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This week, Google confirmed that it will add a ‘Gulf of America’ label to the Gulf of Mexico on its Maps app, following Donald Trump’s bid to rename the body of water. Trump’s controversial move is just one of his initiatives since taking power earlier in January. Another is his plan to rename Denali in Alaska, after Obama’s administration renamed it as such to reflect a more native tradition.
Many are asking, can the US President officially make this move and rename an area of geographic importance, just like that? Here, a geographer, Innisfree McKinnon from the University of Wisconsin-Stout, explains how it all works…
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP’S executive order to rename the Gulf of Mexico and Alaska’s Denali, the tallest peak in the country, has resulted in lots of discussion. While for some, such renaming might seem less important than the big problems the country faces, there is a formal process in the United States for renaming places, and that process is taken seriously.
Usually, so people don’t get confused, official, agreed-upon names are used by the government. In the US, place names are standardised by the US Board on Geographic Names, which is part of the US Geological Survey, the agency in charge of making maps.
In his executive order, Trump asks the Board on Geographic Names “to honour the contributions of visionary and patriotic Americans” and change its policies and procedures to reflect that.
Usually, renaming a place starts locally. The people in the state or county propose a name change and gather support. The process in each state is different.
Minnesota recently changed the name of a large lake in Minneapolis to Bde Maka Ska, which the Minneapolis Park Board described as “a Dakota name for the lake that has been passed down in oral history for many years.”
The board voted to change the name and took its request to the county commissioners. When the county agreed, the request was then sent to the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, which made it official for Minnesota. Then, the state of Minnesota sent the request to the Board on Geographic Names, which made it official for the entire US.
It’s a lot of paperwork for something so seemingly minor, but people get passionate about place names. It took 40 years to rename Denali from the name established in the late 19th century, Mount McKinley.
The state of Alaska requested the name change in 1975, but the Board on Geographic Names didn’t take action. Members of the Ohio congressional delegation – President William McKinley was from Ohio – objected over many years to requests to rename the mountain, and the board did not act on those requests.
The president appoints the secretary of the Interior Department. The secretary works with the heads of related agencies to appoint the Board on Geographic Names. Current committee policy states, “Input from State geographic names authorities, land management agencies, local governments, and Tribal Governments are actively pursued.”
In 2015, President Barack Obama named a new leader for the Department of the Interior, Sally Jewell. Just as Obama made a trip to Alaska in late August 2015, Jewell declared the name change official under a law that allows the secretary of the Interior to change a name if the board doesn’t act on the proposal in a “reasonable” amount of time.
Today we’re returning Mount McKinley to its native name - Denali, a step to reflect the heritage of Alaska Natives. pic.twitter.com/WyzQImKymX
— President Obama (@POTUS44) August 31, 2015
“This name change recognises the sacred status of Denali to many Alaska Natives,” Jewell said. “The name Denali has been official for use by the State of Alaska since 1975, but even more importantly, the mountain has been known as Denali for generations. With our own sense of reverence for this place, we are officially renaming the mountain Denali in recognition of the traditions of Alaska Natives and the strong support of the people of Alaska.”
If someone objects to a name change, they could ask the courts to rule on whether the name change was made legally. Going back to Bde Maka Ska, some people objected to changing the name from Lake Calhoun, so they took the state natural resources agency to court. Eventually, the Minnesota Supreme Court ruled that the name change was done correctly.
Alaska’s two US senators and prominent state figures have strongly objected to Trump’s renaming attempt.
Renaming the Gulf of Mexico is a different kind of case, however, from renaming a geographic place within U.S. borders.
The gulf is not within the territorial US. On the coast, the first 12 miles from shore are considered part of that country, but outside of that is international waters.
The Board on Geographic Names could change the name to Gulf of America on official US maps, but there is no international board in charge of place names. Each country decides what to call places. And there is no official way for the US to make other countries change the name.
It’s possible that the US could formally ask other countries to change the name, or even impose sanctions against countries that don’t comply.
If the names were officially changed in the US, the government would use the new names in official documents, signage and maps. As for all the people and companies in the world that make maps, they usually use the official names. But there is nothing that would force them to if they believed that a certain name is more widely recognised.
On Jan. 24, 2025, the US Department of the Interior issued a statement on the name changes:
“In accordance with President Donald J. Trump’s recent executive order, the Department of the Interior is proud to announce the implementation of name restorations that honour the legacy of American greatness, with efforts already underway.
“As directed by the President, the Gulf of Mexico will now officially be known as the Gulf of America and North America’s highest peak will once again bear the name Mount McKinley….The US Board on Geographic Names, under the purview of the Department of the Interior, is working expeditiously to update the official federal nomenclature in the Geographic Names Information System to reflect these changes, effective immediately for federal use.”
This story has been updated to reflect the Department of Interior’s statement on Jan. 25, 2025.
Innisfree McKinnon is an Associate Professor of Geography at the University of Wisconsin-Stout. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
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€2.38 million to give the Fair City set a face lift?!?!…… That’s another scandal!!!!
@another one? what’s going on is the semi state sec: Small beer.
@Pat Barry: when did this happen?
@another one? what’s going on is the semi state sec: I actually thought this quiz was a backhanded way of highlighting that.
Q: How much will the childrens hospital cost.A: Ask BAM.
@Willie Marty: they don’t know yet
@Willie Marty: it costs what it costs,the government is “pot commetted” till it’s finished.
@P. V. Aglue: they have no hand and no bluff
@Oh Mammy: and their the fish in every hand they play.
@Willie Marty: The cost will be more than infinity.
@Willie Marty: wham bam, thank-you mam
Could have done without wasting the money on fair City its brutal anyway and rte has wasted enough no doubt they’ll do another revamp with the 721 million bailout surely they can’t go bankrupt again but then again sandals have gone up
When I saw the RTE question, I picked the maximum amount and got it right!
Surprise surprise.
Have the Clinton’s ever paid for anything?
Could have built 10 Kilmainham Gaols for the price of the bike shed.
@Willie Marty: Not quite. Kilmainham Gaol was opened in 1796. £22,000 is worth £3.1 million today.
@honey badger: yes its all revelant but the builders back then didnt abuse the system like the rouge cowboys BAM.
@Willie Marty: or whoever built the bike shed.
The Tesco warehouse has a big lagoon to collect the rain water (bottom left of building in photo) so it doesn’t flood the local waterway, if theres a heavy downpour
@P. V. Aglue: typical
@P. V. Aglue: nortthsiders get everything
@P. V. Aglue: “11 most volumeist building in the world”, to keep Irish people gobbling up the ‘global economy’, and everyone here is banging on about fair city!?!?… Hmmmm
Monopoly.
@Phillip Smyth: Collect €200.
The VAT tax alone was €38,000. This will turn out to simply be a media storm in a teacup stirred like mad by opposition politicians hoping to get their jobs.
have your say