President Donald Trump has proposed renaming New Mexico, saying the change would add “great value and prestige to the state.”
While the idea is not currently being implemented, questions have arisen about whether the president has the authority to rename a state.
Trump has previously renamed geographic landmarks through executive orders, such as Lake Ontario to Lake America and the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America. However, constitutionally, he does not have the same authority over state names. Renaming a state would require a vote within New Mexico itself.
The origins of New Mexico’s name also provide historical context. Many experts believe the name does not directly originate from the country of Mexico, which was named in 1821, hundreds of years after New Mexico. Some historians suggest Spanish explorers named the area “New Mexico” in the 1500s, comparing it to the Aztec Empire, known as “Mexica,” which they had already conquered further south. At the time, the region was referred to as “New Spain.”
