22-02-2025
Don't like the Gulf of America? MapQuest is allowing users to rename it
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If you're not a fan of the recently renamed Gulf of America, you can call it whatever you want courtesy of MapQuest.
The online navigation company appears to be poking fun at President Donald Trump's executive order to rebrand the body of water bordering the nation's southern coast.
Trump's decision to rename the Gulf of Mexico has been met with mixed results. While some U.S. citizens who live in places like Florida have gladly welcomed the name change, others appear irked.
Among those unhappy with the rebranding? Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum, who threatened legal action against Google again this week after the tech company changed the Gulf of Mexico's name for Google Maps users in the United States.
Apple maps and Bing Maps have also changed the name to Gulf of America on their apps.
Here's what to know about the recent switch and the names some people have given it using a new site by MapQuest.
MapQuest announced last week on X the company "still hadn't figured out" how to update its maps, but would allow users to rebrand the Gulf of Mexico on the website
After giving the gulf a new designation, its title will appear over the water of a map that users can download or share on social media — the image does not change MapQuest's official map display.
Social media users on BlueSky appear to be venting their frustrations about the Gulf of America by creating maps with names like the "Gulf of Fragile Masculinity," the "Gulf of Greenland," and the "Gulf of $7 Eggs."
In a statement posted to X, Google said it updated its maps application to the Gulf of America as part of a long-standing practice of adhering to official government names. The Geographic Names Information System, which is part of the United States Geological Survey, supplies the designated names used in Google Maps.
The gulf name will appear differently for people in other countries, the tech company explained, saying: "When official names vary between countries, Maps users see their official local name. Everyone in the rest of the world sees both names.'
Story continues after photo gallery.
Map applications on Apple and Bing have since followed Google's lead. MapQuest, however, isn't among them. The navigation company has retained the Gulf of Mexico name, it joked, not as a political statement but because the company doesn't remember how to change it.
"MapQuest is NOT renaming the Gulf of Mexico — not because of politics but because we haven't updated our maps in like 15 years and don't remember how to do it," the company posted last month.
fyi MapQuest is NOT renaming the Gulf of Mexico — not because of politics but because we haven't updated our maps in like 15 years and don't remember how to do it
— MapQuest (@MapQuest) January 29, 2025
"Gulf of Fragile Masculinity"
"Gulf of Salt Water"
"Gulf of Greenland"
"Gulf of $7 Eggs"
"Gulf of Cuba"
"Gulf of Mediocre White Men Ruining My Life"
"Gulf of Jimmy Buffett"
"Gulf of Lower Canada"
"Gulf of Where America's dignity died"
"Gulf of Eggs which broke Democracy"
"Gulf of American Entitlement"
"Gulf of Stupidity"
"Gulf of Gulf of Freaking Mexico"
"Gulf of Screaming Into The Void"
"Gulf of I could do this all day"
"Gulf of Alternate Reality"
"Gulf of This Executive Order Could Have Been An Email"
"Gulf of Dumbest Timeline"
"Gulf of All the Americas. Canada, come on in, the water is warm."
"Gulf of Incalculable Horrors"
"Gulf of Can I swim to Norway from here?"
MapQuest is a free online mapping and navigation service launched in 1996, making it one of the earliest such commercial mapping services of its time. Before the advent of voice navigation software in vehicles, users could enter a destination into MapQuest and receive step-by-step directions that could be printed out for use while traveling.
The MapQuest app is available for Apple iPhone and Google Android users.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: MapQuest is letting users rename the Gulf of America. Here's how
