Well, that didn’t take long.
Google Maps, the most popular mapping software in the world, said on Monday evening that it will begin using new names for two prominent geographical features in North America, the Gulf of Mexico and Mount Denali. As soon as “they have been updated in official government sources,” Google said on the social media site X, it would change the names of these features to the Gulf of America and Mount McKinley.
The announcement comes a little less than a week after President Donald Trump signed an executive order to, in his words, “promote the extraordinary heritage of our Nation and ensure future generations of American citizens celebrate the legacy of our American heroes.” This included renaming the Gulf and the highest mountain in North America.
The order declared that, within 30 days, the Secretary of the Interior should take all appropriate actions to change the names of the prominent body of water and mountain. To do this, the database of name and location information published by the US Geological Survey, the Geographic Names Information System, should be updated accordingly. These files are revised on a bi-monthly basis.
