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HelpRe: 2025 Atlantic Hurricane Names
in reply to a message by NelleR
Hurricane names are chosen with the specific parameter that they be memorable and snappy, and common enough to be encountered but not so common that they render popular names unusable. (It's been awhile, but I went through a phase probably twenty years ago, right around the time of Katrina, where I was curious as to how these names were chosen. At the time I knew a number of people named Katrina and that storm seemed like a death knell for that name because of that association.)
To this end there are a few here that strike me as a bit common for those parameters - Erin, Karen, Melissa, Rebekah - but perhaps those have become dated enough that they are deemed useable.
Andrew
put a smile on your face - make the world a better place (:
To this end there are a few here that strike me as a bit common for those parameters - Erin, Karen, Melissa, Rebekah - but perhaps those have become dated enough that they are deemed useable.
put a smile on your face - make the world a better place (:
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Where did you get the above information? I have never seen the idea that the meteorologists who choose the list of hurricane names are at all concerned with finding names that are "common enough to be encountered but not so common that they render popular names unusable." Why on earth would they be concerned with whether or not they "render common names unusable"? They are not name aficionados and normally wouldn't be thinking at all about what impact hurricane names might have on what people name babies, positively or negativiely.
At least half of the names on the present lists are names which were chosen back in 1979 when male names were added, and six lists were created. At that time they also made sure to include names they thought of as being "French" or "Spanish" to make sure some were included that fit in with Spanish and French speaking countries who might be impacted by Atlantic storms.
Many of the "English" names which were included in the original six lists were very common at the time. The 1979 list included Bob, David, Kate, Larry, Peter, Rose, and Sam. The 1980 list included Charley, Lisa, and Richard. The 1981 list had Cindy, Dennis, Maria, and Tammy. All of these would have probably been thought "common" by the mostly middle aged American men who would have come up with them in 1979.
The lists are now maintained by a committee of the World Meteorological Organization. If a storm causes a memorable disaster, any country it affected can ask that the name be replaced. As I understand it, when they send in a request they include three suggested replacement names, and the committee has almost always chosen the first name on these lists as the replacement.
At least half of the names on the present lists are names which were chosen back in 1979 when male names were added, and six lists were created. At that time they also made sure to include names they thought of as being "French" or "Spanish" to make sure some were included that fit in with Spanish and French speaking countries who might be impacted by Atlantic storms.
Many of the "English" names which were included in the original six lists were very common at the time. The 1979 list included Bob, David, Kate, Larry, Peter, Rose, and Sam. The 1980 list included Charley, Lisa, and Richard. The 1981 list had Cindy, Dennis, Maria, and Tammy. All of these would have probably been thought "common" by the mostly middle aged American men who would have come up with them in 1979.
The lists are now maintained by a committee of the World Meteorological Organization. If a storm causes a memorable disaster, any country it affected can ask that the name be replaced. As I understand it, when they send in a request they include three suggested replacement names, and the committee has almost always chosen the first name on these lists as the replacement.
I thought I read it a long time ago in a children's almanac of some sort that I couldn't pick out, that that was at least initial impetus. You're clearly the expert here, I stand corrected.
This message was edited 6/2/2025, 11:25 AM