Apple is joining Google in taking the plunge into controversial waters.
On Tuesday, Apple Maps changed the name of Lake Ontario to “Lake America.” The move follows President Donald Trump’s recent executive order, which he issued amid a trade war with Canada. Earlier Tuesday afternoon, the lake was still labeled Lake Ontario on the map itself, but American users could only see “Lake America” as an option when searching for the body of water.
Google Maps, Apple Maps’ main rival, announced on August 29 that it had renamed one of the five Great Lakes in its system to “Lake America.” Google’s change, which largely affects US-based users, has sparked a backlash online.
MapQuest has experienced renewed interest in defying the Trump administration’s wishes, going so far as to create a template that lets users call the body of water whatever they wish.
Google has said that its naming reflects “name changes in official government sources.” On Google Maps, US-based users see Lake America. In Canada, users see Lake Ontario. And in the rest of the world, users see Lake Ontario with Lake America in parentheses.
Both Google and Apple previously renamed the Gulf of Mexico to the “Gulf of America” after Trump ordered the change in January 2025.
Following Trump’s executive order, the U.S. Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) formally changed the name of Lake Ontario to “Lake America.”
Name calling
Trump’s order only applies to the federal government. Private companies, including Apple and Google, individual states, and other countries are free to choose their own course.
When Trump renamed the Gulf of Mexico, governors leading the states that border the Gulf, all of which are Republicans, followed suit. This time, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, a Democrat, has said her state will continue to refer to the body of water as Lake Ontario.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney scoffed at the notion that the US could rename the lake.
“We know that America is changing. Their trading relationships, their foreign policies, their national monuments, their hydronyms,” Carney wrote on X. “Canadians also know that naming reality means calling it Lake Ontario — then, now and always.”
The US Geological Survey, part of the Interior Department, maintains the information system on behalf of the US Board of Geographic Names, a federal body whose roots date to the 1890s and is responsible for ensuring the uniform use of names for geographic features across the federal government.
The use of the name “Lake Ontario” dates back over 300 years. According to the City of Toronto, the largest city perched on the lake, the name comes from either the Wendat (Huron) word Ontarí:io, meaning “great lake,” or the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) word Skanadario, meaning “beautiful water.”
In the US, it was referenced by the Second Continental Congress in 1776, a week after the colonies formally declared their independence. Lake Ontario is also mentioned by name in the Treaty of Paris of 1783, which ended the war, in which King George III’s representatives formally recognized the newly independent United States.
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