Hurricane Naming History

Hurricanes were originally named after the Catholic saint whose feast day coincided with the storm's arrival. Women's names were adopted in 1953; male names were added in 1979 after protests.

Names rotate on six-year cycles with one exception: names of particularly deadly or costly storms are retired permanently. Retired names include Katrina (2005), Sandy (2012), and Maria (2017).

If all 21 names on a season's list are used, supplemental name lists are employed. In 2020, this happened for only the second time in history, reflecting the unprecedented number of named storms that year.