On Jan. 20, Donald Trump made the executive order–Executive Order 14172– to rename the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America, with the words “Restoring Names That Honor American Greatness.”

     “Just because [the] United States changes [it], doesn’t mean it’s unilaterally changed for other foreign countries,” U.S. History teacher Marty Johnston said, “In the United States, we might see it being changed, and American-based companies like Google changing the name on their platforms. But regionally, a lot of people will still [call it the] same thing,” Johnston said

     This act was not the first attempt to change the Gulf of Mexico’s name. Johnston explained that in 2012,  Democratic Senator Steve Holland also voted to rename the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America. Some news outlets, however, have suggested that Holland was being satirical with his words and was using the bill to make fun of republicans. Unlike Holland’s senate bill, Trump’s executive orders do not require multiple people’s opinions, and as such, the Gulf of Mexico has been renamed to the Gulf of America, at least for America that is.
    Johnston mentions that this isn’t the first area to be renamed,  “[It’s] very similar with Denali versus McKinley. So Mount Denali versus Mount McKinley in Alaska, indigenous population has always been referred to as Denali. Politically, it’s gone back and forth, the political leadership of it, the Obama administration changed it officially to Denali, and then just recently, [the] Trump administration [have the] floating idea of going, bringing back McKinley.” Johnston said, despite the area having a name for centuries. 

    Johnston adds that there is an argument for and against the renaming of the Gulf of America, “since [The Gulf of America] kind of borders between North and Central America,” Johnston mentioned that in terms of familiarity, it will still be called The Gulf of Mexico.

     “I think it’s an interesting topic,” Johnston said. “A major landmark [being] renamed, people want to look at both sides of it, [why?] Why not? What was the motivation behind it?” Johnston said. “It brings up an interesting debate on how we name things and why.”

     In the end, the area is still likely to be called the Gulf of Mexico, the name is what most people know it by, and it will likely be a few generations before it becomes commonplace if the name stays.