Who decides names on a map?

For the tallest mountain in North America, plenty. On Sunday, U.S. Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell signed an order officially changing the name of the 20,320-foot (6,194-meter) peak in Alaska from Mount McKinley to Denali, Kazinform refers to the National Geographic. "With our own sense of reverence for this place, we are officially renaming the mountain Denali in recognition of the traditions of Alaska Natives and the strong support of the people of Alaska," Jewell said in a statement. Denali, the peak's traditional name in the local Koyukon Athabascan language, means "the great one." The change was cheered in Alaska but denounced by members of Congress from Ohio, the birthplace of William McKinley, the 25th president of the United States. A prospector had first suggested naming the mountain after McKinley in 1896, when the politician was running for president. National Geographic spoke with Juan José Valdés, National Geographic's geographer, about why the peak has so many names, whether its new one is really permanent, and how mapmakers will handle the change. Denali actually has 47 official variant names. Is that typical? Normally there are anywhere from two to ten variant names for a place but Denali has 47, which is quite dramatic. The Dena'ina people in the Susitna River valley used the name Dghelay Ka'a (anglicized as Doleika or Traleika),meaning "big mountain." Other names include the Russian Bolshaya Gora(for big mountain), various spellings of Athabascan words, North Peak, and Densmore's Mountain, for a local gold prospector. Does the name change require any further approval? No, the change was already made. Under a 1947 law the Secretary of the Interior has the authority to make name changes happen. So McKinley is now a variant name for Denali. Some people have said the change could be reversed. Once the board makes the change it's pretty authoritative, so that's not likely. PHOTOGRAPH BY AARON HUEY, NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC Read the full interview here