What organization officially names Atlantic hurricanes?

The World Meteorological Organization officially oversees the naming system for Atlantic hurricanes. Its Regional Association IV Hurricane Committee maintains the rotating lists of names used for storms in the North Atlantic, Caribbean Sea, and Gulf of Mexico.

The National Hurricane Center does not independently invent or control the names. It operationally assigns the next name from the approved list when a tropical cyclone reaches tropical-storm strength, but the international naming system and its rules are maintained through the WMO process.

Atlantic name lists contain 21 names and rotate on a six-year cycle. Names are removed when a storm is exceptionally deadly or destructive, such as Ian and Fiona after the 2022 season, and replacement names are selected by the WMO Hurricane Committee.

The system exists because short, familiar names make warnings easier to communicate and remember. A named storm is not necessarily a hurricane: it becomes a tropical storm first, then a hurricane if its sustained winds reach at least 74 mph.