As we all trepidatiously await the landfall of Hurricane Helene, it makes us wonder about the naming conventions of hurricanes. Helene, for example, is a popular name in France, though there are several well-known American Helenes as well — Helene Stanley and Helene Hanff to name two. So while not a super common name, it's not unheard of either. In fact, there are plenty of popular baby names that have been bestowed upon powerful hurricanes of the past.
To assemble a list of the most popular baby names that were once used for hurricanes, 24/7 Tempo drew storm names from the retired storm name history published by NOAA’s National Hurricane and Central Pacific Hurricane centers, then consulted the Social Security Administration’s register of Social Security card applications in 2021, the most recent year for which data is available. Only names occurring at least 500 times were included.
Hurricanes and other violent storms used to be remembered by the year they happened (“the great storm of 1703”), the saint’s feast day on which they occurred (“Hurricane San Felipe”), or the place they most devastated (“the Great Galveston Hurricane”).
At some point in the late 19th century, somebody - possibly an Australian meteorologist - conceived the idea of naming hurricanes after women, a practice the U.S. adopted in 1953. Beginning in 1978, men’s and women’s names were alternated.
Today, the determination of what to christen a tropical storm, which may develop into a hurricane, is made by an international committee of the World Meteorological Organization. The group publishes lists covering six years at a time for the Atlantic and the Eastern and Central North Pacific.
Up next for the Atlantic? Isaac, Joyce and Kirk.
Gloria
> Hurricane year: 1985
> Count of baby names in 2021: 525
Allen
> Hurricane year: 1980
> Count of baby names in 2021: 551
Opal
> Hurricane year: 1995
> Count of baby names in 2021: 553
Hattie
> Hurricane year: 1961
> Count of baby names in 2021: 680
Fabian
> Hurricane year: 2003
> Count of baby names in 2021: 681
Hugo
> Hurricane year: 1989
> Count of baby names in 2021: 711
Alicia
> Hurricane year: 1983
> Count of baby names in 2021: 751
Michelle
> Hurricane year: 2001
> Count of baby names in 2021: 793
Laura
> Hurricane year: 2020
> Count of baby names in 2021: 797
Cesar
> Hurricane year: 1996
> Count of baby names in 2021: 830
Ismael
> Hurricane year: 1995
> Count of baby names in 2021: 919
Otto
> Hurricane year: 2016
> Count of baby names in 2021: 965
Manuel
> Hurricane year: 2013
> Count of baby names in 2021: 1,031
Fiona
> Hurricane year: 2022
> Count of baby names in 2021: 1,070
Joaquin
> Hurricane year: 2015
> Count of baby names in 2021: 1,073
Diana
> Hurricane year: 1990
> Count of baby names in 2021: 1,321
Isabel
> Hurricane year: 2003
> Count of baby names in 2021: 1,902
Ivan
> Hurricane year: 2004
> Count of baby names in 2021: 2,273
Juan
> Hurricane year: 2003
> Count of baby names in 2021: 2,344
Eloise
> Hurricane year: 1975
> Count of baby names in 2021: 2,528