GNIS renames Lake Ontario to Lake America on U.S. maps

The U.S. Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) has officially renamed “Lake Ontario” to “Lake America” within the United States. This change will be visible on Google Maps, as the platform updates its data to mirror name changes from authoritative sources like GNIS.

For users accessing Google Maps in the United States, the lake will be labeled as “Lake America.” However, Canadian users will still see the name “Lake Ontario,” and individuals outside both the U.S. and Canada will have access to both names on the maps. This adjustment is in line with the established policy for displaying names of bodies of water that differ between countries. These changes have begun to roll out.