Apple Maps Makes Trump’s ‘Lake America’ Name Official for U.S. Users
Which mapping services now call Lake Ontario ‘Lake America,’ and which ones are still using the lake’s longtime name?
Apple Maps has started displaying “Lake America” instead of Lake Ontario for users in the United States, making it the second major mapping service to adopt the name pushed by President Donald Trump.
The change appeared on Sept. 1, just days after Google Maps made the same update. According to Reuters, Apple will continue showing Lake Ontario to users in Canada, where the traditional name remains in use.
The update follows Trump’s Aug. 27 executive order directing the U.S. government to rename the lake. The order applies to federal agencies and the U.S. Geographic Names Information System rather than determining what Canada must call the shared body of water.
Apple Wasn’t the First Tech Company to Make the Switch
Google had already changed its U.S. maps to show Lake America, citing the U.S. government’s updated geographic naming records. Apple followed shortly afterward, reportedly after Trump spoke with the company about making the change.
Trump’s order argued that the new name recognizes the lake’s importance to the United States. It points to the waterway’s history in American trade, military operations and settlement as well as its role in shipping, energy and drinking water.
The order also gave the Interior Department 30 days to work with the Board on Geographic Names to update federal records. Those changes are what allowed the new designation to make its way into services like Google Maps and Apple Maps.
The move has not been universal across mapping apps. MapQuest has refused to adopt the new name, posting on social media, “We’re not changing it.”
We’re not changing it. pic.twitter.com/NdeE9v2BNO
— MapQuest (@MapQuest) August 27, 2026
That response attracted attention to the longtime navigation service. MapQuest reportedly saw a surge in downloads after announcing that it would continue calling the lake Lake Ontario, briefly pushing the app to the top of Apple’s U.S. App Store navigation rankings.
That leaves the major mapping services with different approaches. Apple Maps and Google Maps now use Lake America for U.S. users, while MapQuest continues to use Lake Ontario.
The Lake Still Has Two Names
The disagreement comes down to where the naming authority applies. The United States can decide what its own government calls the lake, but Canada has no obligation to follow that decision.
Canadian officials continue to call it Lake Ontario. Prime Minister Mark Carney also pointed to the Indigenous origins of the name, writing on Aug. 27 that Ontari’io refers to the lake as beautiful and big.
The name Lake Ontario comes from the Wendat word Ontari’io, which, appropriately, means “the lake is beautiful, the lake is big”.
— Mark Carney (@MarkJCarney) August 27, 2026
The name is more than 400 years old, predating both the Confederation of Canada and the Declaration of Independence of the United States of America.…
That leaves Americans and Canadians looking at the same lake through different labels. An Apple Maps user in New York will see Lake America, while a user in Ontario will see Lake Ontario.
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