The US State Department has sparked a fresh wave of reactions online after joking that it had “deadnamed” Lake America by mistakenly referring to the body of water as Lake Ontario on its website.
In a post on X, the department said it had been alerted to the error and had corrected the reference. “It was brought to our attention that Lake America was erroneously labeled as Lake “Ontario” on our website. We have corrected this mistake and apologize for deadnaming the lake,” the State Department wrote.
Deep Dive
What prompted Trump to sign the executive order renaming Lake Ontario to Lake America?
How has Canada reacted to Trump's naming decision regarding Lake Ontario?
What does the term 'deadnaming' mean in relation to the State Department's comment about Lake Ontario?
The unusual wording comes days after President Donald Trump signed an executive order directing the federal government to rename Lake Ontario as Lake America for US federal purposes. The order does not require Canada, international organizations or private entities to adopt the new name.
{{/usCountry}}The unusual wording comes days after President Donald Trump signed an executive order directing the federal government to rename Lake Ontario as Lake America for US federal purposes. The order does not require Canada, international organizations or private entities to adopt the new name.
{{/usCountry}}Trump’s Lake America order
Trump announced the change on August 27, saying the name “Lake America” would take effect immediately. The lake, one of North America’s five Great Lakes, sits along the US-Canada border, with about 52% of its surface area in Canada and the remainder in New York.
The renaming has become another flashpoint in the already strained relationship between Washington and Ottawa. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney rejected the new name, saying the lake’s name predates both Canada and the United States.
‘Deadnaming’ reference draws attention
The State Department's use of the term “deadnaming” appears to be a deliberate reference to language commonly associated with using a transgender person's former name rather than their chosen name.
The wording quickly drew attention on social media, where users reacted to the department's tongue-in-cheek explanation. The State Department post was being widely reshared within hours of publication.
One user wrote, “Dude I'm trying to go to the lake searching lake America and it's sending me to some place in Washington State.”
“Fun fact: roughly 52% of “Lake America” is in Canada,” another said on X.
One user commented, “deadnaming a lake, give a raise to whoever came up with that.”
The episode comes as the administration's broader push to change geographic names continues to generate debate. Trump previously ordered the Gulf of Mexico to be referred to as the Gulf of America in federal usage. The latest Lake America order has similarly created a split between the US federal government's terminology and the name used by Canadian officials and others.
For now, Lake Ontario remains the established name internationally, while “Lake America” is the designation the Trump administration has directed US federal agencies to use.