What’s in a name? Controversy and conflict in naming US cities, towns and states

There has been no shortage of controversy in the early months of President Donald Trump’s second term in office. But aside from the high-profile foreign policy actions, certain place names have become a contested issue at the start of 2025.

In January, just days after returning to office, Trump signed an executive order entitled ‘Restoring Names That Honor American Greatness‘. First, the Gulf of Mexico was renamed ‘Gulf of America’ by Trump, although a number of foreign leaders have said that they intend to stick with the long-established name.

Another Trump change was the decision to rename the Denali mountain in Alaska, returning to the moniker ‘Mount McKinley’. The name ’Denali' was restored in 2015 following a decades-long effort to pay respect to the Athabascan people who lived there. Trump, however, wanted it to honour former President William McKinley.

Controversial town names in the US

From the late-19th century onwards the US government has placed extra emphasis on name standardisation and President Benjamin Harrison established the United States Board on Geographic Names in 1890, hoping to resolve “all unsettled questions concerning geographic names.”

Early decision included clarifying the names Chile (not ‘Chili’) and the Fiji Islands (no ‘Feejee’). In 1891 the Board decided that the city of Pittsburgh should, for federal government purposes, be spelt ‘Pittsburg’. However the ‘H’ was returned in a second ruling in 1911 and the city has remained ‘Pittsburgh’ to this day.

Hawaii’s ascent to statehood in 1959 required a whole host of new naming decisions that continued for decades, and as late as the 1990s there were more than 10,000 Hawaiian place names under consideration by the board. The complication of naming places with different localised language can be seen, with the island of Hawai’i retaining a subtly different spelling to the state of Hawaii.

But despite the best efforts of the Board, there are still countless controversial names in the US. A 2021 study found that more than 1,000 towns, and geographical features across the country still carry names including racist or discriminatory terms. Among the most infamous of those are ‘Squaw Lake’ in Minnesota and ‘Dead Negro Spring’ in Oklahoma. Across the US there are 621 places with the word ‘Negro’, 29 with the word ‘Chinaman’ and 82 that include ‘Redman’.

“During the long period of toponymic stewardship, the Board has been praised, ridiculed, and ignored,” former Board executive secretary Donald J. Orth wrote in 1990. “It has locked horns with presidents, cabinet officers, congressmen, special interest groups, and persevering individuals. There have been victories and some defeats.”

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