At this point in your life, I’m very sure you’ve heard about the Gulf of Mexico. But, have you heard that it will be renamed soon? The lovely ocean basin nestled between Mexico and the USA is likely to be given a new, much less catchy name. The new name in question? The Gulf of America.

The idea of renaming a geographic location while in office instead of doing something helpful that will leave a useful impact on the country is far-fetched, but Restoring Names that Honor American Greatness goes into great detail regarding the reason for the change.
Section 1 of the article claims that “It is in the national interest to promote the extraordinary heritage of our Nation and ensure future generations of American citizens celebrate the legacy of our American heroes”.
A big part of American history has always been about how US leaders and citizens have a strong desire for freedom, independence, and originality. However, despite what was said in the quote, changing the name of a landmark, conveniently one not discovered by Americans, does not seem to properly honor the country.
James Wagner of The New York Times shares a story with Mr. Remes Sánchez, who makes a similar claim.
Mr. Sánchez says, “He’s changing the name of a cultural and natural heritage of Mexico since the 16th century when the United States hadn’t even been formed”.
With more on Mexican history, Texas State Historical Association explains the details of the discovery of the Gulf of Mexico. It is said that “The first known mainland landing within the Gulf of Mexico by Europeans was Juan Ponce De León’s on the Florida peninsula in 1513”.
People seem to have noticed that the plan for the name change is slowly being put to fruition. The first sign of this occurred when Google Maps admitted on X, or formerly Twitter, that they would comply with the change.
BBC claims that “The change in name will only appear for Google Maps users in the US”.
Despite this claim, Google Maps still refers to the basin as the Gulf of Mexico. Additionally, Mexico’s president, Claudia Sheinbaum, has her own opinion on the situation. As documented by USA Today, Sheinbaum wrote an argumentative letter to Google, claiming “that the United States cannot unilaterally rename the body of water since it shares it with Cuba and Mexico”.
Overall, there is not much that can be done about President Trump’s executive order on changing the Gulf of Mexico’s name. While a simplistic name change is not much to fuss over, it is inconsiderate, seeing as to how it will interfere with the lives of Mexican citizens outside of the US. There are very many more drastic events and epidemics that the people we put in power should be focusing on, yet they seem to direct their attention towards making petty, prejudiced changes. At the end of the day, there is almost nothing we can do about these little rules, leaving Americans to spend their days making the best of these strange situations.