U.S. President Donald Trump has ordered federal agencies to use the name ‘Lake America’ instead of Lake Ontario. Google Maps has already adopted the new designation for users in the United States. Poland, however, has no plans to follow Washington’s decision. The official Polish name remains Jezioro Ontario, according to Poland’s Commission on Standardization of Geographical Names Outside the Republic of Poland.
Trump signed the executive order on August 27, 2026, amid escalating trade tensions between the United States and Canada. The measure directs U.S. federal institutions to refer to Lake Ontario as ‘Lake America’ for federal purposes.
The change has also been reflected in the U.S. Geographic Names Information System, the federal database used to standardize geographical names in the United States. Google subsequently updated Google Maps for users located in the U.S., while Canadian and international users may continue to see Lake Ontario or different naming variants depending on location.
Poland will continue to use Lake Ontario
For Poland, the U.S. decision has no automatic effect. Justyna Kacprzak, secretary of Poland’s Commission on Standardization of Geographical Names Outside the Republic of Poland, told the Polish Press Agency that names displayed by Google are not binding for Polish geographical terminology.
She confirmed that the Commission has not adopted any decision to change the Polish name of the lake. The officially recommended Polish form therefore remains Jezioro Ontario.
Whether the issue will be discussed at the Commission’s next meeting, expected around the end of September or beginning of October, has not yet been decided. Any formal change would have to be approved by the Commission and announced publicly.
A lake shared by the United States and Canada
Lake Ontario is one of North America’s five Great Lakes and is shared by the United States and Canada. Around 52% of its surface lies on the Canadian side of the border, which makes the renaming fundamentally different from changing the name of a geographical feature located entirely within one country.
The Trump administration can determine how U.S. federal agencies refer to the lake, but it cannot require Canada, international organisations or other countries to adopt the same terminology. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has already said that the lake will continue to be called Lake Ontario in Canada.
Poland took the same approach to the Gulf of Mexico
Poland faced a similar question after Trump ordered U.S. federal agencies in early 2025 to use the name ‘Gulf of America’ instead of Gulf of Mexico.
Poland’s geographical names commission decided in March 2025 that Zatoka Meksykańska, or Gulf of Mexico, would remain the recommended Polish name. The Commission pointed out that the Gulf is a transboundary geographical feature shared by the United States, Mexico and Cuba, and that changing terminology in one country did not justify changing the traditional Polish name.
The same principle currently applies to Lake Ontario. For Polish maps, publications, media and official documents, the recommended name remains Jezioro Ontario, regardless of the terminology used by U.S. federal agencies or Google Maps in the United States.
Sources: Reuters, Polish Press Agency (PAP), Poland’s Commission on Standardization of Geographical Names Outside the Republic of Poland.
