Hurricane Names

Tropical cyclones are given names to help simplify communication between forecasters and the public regarding watches and warnings.

There are six lists of names used in rotation and re-cycled every six years so, the 2021 list will be used again in 2027.

One name for each letter of the alphabet is selected, except for Q, U and Z. For Atlantic Ocean hurricanes, the names may be French, Spanish or English, since these are the major languages bordering the Atlantic Ocean where the storms occur.

Here is a pronunciation guide for the Atlantic basin names.

Before the formal start of naming, tropical cyclones were named after the places, objects, or saints’ feast days on which they occurred.

The credit for the first usage of personal names for weather systems is given to an Australian government meteorologist Clement Wragge, who named systems between 1887 and 1907.

Since 1953, Atlantic tropical storms had been named from lists originated by the National Hurricane Center.

At first, the lists consisted of only female names; however, since 1979, the lists alternate between male and female names.

Until 2021, if all of the names on the annual name list were used, additional tropical or subtropical storms would be named with Greek letters. In March 2021, the WMO announced any additional storms will receive a name from an auxiliary list, to avoid confusion caused by the Greek letter names.

There are different lists of names for different ocean areas around the world.

So who decides what names are used each year? The World Meteorological Organization uses six lists in rotation. The same lists are reused every six years. The lists only change when there is a hurricane that is so devastating, the name is retired and another name replaces it.

Retired Hurricane Names

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Background Picture: Waves crash against a boat washed onto Highway 90 as Hurricane Katrina hits the Gulf Coast Monday, Aug. 29, 2005 in Gulfport, Miss. (AP Photo/John Bazemore)