President Donald Trump issued an executive order on Aug. 27 renaming Lake Ontario to “Lake America” for use by U.S. government agencies, drawing criticism in Canada and sparking questions from Canadians about executive authority, political posturing and renaming a body of water that sits between two countries.
The executive order applied to the use of the lake’s name by the federal government. It did not mandate that Canada, international bodies or others use “Lake America.” Trump issued the executive order amid rising tensions in a trade dispute between the U.S. and Canada. This order follows an earlier order renaming Gulf of Mexico to “Gulf of America” for federal use.
Reuters reported approximately 52% of Lake Ontario lies within Canada, with the remaining area belonging to New York. Canadian Prime Minister Carney said Canada would reject the President’s decision. New York Gov. Kathy Hochul also announced the state would not be conforming to the change.
Google Maps has also been affected by the order. According to Reuters, Google Maps displays “Lake America” for United States users following an update to the federal Geographic Names Information System. Canadian users will see Lake Ontario. People outside of the United States and Canada will see both names.
With the change appearing on federal documentation as well as popular map providers, the controversy has also raised questions about presidential power. CSUN political science professor David Leitch said limiting presidential power was part of why the United States system of government was created.
“The Constitution was originally written to limit federal power generally, and presidential power in particular,” Leitch said. “The current court has embraced a model of the unitary executive, which empowers the president considerably, but I read that embrace as conditional, not ongoing.”
In addition to inquiries into presidential authority, Leitch mentioned the renaming could become politically diverse by causing people to consider whether they support or oppose Trump.
“The real effect of this is going to be primarily divisive: it pushes people to take a position on this topic only as a way of signaling their support or distaste,” Leitch said.
The name change has also received criticism concerning the history of Lake Ontario’s name. According to the Associated Press, Seneca Nation President J. Conrad Seneca demanded that the executive order be repealed because it ignores the Native American history associated with the lake and violates the 1794 Treaty of Canandaigua.
Ontario was named after the Huron Indigenous word “oniatarí:io,” which translates to “lake of shining waters.” The Province of Ontario would eventually get its name from the lake itself.
Beyond the practical effects of a name change, Eldin Bowick, a freshman psychology major at CSUN, said the names given to geographic locations can influence what people believe those places represent.
“If I looked on my maps and I found Lake America, I’d be like why is this called Lake America? What does this represent for our country?” Bowick said, “Did someone name it that specifically? Was it the first lake that was named in America? Why is the name that way?”
The implications of changing an established geographic name have worried CSUN students. Grace Nash, senior geography and environmental studies major, explained that changing the name may confuse individuals when they are referencing the same location by different names.
“Nothing would have a name that everyone knows it by,” Nash said. “There could be a loss in communication and a loss of understanding of what people are talking about.”
Nash also added that she believes there’s more to the name change.
“Changing the name doesn’t affect anything other than just what we call it. Names of things are mostly just for political maps,” Nash said. “There are tons of countries that don’t recognize other countries, and so I see it as mainly just a political thing.”
CSUN geography professor Steve Graves said the executive order also raises questions about the limits of presidential authority.
“I guess that, like many things that President Trump has done, he will issue an executive order and then wait for the courts to sort out whether he was allowed to do it or not,” Graves said.
Ontario is home to Niagara’s Welland Canal. The canal was first proposed in 1818 as a way for ships to bypass Niagara Falls and opened in 1829, linking Lake Ontario and Lake Erie. The canal remains in operation today as part of the St. Lawrence Seaway system.
In addition, Graves mentioned that the Welland Canal’s importance goes beyond connecting the two lakes.
“The thing that the public also doesn’t know about is the Welland Canal.” Graves said. “That is a strategic choke point for probably billions of dollars of commerce that goes through the Great Lakes system,” Graves said.
Angel Ortega, a freshman kinesiology major at CSUN, said the name change could affect how the public perceives President Trump.
“The consequences could just be minor,” Ortega said. “ But it is definitely going to make him look like he already looks very patriotic and nationalist, but it is going to boost that image even more.”
Rebecca Simon, a CSUN history lecturer, pointed to the U.S Board on Geographic Names as another limit on how far a presidential name change can extend.
“This decision won’t set a precedent because there is a managing board known as the US Board on Geographic Names that takes care of this,” Simon said. “It cannot be enforced outside of the federal government, and it’s up to individual choice otherwise.”
As the new name begins appearing in federal systems and some digital maps, the differing reactions show that changing a geographic name can affect how people understand its history, meaning and identity.
