Hurricane names

• Some of the information in this article may be outdated.

Atlantic tropical storms and hurricanes have been named since 1950, although Hurricane Alice in 1953, was the first storm to bear a human name. Although the storms were originally given female names, male names were introduced in 1979, the first being Bob.

The use of names was introduced, as experience showed that the use of short, distinctive given names in written as well as spoken communications, was both quicker and less subject to error than the older, more cumbersome latitude-longitude identification methods. These advantages are especially important in exchanging detailed storm information between hundreds of widely scattered stations, coastal bases, and ships at sea.

At present, names are assigned by a committee of the World Meteorological Organization and rotate on a six-yearly basis. However, the names associated with infamous storms, which were costly in terms of damage or deaths, are retired from the list.

Six-Year List of Names

The list below sets out the current names in use for the six-yearly rotation.

2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013
Arthur	Ana	Alex	Arlene	Alberto	Andrea
Bertha	Bill	Bonnie	Bret	Beryl	Barry
Cristobal	Claudette	Colin	Cindy	Chris	Chantal
Dolly	Danny	Danielle	Don	Debby	Dorian
Edouard	Erika	Earl	Emily	Ernesto	Erin
Fay	Fred	Frances	Franklin	Florence	Fernand
Gustav	Grace	Gaston	Gert	Gordon	Gabielle
Hanna	Henri	Hermine	Harvey	Helene	Humberto
Ike	Ida	Igor	Irene	Isaac	Ingrid
Josephine	Joaquin	Julia	Jose	Joyce	Jerry
Kyle	Kate	Karl	Katia	Kirk	Karen
Laura	Larry	Lisa	Lee	Leslie	Lorenzo
Marco	Mindy	Matthew	Maria	Michael	Melissa
Nana	Nicholas	Nicole	Nate	Nadine	Nestor
Omar	Odette	Otto	Ophelia	Oscar	Olga
Paloma	Peter	Paula	Philippe	Patty	Pablo
Rene	Rose	Richard	Rina	Rafael	Rebekah
Sally	Sam	Shary	Sean	Sandy	Sebastien
Teddy	Teresa	Tomas	Tammy	Tony	Tanya
Vicky	Victor	Virginie	Vince	Valerie	Van
Wilfred	Wanda	Walter	Whitney	William	Wendy

Retired Names

Although there have been instances of names being dropped from the list, for example "Fern" was substituted for "Frieda" in 1996, these days, the only time that there is a change is if a storm is so deadly or costly that the future use of its name on a different storm would be inappropriate for obvious reasons of sensitivity. If that occurs, then at an annual meeting by the committee (called primarily to discuss many other issues) the offending name is stricken from the list and another name is selected to replace it.

The following is an alphabetical list of the retired hurricane names, together with the year in which they were retired.

• Agnes - 1972
• Alicia - 1983
• Allen - 1980
• Allison - 2001
• Andrew - 1992
• Anita - 1977
• Audrey - 1957
• Betsy - 1965
• Beulah - 1967
• Bob - 1991
• Camille - 1969
• Carla - 1961
• Carmen - 1974
• Carol - 1954
• Celia - 1970
• Cesar - 1996
• Charley - 2004
• Cleo - 1964
• Connie - 1955
• David - 1979
• Dean - 2007
• Dennis - 2005
• Diana - 1990
• Diane - 1955
• Donna - 1960
• Dora - 1964
• Edna - 1968
• Elena - 1985
• Eloise - 1975
• Fabian - 2003
• Felix - 2007
• Fifi - 1974
• Flora - 1963
• Floyd - 1999
• Fran - 1996
• Frances - 2004
• Frederic - 1979
• Georges - 1998
• Gilbert - 1988
• Gloria - 1985
• Hattie - 1961
• Hazel - 1954
• Hilda - 1964
• Hortense - 1996
• Hugo - 1989
• Inez - 1966
• Ione - 1955
• Iris - 2001
• Isabel - 2003
• Isidore - 2002
• Ivan - 2004
• Janet - 1955
• Jeanne - 2004
• Joan - 1988
• Juan - 2003
• Katrina - 2005
• Keith - 2000
• Klaus - 1990
• Lenny - 1999
• Lili - 2002
• Luis - 1995
• Marilyn - 1995
• Michelle - 2001
• Mitch - 1998
• Noel - 2007
• Opal - 1995
• Rita - 2005
• Roxanne - 1995
• Stan - 2005
• Wilma - 2005

External links

• National Hurricane Centre