Tropical cyclones and subtropical cyclones are named by various warning centers to simplify communication between forecasters and the general public regarding forecasts, watches and warnings. The names are intended to reduce confusion in the event of concurrent storms in the same basin. Once storms develop sustained wind speeds of more than , names are generally assigned to them from predetermined lists, depending on the basin in which they originate. Some tropical depressions are named in the Western Pacific, while tropical cyclones must contain a significant amount of gale-force winds before they are named in the Southern Hemisphere.
Before it became standard practice to give personal (first) names to tropical cyclones, they were named after places, objects, or the saints' feast days on which they occurred. Credit for the first usage of personal names for weather systems is generally given to Queensland Government meteorologist Clement Wragge, who named systems between 1887 and 1907. When Wragge retired, the practice fell into disuse for several years until it was revived in the latter part of World War II for the Western Pacific. Formal naming schemes and lists have subsequently been used for major storms in the Eastern, Central, Western and Southern Pacific basins, and the Australian region, Atlantic Ocean and Indian Ocean.
History
{| class="wikitable" style="margin: 1em auto;"
|-
! colspan=5 style="background: #ccf;" | Tropical cyclone naming institutions
|-
! rowspan=2 | Basin !! rowspan=2 | Institution !! colspan=2 | Area of responsibility !! rowspan=2 |
|-
! Latitudes !! Longitudes
|-
| colspan=5 style="text-align:center;" |Northern Hemisphere
|-
| North Atlantic || rowspan=2 | United States National Hurricane Center || rowspan=2 | Equator northward || rowspan=2 | 140°WEuropean and African Atlantic Coasts || rowspan=2 |
|-
| Eastern Pacific
|-
| Central Pacific || United States Central Pacific Hurricane Center || Equator northward || 180°140°W ||
|}
Before the formal start of naming, tropical cyclones were often named after places, objects, or saints' feast days on which they occurred. The credit for the first usage of personal names for weather systems is generally given to the Queensland Government meteorologist Clement Wragge, who named systems between 1887 and 1907. This system of naming weather systems subsequently fell into disuse for several years after Wragge retired until it was revived in the latter part of World War II for the Western Pacific. Formal naming schemes have subsequently been introduced for the North Atlantic, Eastern, Central, Western and Southern Pacific basins as well as the Australian region and Indian Ocean.
, tropical cyclones are officially named by one of eleven warning centers and retain their names throughout their lifetimes to facilitate the effective communication of forecasts and storm-related hazards to the general public. This is especially important when multiple storms are occurring simultaneously in the same ocean basin. PAGASA also retires the names of significant tropical cyclones when they have caused at least () in damage or have caused at least 300 deaths.
North Atlantic Ocean
thumb|upright=.75|[[Hurricane Melissa at peak intensity just south of Jamaica in October 2025]]
Within the North Atlantic Basin, tropical or subtropical storms are named by the United States National Hurricane Center (NHC/RSMC Miami), when they are judged to have 1-minute sustained winds of at least .
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Philippines
alt=|thumb|upright=.75|[[Typhoon Ragasa|Typhoon Nando at peak intensity while approaching the Babuyan Islands in September 2025]]
Since 1963, PAGASA has independently operated its own naming scheme for tropical cyclones that occur within its own self-defined Philippine Area of Responsibility. The names are taken from four different lists of 25 names and are assigned when a system moves into or develops into a tropical depression within PAGASA's jurisdiction. replacements to retired names are taken from the agency's list of reserved names. This is defined as being when gales are either observed or estimated to be present near a significant portion of the system's center.
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Papua New Guinea
If a system intensifies into a tropical cyclone between the Equator – 10°S and 141°E – 160°E, then it will be named by Papua New Guinea National Weather Service (NWS, TCWC Port Moresby).
{| class="wikitable"
|+ List of South Atlantic tropical cyclone names
|-
! rowspan="3" scope="row" |Names
| Arani || Bapo || Cari || Deni || Eçaí || Guará || Iba || Jaguar || Kurumí || Mani || Oquira || Potira || Raoni || || || Ubá || Yakecan
|-
|Akará
|Biguá
|Caiobá
| || Endy
|Guarani
|Iguaçú
|Jaci
|Kaeté
|Maracá
|Okanga
|Poti
|Reri
|Sumé
|Tupã
|Upaba
|Ybatinga
|-
|Aratu
|Buri
|Caiçara
| || Esapé
|Guaí
|Itã
|Juru
|Katu
|Murici
|Oryba
|Peri
|Reia
|Samburá
|Taubaté
|Uruana
|Ytu
|-
! colspan="18" |References: