Talk:United States Board on Geographic Names

July 2014

A good resource regarding BGN is Mark Monmonnier's book, From Squaw Tit to Whorehouse Meadow. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 67.167.57.129 (talk • contribs) 05:21, 28 July 2014

125th anniversary

See http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2015/09/150918-us-board-geographical-names-125th-anniversary-national-geographic-maps-place-names/ for details. davidwr/(talk)/(contribs) 19:02, 18 September 2015 (UTC)

External links modified (January 2018)

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President-Elect Trump

Don't his proposals to rename the Gulf of Mexico and Mount Denali need to be reviewed by the Board? 2601:645:4300:A990:4589:8D73:ACE8:96AF (talk) 15:15, 20 January 2025 (UTC)

I think so. A previous edit said that the Board had taken action to rename these features, but I couldn't find that in the cited source, and I couldn't find any evidence that the Board has done that yet. It will "really" happen when the new names are entered in the GNIS database. As of 2025-01-28, 7:04 pm EST, the web search tool is still showing the name Denali (although I see that there are four OTHER mountains named Mt. McKinley). Accordingly I've edited the article to reflect the current status, which is that he has ordered the Board to rename them, referencing the executive order.

I expect it will happen soon. The order among other things says "each agency head with authority to appoint members to the Board on Geographic Names (Board) pursuant to 43 U.S.C. 364a, shall review their respective appointees and consider replacing those appointees in accordance with applicable law.... The Secretary of the Interior shall review and consider additional appointments to the Board to assist in fulfilling all aspects of this order, subject to all applicable laws." I imagine that Google Maps will probably reflect the new names soon after they are entered in the GNIS, and that will confirm that it has actually happened. But for now, it's jumping the gun to say it has already happened. Dpbsmith (talk) 00:06, 29 January 2025 (UTC)

The New York Times reported on 2025-01-24 that "Interior Department Says Gulf of Mexico is Now 'Gulf of America,'" but I think it's jumping the gun. "The agency on Friday also said the U.S. Board on Geographic Names, a federal body that oversees standardized geographic names, is working “expeditiously” to fulfill Mr. Trump’s order," which to me means that it has not yet been fulfilled. Again, of course, I'm pretty sure it will be. Dpbsmith (talk) 14:43, 30 January 2025 (UTC)

As of 1/30/2025, 9:46 am EST, the GNIS web search tool returns no hits for Gulf of America, and the only hits for Mount McKinley refer to:

245707 • Summit • Los Angeles County - California
1256394 • Summit • Harding County - South Dakota
799207 • Summit • Wibaux County - Montana
1102045 • Summit • Comanche County - Oklahoma

The summit in Alaska is shown as Denali. Dpbsmith (talk) 14:51, 30 January 2025 (UTC)

Requested edit

Change "the United States Secretary of the Interior" to "the United States secretary of the interior" in the first sentence. Per MOS:JOBTITLES. @Drmies @Vsmith @Ponyo

It has been claimed that the sentence must match the title of the article, this is untrue. There is a difference between usage depending on how the title or position is worded. Wamalotpark (talk) 18:00, 29 January 2025 (UTC)

• I don't know why you're pinging me. Drmies (talk) 21:17, 29 January 2025 (UTC)

@Woko Sapien informed me that "interior" is lowercase as well when in the name. Wamalotpark (talk) 23:13, 29 January 2025 (UTC)

@Drmies @Wamalotpark @Ponyo @Vsmith Why? Wouldn't it, because the title is a proper noun, be "United States Secretary of the Interior"? United States Secretary of the Interior. 209.6.139.211 (talk) 20:58, 3 October 2025 (UTC)

Because of MOS:JOBTITLES Wamalotpark (talk) 07:52, 4 October 2025 (UTC)

I still don't know why you're pinging me. Stop. Drmies (talk) 13:00, 6 October 2025 (UTC)