Apple Maps Rename Lake Ontario as 'Lake America' for US Users After Trump Order

Apple Maps has changed the name of Lake Ontario to “Lake America” for users in the United States, following an order from President Donald Trump to officially adopt the new name. The change makes Apple the latest major technology company to recognize the new U.S. designation. Google Maps had also updated its U.S. service to show “Lake America” instead of Lake Ontario.

Trump signed an executive order directing the U.S. government to rename the lake and update federal geographic records. The administration said the move was intended to establish the new name in official U.S. government usage. The decision has drawn attention because Lake Ontario is a shared body of water between the United States and Canada. While the U.S. government can determine the names used by its own agencies, Canada has not adopted the new terminology and continues to refer to the lake as Lake Ontario.

Apple’s update means the name displayed on digital maps can now depend on where the user is accessing the service. People in the United States may see “Lake America,” while users in Canada are expected to continue seeing “Lake Ontario.” Such regional differences are increasingly common when mapping companies deal with disputed or politically sensitive geographic names. The renaming has also become part of wider tensions between Washington and Ottawa. Relations between the two countries have faced disagreements over trade, tariffs and other policy issues, giving the lake-name decision a significance beyond digital mapping.

The move follows Trump’s earlier push to change the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the “Gulf of America.” Major mapping platforms subsequently made similar regional adjustments, while some services chose to retain the traditional names. Not all mapping companies have followed the U.S. government's approach. MapQuest, for example, has continued using Lake Ontario, demonstrating that a U.S. government naming decision does not automatically require every private mapping company to adopt the same terminology.

Lake Ontario is one of North America’s five Great Lakes and borders Ontario in Canada and New York in the United States. Its established name has a long historical background, making the latest change particularly sensitive in Canada. The same body of water may appear under different names depending on the user's location and the mapping service being used. The Apple Maps update therefore represents not just a technical change to a digital map, but another visible example of how geography and politics can intersect in the digital age.

Disclaimer: This image is taken from Hindustan Times.