Part 2 of our Hurricane Smart Kids series.
Have you ever wondered why hurricanes have people's names — like Arthur or Bertha or Cristobal? It is not just to make them sound friendly! There is a really interesting reason, and the history behind it goes back almost 100 years.
Why Do Storms Get Names?
Imagine this: It is hurricane season, and there are THREE different storms spinning in the Atlantic Ocean at the same time. Scientists need to talk about them, write about them, and warn people about them. If they just called them "Storm 1," "Storm 2," and "Storm 3," it would get really confusing really fast. Using names makes it much easier for everyone to keep track.
Who Decided to Name Storms?
A meteorologist named Clement Wragge from Australia started giving storms people's names in the early 1900s. But the modern system we use today started during World War II. At first, storms were named only after women. That changed in 1979, when the World Meteorological Organization started alternating between women's and men's names.
How Are Names Chosen?
There is a list of names for each ocean basin — for the Atlantic, there are 21 names that go in alphabetical order, from A to W. (We skip Q, U, X, Y, and Z!) Each name list is used on a six-year rotation — unless a storm is so bad that its name gets retired.
What Does It Mean to Retire a Hurricane Name?
When a hurricane causes a lot of damage or harm, its name is taken off the list forever — retired — so that people never confuse it with a future storm. The name Katrina was retired after Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans in 2005. Same with Harvey, Irma, Maria, and Ian. The retired name is replaced with a new one starting with the same letter.
What If We Run Out of Names?
Some seasons are so active that all 21 names get used up! When that happens, storms use a special supplemental list. This happened in the super-active 2020 season! See all the 2026 Atlantic storm names on our Hurricane Names page.
For parents and educators: Great discussion question — "If you could add a name to the hurricane list, what would you choose and why?"