanding practice of applying name changes when they have been updated in official government sources.

— News from Google (@NewsFromGoogle) January 27, 2025

Last week, President Donald Trump signed executive actions that included an order to make the name changes on official maps and federal communications.

Trump has repeatedly called for places to be renamed as part of US nationalism. He repeatedly referred to Canada as the ’51st State’ and also demanded that Denmark consider ceding Greenland.

Google have announced that the Alaskan peak Denali - the tallest mountain in North America - will also be changed to Mount McKinley in the US in line with Trump’s executive order.

The mountain had previously been named after former President William McKinley, but was changed by Barack Obama's administration in 2015 as a symbolic gesture to Alaska Natives.

Google said it would update its Maps service once the names were updated in the US government’s geographic names information system.

Earlier this month, the Mexican president Claudia Sheinbaum, jokingly suggested that North America - including the US - should be renamed as well.

She suggested “América Mexicana”, or “Mexican America”, because an 1814 founding document that preceded Mexico’s constitution used that name.