The 2024 and 2025 hurricane seasons have been rough. The storms caused damage far beyond the coasts. Floods, heavy rain, and strong winds hit cities and towns hundreds of miles inland. These storms have not only destroyed residential buildings but also disrupted daily life badly. Moreover, many people are still struggling to recover.
Maria, Ian, Katrina, and other similar hurricanes are simply impossible to forget. They were not just storms; they were a symbol of a great loss and fear. The name of a hurricane is usually retired if it is too destructive. It means the name can never be used again. It is done for two main reasons: to avoid confusion in the future and as a sign of respect for the affected people.
Have you ever wondered how hurricanes are named? They are not selected at random; there is an organized system behind choosing their names. This article presents a quick discussion on who names hurricanes. Read more.
How Hurricane Names Are Chosen?
Different regional tropical cyclone naming authorities may have different guidelines. They are usually based on various factors, including name recognizability, culture, and language.
Six lists are prepared by the National Hurricane Center (NHC) and maintained by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) to assign tropical storms and hurricanes names. 21 names in alphabetical order are included in each list.
Plus, each name alternates between male and female names. Moreover, these lists rotate every six years. It means the list of names used in 2025 will be reused in 2031. According to the WMO, hurricane names are neither chosen with any preference nor from any specific person in alphabetical order.
The hurricane names are usually chosen based on the factors given below.
- Easy to pronounce
- Uniqueness
- Ease of communication
- Significance in various languages
These names are purposefully distinctive and short to avoid any sort of confusion in spoken and written communication about a specific hurricane. No name starts with the letters Q, U, X, Y, and Z because they make names that are harder to understand and less common across different languages.
The naming system is very useful; as more than one tropical storm or hurricane can happen at the same time in the Atlantic. They may be occurring and moving toward land or already hitting the land. Typhoons and hurricanes happen in different parts of the world, e.g., the central Pacific, the eastern Pacific, and the Atlantic, as mentioned earlier. Names may vary in different regions.
Hurricane Name Lists for 2025 through 2030
The hurricanes that happen in the Eastern North Pacific and the Atlantic basins follow a similar naming system. The North Atlantic Ocean, the Gulf of Mexico, and the Caribbean Sea are part of the two basins. As stated earlier, hurricane names are recycled for use after six years, but expectations can be made for names of extremely costly or deadly storms, like Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and Milton, Helene, and Beryl in 2024.
The WMO's Alternate Storm Names List is used to replace the retired names. If there are more than 21 hurricanes in the Atlantic basin in a year, the Alternate Names List is used for further naming. The table below lists the names of tropical cyclones from 2025 to 2030.
| 2025 | 2026 | 2027 | 2028 | 2029 | 2030 |
| Andrea | Arthur | Ana | Alex | Arlene | Alberto |
| Barry | Bertha | Bill | Bonnie | Bret | Brianna |
| Chantal | Cristobal | Claudette | Colin | Cindy | Chris |
| Dexter | Dolly | Danny | Danielle | Don | Debby |
| Erin | Edouard | Elsa | Earl | Emily | Ernesto |
| Fernand | Fay | Fred | Farrah | Franklin | Francine |
| Gabrielle | Gonzalo | Grace | Gaston | Gert | Gordon |
| Humberto | Hanna | Henri | Hermine | Harold | Holly |
| Imelda | Isaias | Imani | Idris | Idalia | Isaac |
| Jerry | Josephine | Julian | Julia | Jose | Joyce |
| Karen | Kyle | Kate | Karl | Katia | Kirk |
| Lorenzo | Leah | Larry | Lisa | Lee | Leslie |
| Melissa | Marco | Mindy | Martin | Margot | Miguel |
| Nestor | Nana | Nicholas | Nicole | Nigel | Nadine |
| Olga | Omar | Odette | Owen | Ophelia | Oscar |
| Pablo | Paulette | Peter | Paula | Philippe | Patty |
| Rebekah | Rene | Rose | Richard | Rina | Rafael |
| Sebastien | Sally | Sam | Shary | Sean | Sara |
| Tanya | Teddy | Teresa | Tobias | Tammy | Tony |
| Van | Vicky | Victor | Virginie | Vince | Valerie |
| Wendy | Wilfred | Wanda | Walter | Whitney | William |
As you know, the names used in both basins are different. Therefore, the hurricane names list for the Eastern North Pacific Basin is different.
| 2025 | 2026 | 2027 | 2028 | 2029 | 2030 |
| Alvin | Amanda | Andres | Agatha | Adrian | Aletta |
| Barbara | Boris | Blanca | Blas | Beatriz | Bud |
| Cosme | Cristina | Carlos | Celia | Calvin | Carlotta |
| Dalila | Douglas | Dolores | Darby | Debora | Daniel |
| Erick | Elida | Enrique | Estelle | Eugene | Emilia |
| Flossie | Fausto | Felicia | Frank | Fernanda | Fabio |
| Gil | Genevieve | Guillermo | Georgete | Greg | Gilma |
| Henriette | Hernan | Hilda | Howard | Hilary | Hector |
| Ivo | Iselle | Ignacio | Ivette | Irwin | Ileana |
| Juliette | Julio | Jimena | Javier | Jova | Jake |
| Kiko | Karina | Kevin | Kay | Kenneth | Kristy |
| Lorena | Lowell | Linda | Lester | Lidia | Lane |
| Mario | Marie | Marty | Madeline | Max | Miriam |
| Narda | Norbert | Nora | Newton | Norma | Norman |
| Octave | Odalys | Olaf | Orlene | Otilio | Olivia |
| Priscilla | Polo | Pamela | Paine | Pilar | Paul |
| Raymond | Rachel | Rick | Roslyn | Ramon | Rosa |
| Sonia | Simon | Sandra | Seymour | Selma | Sergio |
| Tico | Trudy | Terry | Tina | Todd | Tara |
| Velma | Vance | Vivian | Virgil | Veronica | Vicente |
| Wallis | Winnie | Waldo | Winifred | Wiley | Willa |
| Xina | Xavier | Xina | Xavier | Xina | Xavier |
| York | Yolanda | York | Yolanda | York | Yolanda |
| Zelda | Zeke | Zelda | Zeke | Zelda | Zeke |
Retired Hurricane Names
If a hurricane is so costly, deadly, or destructive, the WMO replaces its name with an alternate one. Hurricanes, based on the sustained wind speed, are divided into five categories, as listed below. The higher speed means the higher category and the more destructive and dangerous storm.
- Category 1: Winds of 74-95 miles per hour
- Category 2: Winds of 96-110 miles per hour
- Category 3: Winds of 111-129 miles per hour
- Category 4: Winds of 130-156 miles per hour
- Category 5: Winds of over 157 miles per hour
Categories 1 and 2 create the least amount of damage compared to Categories 3, 4, and 5. The names of hurricanes that belong to the last three categories are often removed from the list and replaced with the alternate names. Since 1954, 96 hurricane names have been retired.
A list of the recently retired names includes Hurricane Katrina 2005, Hurricane Sandy 2012, Hurricane Harvey 2017, and Hurricane Beryl 2024. Visit the NHC website to review the full list of retired hurricane names in the Atlantic.
What Happens When Storm Names Run Out?
As you know, each list includes only 21 names. If a season has more than 21 hurricanes, additional names are taken from the supplemental names list. This list is managed by the WMO. The additional names were pulled from the supplemental list only twice in the last 15 years. It has happened most recently in 2020 when the supplemental list was used by mid-September.
Greek alphabet (such as Alpha, Beta, Gamma, etc.) was used as alternate names before 2021. This practice no longer exists, as it caused a lot of confusion and made it difficult for people to communicate and track storm information. Nowadays, a list of regular-sounding names is prepared for hurricane season with high storm counts. This approach assigns an easy-to-remember and clear name to every storm, even in record-breaking seasons.
Gender and Other Controversies Surrounding Hurricane Naming
The naming process has become controversial in the United States. From 1953 to 1979, hurricanes were named after female names. It became a matter of serious concern in the late 1960s and 1970s. Roxcy Bolton initiated a campaign to include male names in the list of hurricane names.
The New York Times stated that the National Organization for Women urged the NHC to end the practice of assigning exclusively female names to hurricanes. Later in 1979, the NHC started using both male and female names for hurricanes and tropical storms. The same practice is being followed today.
A controversial study was published in June 2014, claiming that the hurricanes with female names are deadlier than the ones named after males. Another study available in the National Library of Medicine (NLM) has largely debunked this theory. However, the controversies still exist.
Final Thoughts
Hurricanes are not just randomly named; instead, there is an organized process behind their naming. Six alphabetically-ordered lists are prepared with male and female names that are managed by the WMO.
Each list contains 21 names that can be repeated after every six years. The names of hurricanes that are so destructive and deadly are removed from the list and replaced by the alternate names available in the supplemental list.
For more details on "how do they come up with hurricane names", read through the discussion above. Hurricane season sale is live on Renogy. Go and get all solar energy products (including batteries, inverters, and solar panels) at unmatched prices.
