Gulf of Mexico naming controversy

The Gulf of Mexico became the center of a geographical naming dispute in the United States when U . president Donald Trump issued an executive order directing U . federal agencies to call it the "Gulf of America". Issued on the day of his inauguration (January 20, 2025), the executive order only requires the U . executive branch to use this nomenclature, although major online map platforms and some U media outlets have voluntarily made the change. A February 2025 poll by Marquette University found that, among 1,018 respondents across the U ., 71% opposed renaming the Gulf of Mexico and 29% supported the name change. The name "Gulf of Mexico" has been in use since the 1550s, derived from Mexica, the Nahuatl term for the Aztecs. The name soon became internationally recognized and in use by bodies such as the International Hydrographic Organization.