Pennsylvania State Lawmaker Proposes Renaming Lake Erie to 'Lake Pennsylvania' Following Federal Renaming Actions

A Republican state lawmaker in Pennsylvania is calling on the federal government to officially change the name of Lake Erie to "Lake Pennsylvania," seeking to capitalize on a wave of recent geographic renaming initiatives undertaken by the White House.

Pennsylvania state Representative David Maloney announced that he is drafting a formal legislative resolution that asks President Donald Trump, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, and members of Congress to pursue administrative and legislative action to rebrand the historic Great Lake.

In presenting his proposal, Maloney argued that the title change is warranted because Lake Erie serves as the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania's solitary link to the Great Lakes. The state representative maintained that modernizing the lake’s title would more accurately capture its contemporary identity and significance to the region's economy.

Maloney emphasized that the body of water is vital to local recreation and commerce, noting that its modern profile is heavily shaped by visiting tourists, anglers, recreational boaters, and area families. From his perspective, the designation should reflect the state that actively utilizes and supports this critical waterfront.

To justify the rebranding, Maloney pointed out the geographic shares of other surrounding states and nations. He observed that neighboring Ohio already possesses an extensive Great Lakes shoreline, while New York borders two separate Great Lakes and Canada controls coastlines on four others. Maloney asserted that because Pennsylvania has only one Great Lake bordering its territory, it should bear the commonwealth's name.

According to data compiled by the Environmental Protection Agency, Lake Erie is the shallowest of all five Great Lakes and ranks as the smallest by total water volume.

The Environmental Protection Agency also estimates that approximately 12 million people reside within the broader Lake Erie watershed. The vast majority of this population—around 10.5 million individuals—lives on the United States side of the border, while approximately 1.9 million residents reside within Canadian boundaries.

Maloney's legislative initiative follows a series of notable geographic renaming decrees by President Trump. Just last month, the president issued an executive order renaming Lake Ontario to "Lake America," a unilateral move that triggered strong objections from international counterparts.

The Lake Ontario rebranding was immediately rejected by the Canadian government. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney issued a critical statement acknowledging that while the United States is currently altering its trade arrangements, foreign policies, national monuments, and hydronyms, Canadians will continue to recognize the water body as Lake Ontario now and in the future.

Domestic opposition to the renaming of Lake Ontario also emerged within the United States. New York Governor Kathy Hochul publicly rebuffed the federal Lake America moniker with a blunt response rejecting the administrative change.

From a regulatory standpoint, federal executive orders altering geographic names apply exclusively to the U.S. federal government and its administrative branches. Consequently, the decrees carry no legal power to compel sovereign foreign governments, international organizations, or individual American states to adopt the new nomenclature.

The Lake Ontario redesignation mirrored an earlier action taken on Trump's first day back in office in January 2025. During that first day, the president signed an executive order renaming the Gulf of Mexico to the "Gulf of America," which similarly applied only across federal agencies without binding foreign nations like Mexico or non-federal entities.

Despite the limited legal reach of federal naming orders, major technology firms have adjusted their commercial software in response to the directives. Both Google Maps and Apple Maps altered their applications to display the names "Lake America" and "Gulf of America," utilizing region-based geolocation settings specifically for users accessing the platforms from within the United States.

The administration has also entertained broader changes to major bodies of water surrounding the continent. President Trump has publicly floated the idea of renaming both the Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean.

Beyond maritime features, the president has suggested altering domestic state titles, raising the prospect of renaming New Mexico to "New America." That suggestion prompted several Democratic lawmakers from New Mexico to formally urge Apple and Google to maintain the state's traditional name on their digital mapping platforms.

Maloney’s proposed resolution now brings Pennsylvania into the ongoing dispute over national naming conventions, setting up Lake Erie as the latest focal point in an expanding debate surrounding federal authority over shared North American geography.