Hurricane Names - How Are Hurricanes Named?

Why are Hurricanes Named?

Hurricanes occur every year and sometimes two or three hurricanes can be active at the same time. Using names for these hurricanes makes it much easier for meteorologists, researchers, emergency response workers, ship captains and citizens to communicate about specific hurricanes and be clearly understood.

For that reason the World Meteorological Organization develops a list of names that are assigned in alphabetical order to tropical storms as the are discovered in each hurricane season. Names can be repeated after an interval of six years, but the names of especially severe storms are permanently retired from use.

Recent and Future Hurricane Names:

In the Atlantic Ocean, tropical storms that reach a sustained wind speed of 39 miles per hour are given a name, such as "Tropical Storm Fran". If the storm reaches a sustained wind speed of 74 miles per hour it is called a hurricane - such as "Hurricane Fran". So, hurricanes are not given names, tropical storms are given names, and they retain their name if they develop into a hurricane. The names used for recent and future Atlantic storms are listed in the table below.

Names used for Atlantic Tropical Storms
2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017
Alberto	Andrea	Arthur	Ana	Alex	Arlene
Beryl	Barry	Bertha	Bill	Bonnie	Bret
Chris	Chantal	Cristobal	Claudette	Colin	Cindy
Debby	Dorian	Dolly	Danny	Danielle	Don
Ernesto	Erin	Edouard	Erika	Earl	Emily
Florence	Fernand	Fay	Fred	Fiona	Franklin
Gordon	Gabrielle	Gonzalo	Grace	Gaston	Gert
Helene	Humberto	Hanna	Henri	Hermine	Harvey
Isaac	Ingrid	Isaias	Ida	Ian	Irma
Joyce	Jerry	Josephine	Joaquin	Julia	Jose
Kirk	Karen	Kyle	Kate	Karl	Katia
Leslie	Lorenzo	Laura	Larry	Lisa	Lee
Michael	Melissa	Marco	Mindy	Matthew	Maria
Nadine	Nestor	Nana	Nicholas	Nicole	Nate
Oscar	Olga	Omar	Odette	Otto	Ophelia
Patty	Pablo	Paulette	Peter	Paula	Philippe
Rafael	Rebekah	Rene	Rose	Richard	Rina
Sandy	Sebastien	Sally	Sam	Shary	Sean
Tony	Tanya	Teddy	Teresa	Tobias	Tammy
Valerie	Van	Vicky	Victor	Virginie	Vince
William	Wendy	Wilfred	Wanda	Walter	Whitney

History of Atlantic Hurricane Names

Names have been given to Atlantic hurricanes for a few hundred years. People living in the Caribbean Islands named storms after the saint of the day from the Roman Catholic liturgical calendar for the day on which the hurricane occurred such as "Hurricane San Felipe". When two hurricanes struck on the same date in different years the hurricanes would be referred to by names such as "Hurricane San Felipe the first" and "Hurricane San Felipe the second".

In the early days of meteorology in the United States storms were named with a latitude / longitude designation representing the location where the storm originated. These names were difficult to remember, difficult to communicate and subject to errors. During the Second World War military meteorologists working in the Pacific began to use women's names for storms. That naming method made communication so easy that in 1953 it was adopted by the National Hurricane Center for use on storms originating in the Atlantic Ocean. Once this practice started, hurricane names quickly became part of common language and public awareness of hurricanes increased dramatically.

In 1978, meteorologists watching storms in the Eastern North Pacific began using men's names for half of the storms. Meteorologists for the Atlantic ocean began using men's names in 1979. For each year, a list of 21 names, each starting with a different letter of the alphabet was developed and arranged in alphabetical order (names beginning with the letters Q, U, X, Y and Z were not used). The first tropical storm of the year was given the name beginning with the letter "A", the second with the letter "B" and so on through the alphabet. During even-numbered years, men's names were given to the odd-numbered storms and during odd-numbered years, women's names were given to odd-numbered storms (see the table above for recent name lists).

Today, the World Meteorological Organization maintains the lists of Atlantic hurricane names. They have six lists which are reused every six years.

Retired Hurricane Names

The only change that is made to the list of Atlantic hurricane names is the occasional retirement of a name. This is done when a hurricane cause so much death and destruction that reuse of the same name would be insensitive to the people who suffered losses. When that happens the World Meteorological Organization replaces the name. For example: " Katrina" has been retired from the name list and will not be used again.

A list of hurricane names that have been retired since the current name list system was established in 1979 is in the right column of this webpage. In addition to retirements there are a few names that were simply changed. On the 2007 list the names Dean, Felix and Noel will be replaced with Dorian, Femand and Nestor on the 2013 list.

When There Are More Than 21 Named Storms

There are normally less than 21 named tropical storms in any calendar year. In the rare years when more than 21 storms are named the additional storms are given names from the Greek alphabet: Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta are used for their names.

Naming Tropical Storms Outside of the Atlantic

Tropical storms occur in the Pacific Ocean and meteorologists working there have developed naming systems for them. Separate naming systems are maintained for Eastern North Pacific storms, Central North Pacific Storms, Western North Pacific Storms, the Australian Region, Fiji Region, Papua New Guinea Region, Philippine Region, Northern Indian Ocean, and Southwest Indian Ocean. The National Hurricane Center maintains lists of the names used in these areas.

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Satellite image of a hurricane named "Fran." Hurricane Fran was a large, powerful, destructive hurricane that made landfall near Cape Fear, North Carolina on September 5, 1996. Fran was the sixth named storm the 1996 hurricane season. It was so destructive that the name "Fran" was retired from use. Satellite image by NASA.

Retired Hurricane Names by Year
1979 David Frederic	1980 Allen	1981	1982	1983 Alicia
1984	1985 Elena Gloria	1986	1987	1988 Gilbert Joan
1989 Hugo	1990 Diana Klaus	1991 Bob	1992 Andrew	1993
1994	1995 Luis Marilyn Opal Roxanne	1996 Cesar Fran Hortense	1997	1998 Georges Mitch
1999 Floyd Lenny	2000 Keith	2001 Allison Iris Michelle	2002 Isidore Lili	2003 Fabian Isabel Juan
2004 Charley Frances Ivan Jeanne	2005 Dennis Katrina Rita Stan Wilma	2006	2007 Dean Felix Noel	2008 Gustav Ike Paloma
2009	2010 Igor Tomas	2011 Irene	2012 Sandy	2013

Satellite image of a hurricane named "Frances" as it approaches Florida. Satellite image by NASA.

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