Puerto Ricans are believed to be the first people to name storms. They would christen a storm after the name of the saint on the liturgical calendar the day after the storm would strike. For the United States, it began a little less formally. During World War II, military meteorologists would unofficially name storms after girlfriends or wives. This would help avoid confusion when communicating warnings.

Storms before 1951 bore no official names. In 1951 and 1952, military alphabet names (Able, Baker, Charley, ect.) were used in the Atlantic basin for the first time. After 1952, Atlantic storms were named after women. Naming Pacific storms didn't begin until 1959, Australian and South Pacific, not until 1964. North Indian cyclones sill aren't named.

Gender equality finally reached the tropical storm naming business in 1979. That's when the National Weather Service finally began using male names along with female monikers. To also include other cultures, Spanish and French names were also used along with English ones.

Sometimes hurricane names are retired. Truly memorable systems have their names removed from the rotating list because research on particularly devastating storms continue for many years and it becomes confusing if several major storms with the same name are being studied at one time. The retiring practice also keeps it clear for the public as well. Storms we won't see again include; Andrew, Alicia, Bob, Camille, Elena, Gilbert, and Hugo A tropical weather system will not be given a name until its highest sustained wind speeds reach at least 39 miles per hour.

For more information on the naming of hurricanes and tropical storms
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