Who gets to name a lake? What to know about Trump’s renaming of Lake Ontario
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The name of one of the Great Lakes has become the latest target of U.S. President Donald Trump’s ire after trade talks with Canada broke down less than a week ago.
Trump signed an executive order on Thursday to change the name of Lake Ontario to Lake America. The move came two days after he said on his social media platform Truth Social he was “giving serious consideration” to the idea.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford and Trump exchanged personal insults over the tariff war earlier in the week.
Here’s some more background about Trump’s penchant for geographic name changes.
WHY DOES TRUMP WANT TO RENAME LAKE ONTARIO?
The threat to rename the Great Lake that borders Ontario and New York came right after Ford and Trump targeted one another with insults.
The premier called Trump a bully and told him to “kiss my ass,” and the president retaliated by saying Ford is a less charismatic version of his late brother, the controversial former Toronto mayor Rob Ford.
Trump repeatedly posted about Canada on Tuesday, repeating claims that the country was “ripping off” the United States.
The president added that his country doesn’t expect to continue doing business with Ontario “much longer.”
He also posted an image of a map of Lake Ontario with its name crossed out and replaced with Lake America.
Ford has since toned down his language, instead encouraging both sides to reach a deal, though he said he doesn’t regret his words because they resonated around the world.
HOW DID LAKE ONTARIO GET ITS NAME?
The name is older than Canada itself.
Historians believe Lake Ontario’s name has Iroquoian roots meaning “beautiful lake” or “sparkling water,” according to the Canadian Encyclopedia.
Europeans began calling the lake “Ontario” in 1641, the encyclopedia entry says, and by 1656 the name was appearing on maps.
The province of Ontario is named after the lake.
WHO IS RESPONSIBLE FOR NAMING CANADIAN LAKES?
The Geographical Names Board of Canada formed in 1897, and its members have approved more than 350,000 place names over the course of its existence.
People and organizations can propose new names for Canadian geography.
To put in a request, the naming board needs information including reasons for the suggested name change, the origin and meaning of the name, contact information for local residents who can verify how the space is used and photos or sketches.
Canada does not have to recognize name changes made by other countries.
Even if Trump succeeds in renaming Lake Ontario on the U.S. side, he can’t dictate what the rest of the world calls it.
WHAT OTHER PLACES HAS TRUMP RENAMED – OR TRIED TO?
One of Trump’s first moves after his inauguration in January 2025 was signing an executive order to change the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America.
The Gulf of Mexico has carried its name for more than 400 years, and Trump’s order only holds water in the United States.
Trump also signed an executive order to change the name of North America’s tallest peak back to Mount McKinley.
Former president Barack Obama changed the official name to Denali in 2015, the preference of local residents and Indigenous Peoples.
But Trump said in his executive order that he wanted to “restore the name of a great president, William McKinley, to Mount McKinley.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 27, 2026.
— With files from The Associated Press