But Mexico argues the U.S. cannot legally change the Gulf's name because the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea dictates that an individual country's sovereign territory only extends up to 12 nautical miles out from the coastline.

Google says it will take its cue from the U.S. government if it has to change the names of the Gulf of Mexico and Denali on its Maps service.

The tech company said Monday it has a “longstanding practice of applying name changes when they have been updated in official government sources.”