Lake Ontario becomes ‘Lake America’ on Google Maps

Google Maps has changed the Lake Ontario label to “Lake America” for users in the United States after the federal government formally adopted the new name.

Google said the change follows its policy of reflecting names used by official government sources, including the US Geographic Names Information System.

Users in Canada will continue to see “Lake Ontario,” while users outside the US and Canada will see both names.

The change follows an executive order signed by US President Donald Trump on 27 August directing federal agencies to rename Lake Ontario as Lake America.

Not all mapping services have followed suit.

Apple Maps was still showing Lake Ontario to US users as of Sunday, while MapQuest said it would not adopt the new name.

Google previously took a similar approach after the US government renamed the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America, displaying different names depending on a user’s location.

The Lake Ontario renaming has drawn opposition in Canada and parts of the US Ontario Premier Doug Ford and New York Gov. Kathy Hochul are among officials who have rejected the change.