# Trump's renaming of gulfs & lakes? Now he's trying states . .

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-renaming-of-gulfs-lakes-now-hes-trying-states/1032878>\
**Category:** The BBQ Pit\
**Tags:** trump\
**Created:** [September 7, 2026, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-renaming-of-gulfs-lakes-now-hes-trying-states/1032878 "2026-09-07T17:24:20Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Showing post:** 32

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**Author:** ![robby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robby/32/11048_2.png) [@robby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robby)\
**Post date:** [September 8, 2026, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-renaming-of-gulfs-lakes-now-hes-trying-states/1032878/32 "2026-09-08T14:08:33Z")

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> [@whitetho](#):
>
> Trivia: In 2020, “Rhode Island and Providence Plantations” passed a referendum to shorten its name to just “Rhode Island”.

Nitpick: the official name of the state changed from the “ **State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations** ” to the “ **State of Rhode Island** ”.

I work with state and municipal governments all the time. The “State of…” or “Commonwealth of…” or “City of…” is part of the legal name.

Here in Connecticut, there is a “City of Groton” and a “Town of Groton.” (Counterintuitively, the jurisdiction of the city is surrounded by that of the town, because the town is a sub-county division, what some other states call “townships.”) Anyway, the “City of Groton” and “Town of Groton” are two different legal entities.

So if you are talking about a geographical area, you can certainly refer to Connecticut or Rhode Island, but if you are talking about official names, then you have to add the “State of…”, etc.

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