US President Donald Trump on Thursday (August 27) signed an govt order to rename Lake Ontario, located on the US-Canada border, as “Lake America”. The order mentioned the lake was a “super asset to the USA and a part of our Nation’s heritage.”
In response, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney wrote in a put up on X that the identify Ontario (additionally the identify of a Canadian province) comes from the indigenous Wendat individuals.
“The identify is greater than 400 years previous, predating each the Confederation of Canada and the Declaration of Independence of the USA of America. We all know that America is altering. Their buying and selling relationships, their overseas insurance policies, their nationwide monuments, their hydronyms. Canadians additionally know that naming actuality means calling it Lake Ontario – then, now and at all times,” he wrote.
What’s behind Trump’s order, and might nations unilaterally change the names of water our bodies? In Trump’s case, there may be precedent for the transfer, which additionally concerned a neighbouring nation.
What’s Lake Ontario, and why is Trump renaming it?
Lake Ontario is a part of the Nice Lakes system, together with Lake Superior, Michigan, Huron and Erie, spanning the US-Canada border. In line with the US Nationwide Ocean and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the lakes system holds about 90% of the freshwater within the US and roughly 20% of the world’s freshwater provide. Forty million individuals throughout the 2 nations rely upon it for clear consuming water.
Lake Ontario. (Google Maps)
In his govt order, Trump cited a variety of causes for the choice — together with the US’s investments within the lake to maintain it open free of charge transport, Canada spending comparatively much less on it, and the lake’s historical past as an “asset to American exploration, settlement, commerce, and protection.”
However extra pressingly, it comes amid heightened commerce tensions between the nations. Commerce talks collapsed final week and led to the US imposing tariffs on Canada, with Carney promising to match them “greenback for greenback” towards American imports. The US is Canada’s largest buying and selling accomplice, whereas Canada is the US’s second-largest buying and selling accomplice.
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So how will Lake Ontario be addressed now?
The identify change will apply to how the US formally refers back to the lake, nevertheless it is not going to have an effect on how Canada or the remainder of the world select to name it. No single world organisation is tasked with making certain uniformity amongst names of water our bodies, and the choice to make use of a sure identify is commonly primarily based on historic precedent.
In a social media put up, Trump acknowledged that the US Geological Survey was formally altering the identify to have it mirror in all official USGS digital paperwork.
This isn’t the primary time that disagreements over commerce and different points have prompted Trump to make use of nomenclature as a device.
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In January 2025, the day Trump took workplace in his second time period, he signed a slew of govt orders. These included one on renaming the Gulf of Mexico because the Gulf of America, amid tensions with Mexico over immigration and tariffs. In line with Reuters, it took about two weeks for the US authorities to replace the official federal nomenclature to mirror these modifications. The change was additionally mirrored on Google Maps.
How Google Maps names disputed options.
In line with Google, the names seen on Maps are primarily based on info comparable to a person’s nation location and telephone working system (e.g., iOS and Android). Customers in Mexico noticed “Gulf of Mexico” on Maps whereas these within the US noticed “Gulf of America”. For different customers, each names are seen. That is seen in another options with disputed names, too, just like the Persian Gulf, which is adopted by “Arabian Gulf” in brackets on Google Maps.
