It’s not really baby naming news – it’s meteorological, potentially catastrophic even.
And yet I can’t resist posting the 2009 list of Hurricane Names.
There are multiple lists. (If I’ve covered it as a Name of the Day, click the link to read that post.)
First up, Atlantic storms:
- Ana
- Bill
- Claudette
- Danny
- Erika
- Fred
- Grace
- Henri
- Ida
- Joaquin
- Kate
- Larry
- Mindy
- Nicholas
- Odette
- Peter
- Rose
- Sam
- Teresa
- Victor
- Wanda
Then there’s the slightly more exotic Eastern North Pacific group:
- Andres
- Blanca
- Carlos
- Dolores
- Enrique
- Felicia
- Guillermo
- Hilda
- Ignacio
- Jimena
- Kevin
- Linda
- Marty
- Nora
- Olaf
- Patricia
- Rick
- Sandra
- Terry
- Vivian
- Waldo
- Xina
- York
- Zelda
Hurricanes aren’t named for my amusement. Instead, over the years, meteorologists decided it was easier to use short, easily remembered names rather than a numeric designation.
Originally, storms (like many children) were often named after saints’ days. Up until the 1970s, all hurricanes were female. Now their names alternate.
The Australian region works a bit differently, but their names are no less interesting:
A: Anika, Anthony, Alessia, Alfred, Ann
B: Billy, Bianca, Bruce, Blanche, Blake
C: Charlotte, Carlos, Cathy, Caleb, Claudia
D: Dominic, Dianne, Dylan, Debbie, Damien
E: Ellie, Errol, Edna, Ernie, Esther
F: Freddy, Fina, Fletcher, Frances, Ferdinand
G: Gabrielle, Grant, Gillian, Greg, Gretel
H: Hamish, Heidi, Hadi, Hilda, Harold
I: Ilsa, Iggy, Ita, Ira, Imogen
J: Jasper, Jasmine, Jack, Joyce, Joshua
K: Kirrily, Koji, Kate, Kelvin, Kimi
L: Laurence, Lua, Lam, Linda, Lucas
M: Magda, Mitchell, Marcia, Marcus, Marian
N: Neville, Narelle, Nathan, Nora, Noah
O: Olga, Oswald, Olwyn, Owen, Odette
P/Q: Paul, Peta, Quang, Penny, Paddy
R: Robyn, Rusty, Raquel, Riley, Ruby
S: Sean, Sandra, Stan, Savannah, Seth
T: Tasha, Tim, Tatjana, Trevor, Tiffany
U/V: Vince, Victoria, Uriah, Veronica, Verdun
WXY&Z: Zelia, Zane, Yvette, Wallace
Technically, these are tropical cyclone names. The best part? There’s a process to request that your name be used for a Tropical Cyclone. However, the service notices that after filing a written request, it will probably take about fifty years before a storm is named in your honor.
And you thought it took me a long time to respond to Name of the Day requests! 
I’ll place my bet that Joaquin is gonna be a doozy! He sounds a bit sneaky to my ear.
Thanks for sharing!!
Oh and I wanted to add that Waldo is a family name for me but I just can’t quite embrace him fully….
Wow! I’ve always wondered why they use people names for hurricanes, I guess “it’s easier that way” is the simple answer! I don’t think I’d like to have a hurricane named after me, especially a bad one!
Erika with a K, hm? Interesting. Hurricane Anika. That would beinteresting, too. When the hurricane with my name hit (about 15 years ago) it barely touched up north. It rained for us that day, and I remember thinking it was fun getting rained on by myself. Dumb little girl.
You’ve got me looking up hurricanes names now. I remember there being a Hurricane Emily when I was a little girl. (Like photoquilty, I thought it was cool to share my name with a storm.) Anyway, I just looked up “my” hurricane and discovered it actually started on my birthday! How cool is that?
You know you’re a name nerd if… I mean, really – who else is going to get excited about hurricane names? I had not realized that there was an Atlantic and a Pacific list. I’m more in tune with earthquakes. Thanks for sharing
LOL! You’re absolutely right. It’s a clear sign of a problem.
Thanks for sharing! The bizarre hurricane/cyclone names were what kept me sane through high school geography (actually, it might have been laughing at my teachers blatant crush on the Channel 10 weatherman, but that’s neither here nor there).
We’ve also had a Cyclone Larry down here in Australia – unless Larry and Laurence are the same cyclone? Larry stands out to me as being the most inappropriate name of all of them. Actually, most of them are. Hurricane Danny? Cyclone Narelle? I’m just quivering in my boots here…
As someone who lives on the Gulf Coast, I would definitely NOT think it was cool to have a hurricane with my name!! I hate that they ruin good names with these destructive storms… I wish the hurricane namers would pick names that are already terrible and evil, like Adolf, Beelzebub, Rasputin, Saddam, etc.
Ah, Elizabeth – you’re right! I worked for a woman from New Orleans when Katrina hit. I’d have been upset under any circs, but watching her grief and frustration really drove it home.
But that prompted me to look – Katrina, a fairly common pick for some time, was indeed adversely impacted as a baby name in the aftermath of the storm. In 2005, she ranked #246 – up a few spots from her prior ranking, but at around the same level as years past. By 2006, she’d fell to #381, in ’07 to #603 and ’08 to #717.
I have a friend from Louisiana – given his wit, I can imagine him naming a daughter Katrina if she were born in the weeks following a storm. But for most of the US, Katrina seems to be off the table – despite having all the hallmarks of a name that would be quite popular in 2009.