Fact Check: Is Lake Michigan Being Renamed Lake Illinois?

Lake Michigan has been an iconic part of the Great Lakes since time immemorial when the glaciers receded and gave the middle of the North American continent the vast inland seas that are Lakes Michigan, Huron, Superior, Erie and Ontario.

And those names are the names the lakes will always be, right?

👇🏼BELOW: These Are the Incredible and Underrated Beaches of Lake Michigan's Southern Coast + These Very Special Streets Run Directly Along the Coast of Lake Michigan👇🏼

Right?

As we know politicians can and do rename geographic features with the stroke of a pen. And that's exactly what the Governor of Illinois J. B. Pritzker recently attempted.

In a tongue-in-cheek press conference filled with solemnity and a not so subtle jab at President Trump's executive order renaming both the Gulf of Mexico and Alaska's Denali, Illinois has decided that henceforth Lake Michigan should be called Lake Illinois.

Here's the announcement:

Pritzker announced that he's unilaterally making this name change.

Lake Illinois, née Michigan, does touch four states: Michigan, Illinois, Wisconsin and so often forgotten, Indiana. So could another state rightly claim the name of the lake of Michigan. By all metrics, of course not.

Michigan has more shoreline than the other states - combined. Michigan has two peninsulas that wrap the lake in a tight bro-hug. It's the Great Lakes State, after all. One could claim that Michigan has four other lakes and why should it get bent out of shape about losing the name to one of them? But they're hers and she's bound to keep them the way she likes them.

READ MORE: What Is the Great Lakes Point of Inaccessibility - the Farthest Spot from Land?

Illinois does have other geographic features they can own: the Illinois River forms from the Des Plains and Kankakee and flows 270 some miles across the state to meet the Mississippi.

The Lake Illinois name, believe it or not dates back many years. A Wikipedia entry for the Lake Illinois in reference to Lake Michigan goes back to 2009.

While the Illinois Governor's political shot is easily seen through, there's likely to ill will intended for Michigan's Governor Gretchen Whitmer - after all, they're in the same political party and fond of each other.

But if it did come down to a fight, Pritzker wants no part of Big Gretch.