How GNIS' Lake Ontario/Lake America name change in the U.S. will appear in Maps

Aug 29, 2026


The U.S. Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) has formally changed the name for "Lake Ontario" to "Lake America" in the United States. Since we update Google Maps to reflect name changes in official government sources, like GNIS, people using Maps in the U.S. will see "Lake America," those in Canada will continue to see "Lake Ontario," and those outside of the U.S. and Canada will see both names. These updates follow our long-standing policy for bodies of water with names that vary from country to country, and are starting to roll out now.

Three visuals showing what Maps users will see in the U.S. ("Lake America"), in Canada ("Lake Ontario"), and in the rest of the world (both).