Trump Wants to Rename the Gulf of Mexico, but Why Does It Have That Name in the First Place?

Everyone knows that the most pressing problem facing Americans today is their embarrassment over the name of the Gulf of Mexico. That's what soon-to-be president Donald Trump has made it a priority to rename the body of water the Gulf of America. While that fairly imperial goal might actually be a priority for Trump, it led some to wonder why the body of water is called the Gulf of Mexico to begin with.

As it turns out, the Gulf of Mexico has had several names over the course of its history, including a few that predate American itself. Here's what we know about why the Gulf of Mexico is called that.

The most obvious explanation for the body of water's name is that more than half of the coastline around the Gulf of Mexico borders Mexico. The Gulf is not actually named after the country, though, and instead named after an ancient Native city that bore the same name.

What's also true, though, is that anybody can suggest a renaming of a body of water for the United States. This wouldn't be the first time that a name has changed, although it's not quite as simple as submitting a request.

"The BGN is responsible by law for standardizing geographic names throughout the federal government and discourages name changes unless there is a compelling reason," the Board of Geographic Names says on its website. "Further, changing an existing name merely to correct or re-establish historical usage should not be a primary reason to change a name."

What's more, while Trump could start the process of changing the official U.S. name, that doesn't mean that other countries have to abide by that new name. Every country has its own naming conventions, and Trump cannot unilaterally change the name of a body of water for the entire world, much of which doesn't speak English anyway.

The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names helps to mediate disputes between countries over what the proper name should be.

"As fundamental to the need for global standardization of geographical names, UNGEGN promotes the recording of locally-used names reflecting the languages and traditions of a country," the group's website explains.

You would think that the right to name the Gulf of Mexico would simply go to whoever owned the body of water, but most bodies of water aren't actually owned by a single country. The countries with the most control over the Gulf of Mexico are Mexico, the United States, and Cuba, who have all shared the Gulf and its waterways for decades.

The UN says that the U.S. owns the body of water 12 nautical miles off of its shores, and the U.S. does also control much of the undersea basin. When Trump claims that it should be renamed because the Gulf is "ours," though, that's fundamentally untrue.