Gulf of America

• (Nakhodka Bay): Partial calque of Russian зали́в Америка (zalív Amerika), from зали́в (zalív, “gulf, bay”) and the name of the Russian corvette Америка (Amerika) that discovered the bay.
• (Gulf of Mexico): A renaming of the oceanic basin by US president Donald Trump in 2025, although earlier uses exist.

the Gulf of America

1. (obsolete) Synonym of Nakhodka Bay.

   Alternative form: Gulf of Amerika

   Synonym: Amerika Bay

   • For more quotations using this term, see Citations:Gulf of America.
2. (neologism) Official (in the US) but internationally unrecognized name for the Gulf of Mexico.
   • 2008, Joseph A. Gillan, chapter 29, in Just before the Dawn: Rebecca Remembered‎^[1] (Fiction), Sarasota, Florida: LIKAJE Books, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 177:

     Siesta Key is touched on its south by Sarasota Bay and on its north by The Gulf of Mexico, which Rollie called "the Gulf of America."
     "It is here, in Sarasota, in the U-S-of-A, it is here legally, it is not unemployed and it does not carry a shiv or eat tacos."
     "It's the Gulf of America!"
     "I see nothing Mexican about that body of water at all."

   • 2011, Ken Jennings, “Benchmarks”, in Maphead: Charting the Wide, Weird World of Geography Wonks‎^[2], Scribner, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 72:

     It's hard for Americans to understand the patriotism that can get bound up in place-names. We're a young country. We're also accustomed, in our cockeyed cowboy fashion, to everything else revolving around us, so we can afford to let slide the fact that, say, the Gulf of Mexico isn't called the Gulf of America. (Although, according to John Hebert, that is the pet issue of one frequent complainant to the Board on Geographic Names.)

   • 2012, Steve Holland, “AN ACT TO PROVIDE THAT FOR ALL OFFICIAL PURPOSES WITHIN THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI, THE BODY OF WATER LOCATED DIRECTLY SOUTH OF HANCOCK, HARRISON AND JACKSON COUNTIES SHALL BE KNOWN AS THE "GULF OF AMERICA"; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.”, in Mississippi Legislature‎^[3], archived from the original on 26 February 2012:

     For all official purposes within the State of Mississippi, the body of water that is located directly south of Hancock, Harrison and Jackson Counties shall be known as the "Gulf of America."

   • 2025 January 21, Louis Casiano, quoting Kevin Lunday, “Coast Guard surging assets to Gulf of America, other waterways to support Trump’s executive orders”, in Fox News‎^[4], archived from the original on 14 November 2025:

     Lunday also wrote in the release that the agency would target the "maritime border between Texas and Mexico in the Gulf of America."

   • 2025 January 28, Jordan Valinsky, “Google Maps will change the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America”, in CNN Business‎^[5], archived from the original on 21 March 2025:

     Google is complying with President Donald Trump’s executive action that renamed the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America. Soon, the name change will appear on Google Maps.

   • For more quotations using this term, see Citations:Gulf of America.