section_path: Name
section_name: Name
paragraph_text: Name
  
  As with the name of Mexico, the gulf's name is associated with the ethnonym Mexica, which refers to the Nahuatl -speaking people of the Valley of Mexico better known as the Aztecs. In Aztec religion, the gulf was called Chalchiuhtlicueyecatl, or 'House of Chalchiuhtlicue ', after the deity of the seas. Believing that the sea and sky merged beyond the horizon, they called the seas ilhuicaatl, meaning 'sky water', contrasting them with finite, landlocked bodies of water, such as lakes. The Maya civilization, which used the gulf as a major trade route, likely called the gulf nahá, meaning 'great water'.
  
  Up to 1530, European maps depicted the gulf, though left it unlabeled. Hernán Cortés called it "Sea of the North" (Spanish: Mar del Norte) in his dispatches, while other Spanish explorers called it the "Gulf of Florida" (Golfo de Florida) or "Gulf of Cortés" (Golfo de Cortés). A 1584 map by Abraham Ortelius also labeled it as the "Sea of the North" (Mare de Nort). Other early European maps called it the "Gulf of St. Michael" (Latin: Sinus S. Michaelis), "Gulf of Yucatán " (Golfo de Iucatan), "Yucatán Sea" (Mare Iuchatanicum), "Great Antillean Gulf" (Sinus Magnus Antillarum), " Cathayan Sea" (Mare Cathaynum), or "Gulf of New Spain" (Spanish: Golfo de Nueva España). At one point, New Spain encircled the gulf, with the Spanish Main extending into what later became Mexico and the southeastern United States.
  
  The name "Gulf of Mexico" (Spanish: golfo de México; French: golphe du Mexique, later golfe du Mexique) first appeared on a world map in 1550 and a historical account in 1552. As with other large bodies of water, Europeans named the gulf after Mexico, land of the Mexica, because mariners needed to cross the gulf to reach that destination. This name has been the most common name since the mid-17th century, when it was still considered a Spanish sea. French Jesuits used this name as early as 1672. In the 18th century, Spanish admiralty charts similarly labeled the gulf as "Mexican Cove" or "Mexican Sound" (Ensenada Mexicana or Seno Mexicano). Until the Republic of Texas broke away from Mexico in 1836, Mexico's coastal boundary extended eastward along the gulf to present-day Louisiana.
  
  Among the other languages of Mexico, the gulf is known as Ayollohco Mexihco in Nahuatl, u golfoil México in Yucatec Maya, and golfo yu'un México in Tzotzil.
  
  On January 20, 2025, United States president Donald Trump signed an executive order directing U.S. federal agencies to adopt the name Gulf of America for the gulf waters bounded by the U.S. Although there is no formal protocol on the general naming of international waters, Gulf of Mexico is officially recognized by the International Hydrographic Organization, which seeks to standardize the names of international maritime features for certain purposes and counts all three countries adjacent to the gulf as member states. Major online map platforms and several U.S.-based media outlets voluntarily adopted the change. Mexican president Claudia Sheinbaum objected to the declaration of a name change.
  
  As with the name of Mexico, the gulf's name is associated with the ethnonym Mexica, which refers to the Nahuatl -speaking people of the Valley of Mexico better known as the Aztecs. In Aztec religion, the gulf was called Chalchiuhtlicueyecatl, or 'House of Chalchiuhtlicue ', after the deity of the seas. Believing that the sea and sky merged beyond the horizon, they called the seas ilhuicaatl, meaning 'sky water', contrasting them with finite, landlocked bodies of water, such as lakes. The Maya civilization, which used the gulf as a major trade route, likely called the gulf nahá, meaning 'great water'.
  
  Up to 1530, European maps depicted the gulf, though left it unlabeled. Hernán Cortés called it "Sea of the North" (Spanish: Mar del Norte) in his dispatches, while other Spanish explorers called it the "Gulf of Florida" (Golfo de Florida) or "Gulf of Cortés" (Golfo de Cortés). A 1584 map by Abraham Ortelius also labeled it as the "Sea of the North" (Mare de Nort). Other early European maps called it the "Gulf of St. Michael" (Latin: Sinus S. Michaelis), "Gulf of Yucatán " (Golfo de Iucatan), "Yucatán Sea" (Mare Iuchatanicum), "Great Antillean Gulf" (Sinus Magnus Antillarum), " Cathayan Sea" (Mare Cathaynum), or "Gulf of New Spain" (Spanish: Golfo de Nueva España). At one point, New Spain encircled the gulf, with the Spanish Main extending into what later became Mexico and the southeastern United States.
  
  The name "Gulf of Mexico" (Spanish: golfo de México; French: golphe du Mexique, later golfe du Mexique) first appeared on a world map in 1550 and a historical account in 1552. As with other large bodies of water, Europeans named the gulf after Mexico, land of the Mexica, because mariners needed to cross the gulf to reach that destination. This name has been the most common name since the mid-17th century, when it was still considered a Spanish sea. French Jesuits used this name as early as 1672. In the 18th century, Spanish admiralty charts similarly labeled the gulf as "Mexican Cove" or "Mexican Sound" (Ensenada Mexicana or Seno Mexicano). Until the Republic of Texas broke away from Mexico in 1836, Mexico's coastal boundary extended eastward along the gulf to present-day Louisiana.
  
  Among the other languages of Mexico, the gulf is known as Ayollohco Mexihco in Nahuatl, u golfoil México in Yucatec Maya, and golfo yu'un México in Tzotzil.
  
  On January 20, 2025, United States president Donald Trump signed an executive order directing U.S. federal agencies to adopt the name Gulf of America for the gulf waters bounded by the U.S. Although there is no formal protocol on the general naming of international waters, Gulf of Mexico is officially recognized by the International Hydrographic Organization, which seeks to standardize the names of international maritime features for certain purposes and counts all three countries adjacent to the gulf as member states. Major online map platforms and several U.S.-based media outlets voluntarily adopted the change. Mexican president Claudia Sheinbaum objected to the declaration of a name change.