How hurricanes are named

Since 1953, when a tropical system generates sustained winds over 39 miles per hour, it has been given a name.

That is the point when the system becomes a tropical storm. Alice was the first name given to a storm in the Atlantic Basin . When a storm is given a name as a tropical storm, it keeps that name as it grows into a hurricane.

Looking into the eye of the storm Getty Images

For many years, hurricanes and tropical storms were given only women's names!

The National Ocean Service says that in 1978, they started using male and female names for tropical cyclones in the northern Pacific Ocean. The next year, they started using both men's and women's names in the Atlantic Basin, too.

The list alternates between women's and men's names. In odd years, the list begins with a female