MapQuest rose to the No. 1 spot on Apple's App Store after refusing to change Lake Ontario's name to Lake America on its platform following President Donald Trump's executive order on the matter.
The mapping service took the top spot among free apps on Apple’s App Store this week after announcing it would continue using the lake’s historical name despite the president directing the U.S. government to recognize the body of water sitting between the United States and Canada as Lake America.
"We are aware that Lake Ontario is being correctly labeled on our map," MapQuest said Aug. 30 in a post on X.
Trump, on Aug. 27, signed an executive order in the Oval Office directing his administration to change the name of Lake Ontario to Lake America after
threatening the action for days amid a rapidly escalating trade war with Canada. The order instructed the Department of the Interior and the U.S. Board on Geographic Names to formalize the change within 30 days. As he signed the order, Trump compared the move to his action last year to rename the Gulf of Mexico the Gulf of America.
MapQuest refuses to budge on name change
MapQuest, in an X post on Aug. 27, the same day as Trump's executive order, said: "We’re not changing it."
In a follow-up post the same day, MapQuest invited users to name the lake whatever they want.
"We're not changing the name of Lake Ontario," the service said. "Name it whatever you want at your leisure: https://gulfof.mapquest.com/lakeontario."
The company took a similar stance after Trump's push to rename the Gulf of Mexico in early 2025. At the time, in addition to announcing that it wouldn't change the name on its platform, MapQuest launched a map generator that allowed users to "name your own Gulf."
Google Maps renames Lake Ontario to Lake America
Google Maps, meanwhile, officially changed the lake's name from Lake Ontario to Lake America for users in the United States on Aug. 29.
In a post on its news blog, Google said it made the change "since we update Google Maps to reflect name changes in official government sources."
Google Maps users in the United States will see "Lake America" while those in Canada will continue to see "Lake Ontario" on the platform. Users outside of the U.S. and Canada will see both names, the post said.
"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," Google added.
Apple Maps sticks to Lake Ontario, for now
Apple Maps continues to use the name Lake Ontario as of Tuesday, Sept. 1. USA TODAY has reached out to Apple Maps for comment on whether it plans to change the name.
By comparison, Apple Maps opted to swap the name of the body of water formerly known as the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America after Trump's push in early 2025.
Canada rejects name change
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, in a statement following Trump's order, said the lake's name for Canadians will always remain Lake Ontario.
"The name is more than 400 years old, predating both the Confederation of Canada and the Declaration of Independence of the United States of America," Carney said. "We know that America is changing. Their trading relationships, their foreign policies, their national monuments, their hydronyms. Canadians also know that naming reality means calling it Lake Ontario — then, now and always."
Lake Ontario's name dates back to the 17th century and comes from the native Iroquois tribe's word "Ontarí'io," meaning "lake of shining waters," per the Center for Great Lakes Literacy. The name began appearing on European explorers' maps in the 1660s.
Contributing: Eve Chen / USA TODAY
Melina Khan is a national trending reporter for USA TODAY. Keep up with her on X @melinakh and Instagram @bymelinakhan.
Saman Shafiq is a trending news reporter for USA TODAY. Reach her at sshafiq@gannett.com and follow her on X and Instagram @saman_shafiq7.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: MapQuest is No. 1 on Apple App Store after keeping Lake Ontario name
