Hurricane names listed for 2025 Atlantic season

The 2025 Atlantic hurricane season starts June 1, but we already know what all the storms will be named.

The list of storm names is created by the World Meteorological Organization well in advance of the hurricane season. But we don’t yet know how many storms will form this year, or how strong they will be.

Could there be a Tropical Storm Andrea, or perhaps a Hurricane Karen in our future? How about Tropical Depression Jerry?

How bad will the 2025 hurricane season be? It’s too soon to say for sure, but forecasters have started the year with some good news.

A tropical storm gets a name when its sustained winds reach 39 mph; it becomes a hurricane when its winds reach 74 mph.

A typical Atlantic hurricane season averages about 14 tropical storms, seven of which spin into hurricanes, based on weather records that date from 1991 to 2020.

Forecasts about the predicted severity of the 2025 hurricane season will be coming out in the weeks and months ahead from private, university and government groups.

Here is the list of names for the 2025 Atlantic hurricane season

The names are given out in alphabetical order, and each new storm gets the next name on the list. There are no Q, U, X, Y, or Z names because of the lack of names that begin with those letters.

How bad will the 2025 hurricane season be? It’s too soon to say for sure, but forecasters have started the year with some good news.

Here’s how to pronounce all of the 2025 hurricane names.

◾Andrea

◾Barry

◾Chantal

◾Dexter

◾Erin

◾Fernand

◾Gabrielle

◾Humberto

◾Imelda

◾Jerry

◾Karen

◾Lorenzo

◾Melissa

◾Nestor

◾Olga

◾Pablo

◾Rebekah

◾Sebastien

◾Tanya

◾Van

◾Wendy

Eastern Pacific hurricane names

There is a separate list of tropical storms and hurricanes that form in the eastern Pacific Ocean:

◾Alvin

◾Barbara

◾Cosme

◾Dalila

◾Erick

◾Flossie

◾Gil

◾Henriette

◾Ivo

◾Juliette

◾Kiko

◾Lorena

◾Mario

◾Narda

◾Octave

◾Priscilla

◾Raymond

◾Sonia

◾Tico

◾Velma

◾Wallis

◾Xina

◾York

◾Zelda

Eastern Pacific hurricanes seldom have any direct impact on the U.S., though Hilary did wreak havoc across portions of California and the Southwest in 2023. The eastern Pacific season begins on May 15, more than two weeks earlier than the Atlantic season.

There is also a separate list of names for Central Pacific hurricanes, which can occasionally hit or impact Hawaii. In addition, there are separate lists for typhoons in the western Pacific and tropical cyclones in Australia and the Indian Ocean.

More: Hurricane season 2025 is less than 100 days away, but forecasters have good news

Why – and how – do hurricanes get names?

Before hurricane forecasters started naming storms, they had to refer to storms by saying something like “the storm 500 miles east-southeast of Miami.” But six hours later, the storm’s position would change.

Also, when more than one storm was going on at the same time, making it clear which storm was being described made the job even harder.

How bad will the 2025 hurricane season be? It’s too soon to say for sure, but forecasters have started the year with some good news.

In 1953, the U.S. began using female names for hurricanes. By 1979, male and female names were being used. The names alternate between male and female.

The World Meteorological Organization, based in Geneva, chooses hurricane names several years in advance, based on strict criteria. If a hurricane is particularly deadly or costly, its name is “retired” by the WMO and replaced by another one.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: List of hurricane names for 2025 Atlantic season starts with Andrea