First, it was Hurricane Helene. Then, came Milton.
And before those storms, Francine, Debby and others.
Who decides what to name hurricanes — and why do they pick the names they do?
Social media users have long claimed 19th-century Australian meteorologist Clement L. Wragge is the reason modern hurricanes have human names. Wragge, who monitored weather in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, allegedly named storm systems after various types of people he disliked, including politicians.
One Reddit post, which had received more than 63,000 upvotes as of this writing, discussed the rumor on Sept. 17, 2024, during the hurricane season:
The reason hurricanes and cyclones have human names is that the original meteorologist to name them, Clement Wragge, began naming them after politicians he didn't like. This let him say they were 'causing great distress' or 'wandering aimlessly'.
byu/Bad-Umpire10 inDamnthatsinteresting
Though secondary sources have credited Wragge with initiating the naming of tropical cyclones and hurricanes monitored by his observatories — primarily in Australia — the 20th-century naming of storms in the U.S. took a more systematic approach and has been overseen by weather agencies, both nationally and internationally, since the 1950s. In fact, for centuries hurricanes have acquired names for a variety of different reasons.
Today, the World Meteorological Organization names hurricanes in the U.S. and beyond.
Modern Western Society Credits Wragge with Naming Hurricanes
The practice of giving storms personal names "appears to have originated" with Wragge, according to Encyclopedia Britannica. The website wrote how he would entertain himself in the 1890s "by naming storms after women, mythical figures, and politicians that he didn't like." A similar assertion was made by National Museum Australia.
However, this account is primarily based on secondary sources rather than historical documents. For example, a 2006 research article by the Royal Meteorological Society said Wragge is credited, "certainly in Australia, as the first person to systematically give proper names to tropical cyclones and low pressure systems." It then added:
He apparently began the practice in the mid-1890s with the naming of tropical cyclones. According to secondary sources, initially he named the disturbances in alphabetical order, first using the Greek alphabet. Then he used characters from Greek and Roman mythology, next female names, and finally politicians (usually those he disliked but some he liked), and occasionally someone he admired, such as Melba.
Below is a screenshot of the article as it appeared in the journal:
(RMETS)
According to the Encyclopedia of Australian Science and Innovation, Wragge, who died in 1922, established several observatories and was the Queensland Government's meteorologist between 1887 and 1902.
In the Australian Dictionary of Biography, which catalogs significant historical figures throughout Australia's history, Wragge is also described as being "credited with originating the use of classical, biblical and personal names for weather systems" and was nicknamed "Inclement Wragge" for his rainfall forecasts.
(Public Domain)
A 1970 article published in the American Meteorological Society's journal "Weatherwise" also highlighted Wragge's flair for naming storm systems. That piece was published in its entirety on the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration website.
In part, the article said the "pioneer meteorologist in Australia" was responsible for a "convenient and practical method of identifying and tracking" storms. The article continued:
His custom of christening tropical storms with the names of island beauties he admired was actually part of a broader system for classifying several weather types, the most common being the cold, blustery cyclones on the polar front. For these troublesome storms, which so regularly harassed farmers and sailors in his part of the world, he reserved the masculine names of politicians unsympathetic toward subsidies for his various projects. With this system he was able to focus public attention on his critics and to associate devastating gales and floods with government neglect of his services.
However, hurricanes have occurred across continents for millennia. The National Hurricane Center wrote that, for centuries, hurricanes in the West Indies were named after the saint's day for which the hurricane occurred. Examples include Hurricane Santa Ana, which struck Puerto Rico on July 26, 1825, and San Felipe (the first) and San Felipe (the second), which hit Puerto Rico on Sept. 13 in both 1876 and 1928, respectively.
Therefore, Cragge may be credited with the modern practice, at least anecdotally, of giving personal names to hurricanes. However, as outlined below, it wasn't until the mid-20th century that other nations, including the U.S., adopted the habit.
Atlantic Hurricanes Routinely Named by International Group
The World Meteorological Organization said storms first started being named arbitrarily.
"An Atlantic storm that ripped off the mast of a boat named Antje became known as Antje's hurricane," the United Nations specialized agency wrote. "Then the mid-1900's saw the start of the practice of using feminine names for storms."
However, in an effort to find a more organized and efficient naming system, meteorologists later chose to identify storms by names from a list arranged alphabetically. "Thus, a storm with a name which begins with A, like Anne, would be the first storm to occur in the year," the WMO wrote.
Before the end of the 20th century, forecasters began using male names for storms forming in the southern hemisphere. Per the WMO:
Since 1953, Atlantic tropical storms have been named from lists originated by the National Hurricane Center. They are now maintained and updated by an international committee of the World Meteorological Organization. The original name lists featured only women's names. In 1979, men's names were introduced and they alternate with the women's names. Six lists are used in rotation. Thus, the 2019 list will be used again in 2025.
If a cyclone is particularly deadly or costly, however, then the name is retired and replaced by another one. A supplemental list of names is used if more than the allotted named tropical cyclones occur in a season.
Meanwhile, according to the NOAA, until the early 1950s tropical storms and hurricanes were tracked by year and the order in which they occurred that year. Over time, however, this became confusing. The agency wrote:
Over time, it was learned that the use of short, easily remembered names in written as well as spoken communications is quicker and reduces confusion when two or more tropical storms occur at the same time. In the past, confusion and false rumors resulted when storm advisories broadcast from radio stations were mistaken for warnings concerning an entirely different storm located hundreds of miles away.
Quick, short names are considered easier for people to remember, facilitating the quick dissemination of information about a given storm.
For other oceans, like the Pacific, a storm is named in the region where it forms. To avoid duplication, neighboring countries approve cyclone names through the WMO. For example, the Australian Bureau of Meteorology names tropical cyclones and hurricanes in the Pacific from an approved list, which is alphabetically ordered by first letter and alternates between male and female names.