Google Maps will rename the Gulf of Mexico and Denali in the US

Following his inauguration on January 20, US President Donald Trump signed a series of executive actions, including one that renamed the Gulf of Mexico into “Gulf of America” and the Denali mountain peak in Alaska as “Mount McKinley.” This official name change will also need to be reflected on navigation apps like Google Maps, and we’re now getting word from Google about these upcoming changes.

Writing on X/Twitter, the News by Google account said Maps has a “longstanding practice of applying name changes,” provided the names are changed through official means. However, the name change will only appear when the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) is updated, Google said.

The changes aren’t live yet

Based on the company’s phrasing, the names haven’t been updated on the GNIS just yet. But Google says it will update Maps in the US “quickly” when that happens (via 9to5Google). Lastly, Google says in cases where official names differ based on countries, it will continue to show Maps users the “official local name.” Meanwhile, people in other parts of the world should see both names in this scenario, per the company.

Searching for the Gulf of America in Maps (outside the US) right now shows the Gulf of Mexico listing, which isn’t surprising. When the changes go live on the GNIS, we presume Maps will show both names of these locations when searching from outside the US. But if you’re in the US, you will only see them as the Gulf of America and Mount McKinley, respectively.

The Denali mountain peak in Alaska was named Mount McKinley until 2015 when President Obama’s administration officially changed it to Denali. More importantly, the name change controversy surrounding North America’s highest mountain peak has spanned over a century.