Google Says It's the Gulf of America

Whoa! It's Google Official.

I just took this screenshot from Google Maps:

(Google Maps: used under the news reporting exception)

As of 2/10/25 at 5:33 CST, it’s the Gulf of America, according to Google.

History of the Gulf of Mexico Name

Rivers in both the USA and Mexico flow into the Gulf. Major cities in the USA, Mexico and Cuba line the Gulf.

The name Gulf of Mexico comes from a Nahuatl (NAH-wah-tel) name for the Aztecs. It’s an indigenous name for the native people of the Valley of Mexico.

In 1521, the Spanish conquered Mexico, and controlled it for 300 years until the Mexican War of Independence.

There is your short history of where the name Gulf of Mexico comes from.

Who Decides if It’s the Gulf of America or Mexico?

There is no international protocol for naming international waters.

The first known name given to the area was the “Sea of the North” in a map dated 1521.

People have called it lots of things over the centuries, like the Gulf of Florida, Gulf of Cortes, Gulf of St. Michael, Gulf of Yucatan, Gulf of New Spain, and others.

From 1999-2012, numerous appeals were made to The U.S. Department of the Interior to call it the Gulf of America. It didn’t happen then.

In 2025, President Donald Trump directed U.S. federal agencies to call it the Gulf of America.

Why is the Google Name Change Significant?

When President Trump signed an executive order, that meant that federal agencies had to follow it. So it wasn’t surprising that organizations like the FAA and NOAA would comply. But Google isn’t a government agency, and the government can’t just tell us what to call things.

The New York Times reported a few weeks ago that Google would comply with the name change once it was made official by U.S. authorities. The article doesn’t really give a reason that Google is going along with it. Other than saying they’re changing the name within the United States, they don’t appear to be expressing an opinion on the matter. The article said that outside the United States, users would see both names.

Will the Gulf of America Name Change Work?

What do you call this building?

If you said the Sears Tower, that was so 16 years ago.

The name changed in 2009, when an insurance broker, Willis Group Holdings, leased office space and contracted to have the naming rights.

Just like many of us still think of this as the tower formerly known as Sears, a lot of us will still think Gulf of Mexico at first. Old habits are old habits.

(Picture was taken from my sister’s condo, when she lived in Chicago. I still love a trip to Chicago.)

What Do You Think?

Should we call it the Gulf of America?