Google Maps has changed the label for “Lake Ontario” to “Lake America” for users located in the United States, following a recent executive order signed late last week.
Anyone viewing the body of water through Google Maps from within the US will now see the new name displayed. In a brief blog post, Google confirmed that the change applies only to American users, reflecting the company’s standard approach to labeling geographic features.
How the Name Appears by Region
The updated label is not global. Users in Canada will continue to see only “Lake Ontario,” while people viewing the map from other parts of the world will see “Lake Ontario (Lake America).” These regional differences can also be observed using a VPN to switch locations.
Google cited its established policy of updating place names based on official local government data. In this case, the company pointed to the US Geographic Names Information System (GNIS), where the Department of the Interior updated the name on August 27 following the executive order. Google referenced the same policy in February 2025, when it changed Google Maps to display “Gulf of America.”
Canada Declines to Adopt the Change
Canada has confirmed it will not update the name from “Lake Ontario.” Prime Minister Mark Carney noted that “the name is more than 400 years old, predating both the Confederation of Canada and the Declaration of Independence of the United States of America.” Carney added that the name derives from the Wendat word Ontari’io, which he said means “the lake is beautiful, the lake is big.”
How Competing Map Services Responded
MapQuest has stated directly that it will not change the name, instead building a name generator that lets users create their own alternative names for the lake, mocking the update. Apple Maps is not yet showing the new name either, though Apple changed “Gulf of America” within a day or two of Google back in February 2025.
In 2025, significant backlash prompted Google to limit new reviews of “Gulf of America.” As of testing, the company has not applied the same restriction to reviews tied to “Lake America.”
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Image: 9to5google.com
