Apple Maps has renamed the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America in its software on Tuesday, as was seen by a number of users. The change follows an executive order by President Donald Trump to change the body of water on America’s Gulf Coast.
Apple’s move follows a similar one by Google Maps earlier in the week.
Google gained attention over recent decision to change the names of the Gulf of Mexico and Denali on Google Maps — following orders from President Donald Trump to rename the body of water bordering the U.S., Mexico and Cuba the Gulf of America, as well as revert the title of America’s highest mountain peak back to Mt. McKinley.
“We have a longstanding practice of applying name changes when they have been updated in official government sources,” Google said last month. The company added that its maps will reflect any updates to the Geographic Names Information System, a database of more than 1 million geographic features in the U.S.
The U.S. Geological Survey, which runs the GNIS, says the change has been made.
“Per Secretarial Order 3423, the Gulf of Mexico has been renamed to the Gulf of America,” according to the GNIS website.
Google Maps renames Gulf of Mexico to Gulf of America
Google confirmed Monday that the Gulf of America name had gone into effect. Google Maps users in the U.S. now only see the Gulf of America name, whereas those in other countries see both names. Denali, however, still appears on both Google Maps and the GNIS.
Bloomberg was first to report Apple’s change saying the update will start with U.S. users and roll out globally later.
In January, the U.S. Department of Interior said it was making the changes in line with Trump’s executive order.
“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 honor the legacy of American greatness, with efforts already underway,” according to a statement on the department’s website. “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.”
Trump proclaimed Feb. 9 as “Gulf of America Day.”
“On January 20, 2025, I signed Executive Order 14172 (“Restoring Names That Honor American Greatness”). Among other actions, that Executive Order required the Secretary of the Interior, acting pursuant to 43 U.S.C. 364 through 364f, to “take all appropriate actions to rename as the ‘Gulf of America’ the U.S. Continental Shelf area bounded on the northeast, north, and northwest by the State of Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida and extending to the seaward boundary with Mexico and Cuba in the area formerly named as the Gulf of Mexico,” according to the presidential proclamation.
As of Tuesday afternoon, other mapping sites, including Mapquest and Microsoft’s Bing, were still listing the body of water as the “Gulf of Mexico.”
Mexico standing by Gulf of Mexico name
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum earlier joked that if Trump went ahead with the renaming, her country would rename North America “Mexican America.” Later, she toned it down: “For us and for the entire world it will continue to be called the Gulf of Mexico.”