Executive Order 14422 (Aug. 27) directed Interior and the Board on Geographic Names to rename Lake Ontario as Lake America for federal use; Interior Order 3453 implemented it the same day. The federal GNIS record 970427 lists Lake America as official and still carries Lake Ontario as a variant. By statute the Board sets names for the Federal Government. H.R. 10196 would codify the name; H.R. 10186 and S. 5394 would bar renaming and void the order. As of Sept. 25 all three bills are only referred to committee.
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Lake America is the U.S. federal name for Lake Ontario; bills to codify or reverse it remain in committee
What official action made Lake America the U.S. federal name, and whom does that action cover?
The declared scope passed verification protocol 2.1; this is not a claim of exhaustive coverage. Every displayed archive match opens a dated record.The public question, separated from the record.
Primary records were found in Federal, Administrative sources; 7 records are listed below. No matching record was found in the listed International / treaty sources using the displayed queries as of 2026-09-25.
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Verified Sep 25, 2026 · 11:21 UTCScope and evidence
On September 25, 2026 this review reopened EO 14422 in the Federal Register, Interior Secretary's Order 3453 and its Interior page, the live public GNIS record 970427 (official and variant names and the BGN decision entry), 43 U.S.C. 364, and the text and GovInfo bill-status records of H.R. 10196, H.R. 10186 and S. 5394. It ran GovInfo searches for Lake America and Lake Ontario across bills, the Federal Register, the Congressional Record, presidential documents and federal court opinions since late August, and checked the BGN and EPA Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement pages for later guidance or a binational change.
Names and identifiers searched
Lake Ontario, renamed Lake America for U.S. federal use; USGS GNIS feature ID 970427 (official name Lake America; variants include Lake Ontario, Lac Ontario, Skanadario, Kaniatarí:io Lake); Executive Order 14422 of August 27, 2026 (FR Doc. 2026-18020, 91 FR 56543); Department of the Interior Secretary's Order 3453; U.S. Board on Geographic Names; 43 U.S.C. 364-364f; H.R. 10196 (Lake America Act, Rep. Patronis); H.R. 10186 (Hands Off Our Great Lakes Act, Rep. Dingell); S. 5394 (Hands Off Our Great Lakes Act, Sen. Gillibrand); Natural Resources Canada CGNDB unique ID FAYLN (Lake Ontario). Related non-controlling actors: City of Oswego, N.Y. Common Council (September 14, 2026 agenda); Seneca Nation. Exclude other Great Lakes, the Gulf of America order (EO 14172) except as cited policy, and unrelated Lake Ontario water-level or shipping matters.
Primary evidence
Federal · Sep 14, 2026Hands Off Our Great Lakes Act (Senate)introduced Senate bill · S. 5394 ISWould bar federal renaming of the five Great Lakes and provide that EO 14422 has no force or effect. The GovInfo bill-status record reopened September 25 lists only introduction and referral to the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works on September 14, 2026; it is not law.
Administrative · Sep 3, 2026Lake Americaofficial geographic-names record · GNIS feature 970427The public GNIS record, last edited September 3, 2026 and reopened September 25, lists Lake America as the official name under an Executive Order decision dated August 27, 2026, and still lists Lake Ontario among its variant names. It shows the federal names database entry, not how every agency has updated its maps or documents.
Federal · Sep 2, 2026Honoring the American History of the Great Lakes and Renaming Lake Ontario as Lake America (Executive Order 14422 of August 27, 2026)Federal Register executive order · EO 14422; FR Doc. 2026-18020Section 2(b) directs the Secretary of the Interior, with the Board on Geographic Names and consistent with 43 U.S.C. 364 through 364f, to rename the lake as Lake America within 30 days, update GNIS, remove references to Lake Ontario from GNIS consistent with applicable law, and provide guidance so all Federal Government references reflect the renaming. It describes the lake as bounded on the north, west and southwest by the Canadian province of Ontario. Section 3 says it is implemented consistent with applicable law and creates no enforceable right.
Federal · Aug 31, 2026Hands Off Our Great Lakes Act (House)introduced House bill · H.R. 10186 IHWould bar the President, the Secretary of the Interior and federal officers from renaming any of the five Great Lakes. The GovInfo bill-status record reopened September 25 lists only introduction and referral to the House Committee on Natural Resources on August 31, 2026; it is not law.
Federal · Aug 31, 2026Lake America Actintroduced House bill · H.R. 10196 IHWould rename Lake Ontario as Lake America by statute and deem federal references to Lake Ontario to refer to Lake America. The GovInfo bill-status record reopened September 25 lists only introduction and referral to the House Committee on Natural Resources on August 31, 2026; it is not law.
Administrative · Aug 27, 2026Order No. 3453, Lake Americasecretarial order · Secretary's Order 3453Cites 43 U.S.C. 364-364f and EO 14422, orders the Board on Geographic Names to immediately rename the feature known as Lake Ontario to Lake America and update the Geographic Names Information System, and is effective immediately. The Interior order page remained posted when reopened September 25, 2026.
Federal · Jul 25, 1947Uniformity in geographic nomenclature and orthographyfederal statute · 43 U.S.C. 364Directs the Secretary of the Interior, conjointly with the Board on Geographic Names, to provide for uniformity in geographic nomenclature and orthography throughout the Federal Government. The statute text addresses federal usage; it does not purport to set names for other governments.
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Congress
H.R. 10196
To rename Lake Ontario as "Lake America".
Referred to the House Committee on Natural Resources. Open the supporting record →Cross-branch archive matches
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