Up to date Sept. 14, 2026, 7:23 p.m. ET
The Nationwide Climate Service has begun the work of renaming Lake Ontario to Lake America in its broad array of services and products, together with maps, web sites and forecasts, the company introduced Sept. 14.
Among the many climate service merchandise that use the identify “Lake Ontario” are open waters forecasts, forecasts for the Niagara River and the encircling area in New York.
Lake Ontario is a part of the formal worldwide boundary between Canada and the USA. President Donald Trump signed an government order on Aug. 27 directing U.S. companies to vary the identify of Lake Ontario throughout a spherical of commerce negotiations with Canada.
The Division of Inside and the U.S. Board on Geographic Names have been directed to make the brand new “Lake America” identify change official inside 30 days.
As not too long ago as Sept. 13, the identify “Lake Ontario” was nonetheless getting used within the forecast dialogue of the climate service workplace in Buffalo. It famous that just a few showers have been attainable “southeast of Lake Ontario through the predawn hours of Monday morning.”
“Warning might be exercised to keep away from disruptions to operations,” learn the climate service assertion from Courtney Draggon, director of the enterprise operations and accountability workplace.
The identify “Lake Ontario” dates again centuries, and originated from a local Iroquois tribe phrase that means “lake of shining waters,” in response to the Middle for Nice Lakes Literacy. European mapmakers first started utilizing the identify within the seventeenth century. The Library of Congress incorporates a variety of maps with references to Lake Ontario, together with a map dated to the seventeenth century.
Different places beforehand renamed by the Trump Administration
The renaming of Lake Ontario is the newest in a wave of place-name adjustments since Trump’s second inauguration.
Trump modified the identify of the “Gulf of Mexico” to “Gulf of America” in 2025, prompting an identical wave of alterations to federal maps and climate advisories. A number of federal companies together with the Nationwide Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Fisheries workplace and the Coast Guard stated the change wouldn’t current substantive prices to the general public. USA TODAY has reached out to the climate service and the U.S. Geological Survey for additional info.
The administration additionally amended the identify of Fort Liberty in North Carolina again to its conventional Fort Bragg and reverted the identify of the nation’s tallest mountain from Denali to Mount McKinley.
Who else is altering the identify of Lake Ontario?
Google Maps modified the identify of the lake for its customers in the USA inside two days of Trump signing the order. The corporate stated it continues to make use of the identify Lake Ontario for customers in Canada, and utilized each names for customers outdoors the 2 international locations. Apple additionally has modified the identify in its Map merchandise.
MapQuest, then again, introduced it could not change the identify.
Officers in Canada stated it is going to proceed to make use of the identify “Lake Ontario.”
Contributing: Doyle Rice, Fernando Cervantes Jr., Melina Khan and James Powel with USA TODAY and Kimberly Miller with the USA TODAY Community.
