Here are the 21 storm names for the 2025 hurricane season and why we name them
Early predictions for the 2025 Atlantic hurricane season are off to a positive start, at least compared to last year’s chaotic nature.
Meteorological consulting firm WeatherBell has predicted that we could see between 15-19 named storms during this year’s hurricane season, and we already know what their names will be, too.
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Here’s a look at the hurricane names for the 2025 hurricane season.
2025 hurricane names
The World Meteorological Organization is responsible for maintaining and updating hurricane names. It has currently produced a list through 2029, providing a list of alphabetically organized names from A-W, omitting the letters Q and U.
Here is the list of 2025 hurricane names:
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Naming hurricanes might seem like a silly thing to do, especially considering their extremely destructive nature, but it serves an important and practical role.
We give hurricanes simple names because they play a major role in clarity, which is crucial during emergency situations. With hundreds of stations, coastal bases and ships scattered across the world, it’s much easier to exchange information using a name like “Ida” than it is Tropical Depression 13, which itself is easier than the older method of using longitude-latitude identifiers. Most importantly, it also reduces errors.
Using those shorter names is also helpful when communicating with the public. It can be hard enough to keep track of tropical waves, potential depressions and the like. A name clearly indicates to the public that the storm has risen to a level worth paying attention to.
The National Hurricane Center (NHC) provides a great example: “For example, one hurricane can be moving slowly westward in the Gulf of America, while at exactly the same time another hurricane can be moving rapidly northward along the Atlantic coast. In the past, confusion and false rumours have arisen when storm advisories broadcast from radio stations were mistaken for warnings concerning an entirely different storm located hundreds of miles away.”
How did we name hurricanes in the past?
Humans have used several methods throughout the years to name hurricanes. For several hundred years many hurricanes in the West Indies were named after the particular saint's day on which the hurricane occurred, according to the NHC.
There were moments in history when hurricanes were given women’s names, notably by Australian meteorologist Clement Wragge before the 19th century.
The practice was furthered by U.S. Army and Navy meteorologists who plotted the movements of storms over the Pacific Ocean.
Afterward, the military tried to move to a plan that used the phonetic alphabet, but it was quickly abandoned in favour of strictly using the names of women for storms.
In 1978, we moved to using a mix of men and women’s names and have been doing so ever since.
How are hurricanes named now and how do we come up with them?
An international committee called the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) is responsible for maintaining and updating hurricane names now, and it does so in batches of six years, with 21 names appearing each year.
Hurricane names are used in alphabetical order, with the first named storm starting with an “A”, the second starting with a “B” and so on. The names themselves have no meaning and are not related to any specific person.
Every name on each list is reused over and over in perpetuity unless the name is retired. Hurricane names are typically retired if they are associated with a storm that is so deadly or costly that the future use of its name on a different storm would be inappropriate, according to the NHC.
Why are there only 21 hurricane names?
Astute observers will note that there are 26 letters in the alphabet, so why do we only use 21 names?
The WMO does not include the letters “Q,” “U,” “X,” “Y” and “Z,” leaving only 21 names. One of the reasons for the omissions is the limited number of names. Coming up with a single batch of names using each of these letters is difficult enough, but repeating the process five more times would produce some unusual names, which leads us to the next reason.
If we go back to the reasons we name hurricanes, coming up with a list of odd and uncommon names flies in the face of using names that are clear and concise.
What happens when we run out of hurricane names?
You might have heard that we use Greek letters to name hurricanes in the rare event that we run through the list of 21 names, and that was true up until 2021.
Prior to the record-breaking 2020 Atlantic hurricane season, the WMO had already thrown around the idea of moving away from using the Greek alphabet for hurricane naming. When it was last proposed in 2006, it was determined that it was rare enough of an occurrence that it wasn’t necessary.
After 2020, the WMO decided to end the practice and establish two supplemental tropical cyclone lists: One for Pacific storms and the other for Atlantic.
Atlantic supplemental hurricane name list
Here are the supplemental hurricane names for the Atlantic:
Adria
Braylen
Caridad
Deshawn
Emery
Foster
Gemma
Heath
Isla
Jacobus
Kenzie
Lucio
Makayla
Nolan
Orlanda
Pax
Ronin
Sophie
Tayshaun
Viviana
Will
How many times have we run out of hurricane names?
We have run out of hurricane names twice. The first time happened in 2005, which was a record-breaking year that produced hurricanes Katrina, Rita and Wilma — whose names have all been retired. There were so many named storms in 2005 that we used six Greek letters.
The 2020 hurricane season was the second time it happened, and is the current record-holder for having the most named storms. There were 30 named storms in total, including Eta and Iota. Nine Greek alphabet letters were used in 2020.
WATCH BELOW: Why hurricane names don't always get retired
Retired hurricane names:
Name Year
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
Dorian 2019
Edna 1954
Elena 1985
Eloise 1975
Erika 2015
Eta 2020
Fabian 2003
Felix 2007
Fifi 1974
Fiona 2022
Flora 1963
Florence 2018
Floyd 1999
Fran 1996
Frances 2004
Frederic 1979
Georges 1998
Gilbert 1988
Gloria 1985
Greta 1978
Gustav 2008
Harvey 2017
Hattie 1961
Hazel 1954
Hilda 1964
Hortense 1996
Hugo 1989
Ian 2022
Ida 2021
Igor 2010
Ike 2008
Inez 1966
Ingrid 2013
Ione 1955
Iota 2020
Irene 2011
Iris 2001
Irma 2017
Isabel 2003
Isidore 2002
Ivan 2004
Janet 1955
Jeanne 2004
Joan 1988
Joaquin 2015
Juan 2003
Katrina 2005
Keith 2000
Klaus 1990
Laura 2020
Lenny 1999
Lili 2002
Luis 1995
Maria 2017
Marilyn 1995
Matthew 2016
Michael 2018
Michelle 2001
Mitch 1998
Nate 2017
Noel 2007
Opal 1995
Otto 2016
Paloma 2008
Rita 2005
Roxanne 1995
Sandy 2012
Stan 2005
Tomas 2010
Wilma 2005
This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: Here are the 21 storm names for the 2025 hurricane season and why we name them
Reporting by Brandon Girod, Pensacola News Journal / Pensacola News Journal
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
Header image: Hurricane Milton Satellite Image October 2024 (NOAA CIRA)