This is a cumulative list of previously used tropical cyclone (tropical storm and hurricane) names that have been permanently removed from reuse in the North Atlantic basin. As of 2026, 100 storm names have been retired.
The naming of North Atlantic tropical cyclones is currently under the oversight of the Hurricane Committee of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO). This group maintains six alphabetic lists of twenty-one names, with one list used each year. This normally results in each name being reused every six years. However, in the case of a particularly deadly or damaging storm, that storm's name is retired, and a replacement starting with the same letter is selected to take its place. The decision on whether to remove a name in a given season is made at the annual session of the WMO Hurricane Committee in the spring of the following year.
The practice of retiring storm names was begun by the United States Weather Bureau in 1955, after major hurricanes Carol, Edna, and Hazel struck the Northeastern United States during the previous year. Initially, their names were retired for 10 years, after which time they could be reintroduced; however, in 1969, the policy was changed to have the names retired permanently. In 1977, the United States National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) transferred control of the naming lists to the Hurricane Committee.
Since the formal start of naming during the 1947 Atlantic hurricane season, an average of one Atlantic storm name has been retired each year. However, many seasons (most recently 2023) did not have any names retired. The record for number of storm names retired from a single season is five, held by the 2005 season. The most names retired for a decade was 24 in the 2000s, followed by the 16 retirements resulting from hurricanes in the 2010s. The deadliest storm to have its name retired was Hurricane Mitch, which caused over 10,000 fatalities when it struck Central America in October 1998. The costliest storms were hurricanes Katrina in August 2005 and Harvey in August 2017; each storm struck the U.S. Gulf Coast, causing $125 billion in damage, much of it from flooding, followed by Ian in September 2022, causing $112 billion in damage from a combination of wind and flooding. The most recent North Atlantic name to be retired was Melissa, following the 2025 season.
History
During the latter stages of World War II, forecasters with the United States Armed Forces began informally naming tropical cyclones over the Pacific Ocean after their wives and sweethearts. In 1945, after the practice had become popular among forecasters who found that it reduced confusion during map discussions, the US military formalized the scheme and started to publicly assign female names to tropical cyclones in the Northern Hemisphere and male names to those in the Southern Hemisphere. At the time, attempts were made to persuade the United States Weather Bureau (USWB) to start using female names for Atlantic hurricanes, but the bureau wanted to be seen as a serious enterprise and felt that it was "not appropriate" to name tropical cyclones while warning the United States public. As a result, the USAF started to use the Joint Army/Navy Phonetic Alphabet to name significant tropical cyclones in the North Atlantic Ocean. These names were used over the next few years in internal communications between weather centres and reconnaissance aircraft and were excluded from public bulletins.
This practice continued until September 1950, when the names started to be used publicly after three hurricanes (Baker, Dog, Easy) had occurred simultaneously and caused confusion within the media and the public. Public use of the phonetic alphabet continued until the 1953 Interdepartmental Hurricane Conference, where the decision was made to start using a new list of female names during that season as a second phonetic alphabet had been developed. During the active but mild 1953 Atlantic hurricane season, the names were readily used in the press with few objections recorded; as a result, the same names were reused during the next year with only one change: Gilda for Gail. Over the next six years, a new list of names was developed ahead of each season; in 1960, forecasters developed four alphabetical sets and repeated them every four years. These new sets followed the example of the typhoon names and excluded names beginning with the letters Q, U, X, Y, and Z, and keeping them to female names only.
In 1955, it was decided to start retiring the names of significant tropical cyclones for 10 years, after which they might be reintroduced, with the names Carol and Edna reintroduced ahead of the 1965 and 1968 hurricane seasons, respectively. At the 1969 Interdepartmental Hurricane Conference, the naming lists were revised after it was decided that the names Carol, Edna, Hazel, and Inez would be permanently retired because of their importance to the research community. It was also decided that the name of any significant hurricane in the future would be permanently retired. Ahead of the 1971 Atlantic hurricane season, 10 lists of hurricane names were inaugurated, by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. In 1977, it was decided that the World Meteorological Organization's Hurricane Committee (WMO) would control the names used, who subsequently decided that six lists of names would be used in the Atlantic Ocean from 1979 onwards, with male names included. Since 1979, the same six lists have been used by the United States National Hurricane Center (NHC) to name systems, with names of significant tropical cyclones retired from the lists permanently and replaced with new names as required at the following year's hurricane committee meeting.
At present, the name of any tropical cyclone may be retired or withdrawn from the list of names at the request of a member state, if it acquires notoriety for various reasons, including the number of deaths, amount of damages, or other impacts. The committee subsequently discuss the proposal and either through building consensus or a majority vote decides if the name should be retired or withdrawn. In March 2017, members of the British Caribbean Territories proposed that a third retirement criterion be added: the tropical cyclone must have sustained winds of at least . This came in light of the retirement of Tropical Storm Erika in 2015, which caused catastrophic flooding and mudslides in Dominica without producing sustained tropical storm-force winds on the island. No action has been taken on this proposal yet.
Formerly, if a season's primary list of names were fully used, subsequent storms would be assigned names based on the letters of the Greek alphabet."Active 2020 hurricane season exhausts regular list of names", World Meteorological Organization, September 15, 2020. According to the WMO's initial policy established in 2006, the Greek letter named storms could never be retired "lest an irreplaceable chunk be taken out of the alphabet." Therefore, devastating 2020 hurricanes Eta and Iota would have been retired as "Eta 2020" and "Iota 2020" respectively, but the letter names themselves would remain available for use whenever Greek alphabet letter names were needed again in subsequent years. However, this plan was never implemented, as the names Eta and Iota were both formally retired without the year descriptor by the WMO in 2021. The organization also abandoned the Greek alphabet auxiliary list in favor of a new auxiliary naming list.
Retired names by decade 1950s
Between 1954 and 1959, eight names were deemed significant enough to be retired for 10 years due to their impact before being permanently retired after 1969. There were no names retired for the 1956, 1958, and 1959 seasons. Collectively, these storms resulted in at least fatalities and over in damage. The deadliest hurricane was Hurricane Hazel, which killed at least 1,191 people, while the costliest was Hurricane Diane, which caused in damage.
NameDates activePeak classificationSustainedwind speedsPressureAreas affectedDeathsDamage(USD)Refs Carol Northeastern United States, Canada Edna New England, Atlantic Canada Hazel The Caribbean, Eastern United States, Canada Connie Mid-Atlantic states, New England Diane Mid-Atlantic states, New England Ione North Carolina Janet Lesser Antilles, Central America Audrey Southern United States 8 names References:
1960s
In 1960, four rotating lists of names were developed to avoid creating new lists each year, while the practice of retiring any particularly damaging storm names for 10 years continued, with 11 names deemed significant enough to be retired during the decade. At the 1969 Hurricane Warning Conference, the National Hurricane Center requested that Carol, Edna, Hazel, and Inez be permanently retired due to their importance to the research community. This request was subsequently accepted and led to today's practice of retiring names of significant tropical cyclones permanently. There were no names retired for the 1962 and 1968 seasons. Collectively, the 11 systems were responsible for at least fatalities and in excess of in damage.
NameDates activePeak classificationSustainedwind speedsPressureAreas affectedDeathsDamage(USD)Refs Donna The Caribbean, Eastern United States Carla Texas, LouisianaMidwestern United States Hattie Central America Flora The Caribbean Cleo The Caribbean, Southeastern United States Dora Southeastern United States Hilda Southern United States Betsy Bahamas, Southeastern United States Inez The Caribbean, Florida, Mexico Beulah The Caribbean, Mexico, Texas Camille Cuba, Southeastern United States 11 names References:
1970s
Starting in 1979, the WMO began assigning both male and female names to tropical cyclones. This decade featured hurricanes David and Frederic, the first male Atlantic hurricane names to be retired. During this decade, 9 storms were deemed significant enough to have their names retired. Together these 9 systems caused at least in damage, while at least people lost their lives. No names were retired for the 1971, 1973, and 1976 seasons.
NameDates activePeak classificationSustainedwind speedsPressureAreas affectedDeathsDamage(USD)Refs Celia Cuba, United States Gulf Coast Agnes Mexico, Cuba, Eastern United States Carmen Central America, MexicoUnited States Gulf Coast Fifi Jamaica, Central America, Mexico Eloise The Caribbean, Yucatán Peninsula, Florida Anita Mexico Unknown Greta The Caribbean, Central America, Mexico David The Caribbean, United States East coast Frederic The Caribbean, Southeastern United States 9 names References: >
1980s
After control of the naming of hurricanes was turned over to the WMO's Hurricane Committee during the mid-1970s, the 1980s marked the least prolific decade regarding the number of retired storms, with 7 names warranting removal. Between them the 7 systems caused over in damage while over people lost their lives. Hurricane Gilbert was the most intense tropical cyclone during the decade by pressure, with a minimum value of 888 hPa (26.22 inHg). This was the lowest recorded pressure in a North Atlantic hurricane until Hurricane Wilma surpassed it in 2005. In addition, Hurricane Allen was the most intense tropical cyclone during the decade by wind speed, with maximum 1–minute sustained winds of 190 mph (305 km/h). This remains tied for the highest sustained wind speed of any Atlantic hurricane on record. There were no names retired for 1981, 1982, 1984, 1986, and 1987 seasons, which was the most of any decade since the introduction of the practice of retiring hurricane names.