In the Atlantic Ocean, tropical storms that reach a sustained wind speed of 39 miles per hour are given a name, such as “Tropical Storm Fran”. If the storm reaches a sustained wind speed of 74 miles per hour it is called a hurricane - such as “Hurricane Fran”. So, hurricanes are not given names, tropical storms are given names, and they retain their name if they develop into a hurricane. The names that will be used for recent and future Atlantic storms are listed in the table below.
| Names used for Atlantic Tropical Storms | |||||
| 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 |
| Alberto | Andrea | Arthur | Ana | Alex | Arlene |
| Beryl | Barry | Bertha | Bill | Bonnie | Bret |
| Chris | Chantal | Cristobal | Claudette | Colin | Cindy |
| Debby | Dorian | Dolly | Danny | Danielle | Don |
| Ernesto | Erin | Edouard | Erika | Earl | Emily |
| Florence | Fernand | Fay | Fred | Fiona | Franklin |
| Gordon | Gabrielle | Gonzalo | Grace | Gaston | Gert |
| Helene | Humberto | Hanna | Henri | Hermine | Harvey |
| Isaac | Ingrid | Isaias | Ida | Ian | Irma |
| Joyce | Jerry | Josephine | Joaquin | Julia | Jose |
| Kirk | Karen | Kyle | Kate | Karl | Katia |
| Leslie | Lorenzo | Laura | Larry | Lisa | Lee |
| Michael | Melissa | Marco | Mindy | Matthew | Maria |
| Nadine | Nestor | Nana | Nicholas | Nicole | Nate |
| Oscar | Olga | Omar | Odette | Otto | Ophelia |
| Patty | Pablo | Paulette | Peter | Paula | Philippe |
| Rafael | Rebekah | Rene | Rose | Richard | Rina |
| Sandy | Sebastien | Sally | Sam | Shary | Sean |
| Tony | Tanya | Teddy | Teresa | Tobias | Tammy |
| Valerie | Van | Vicky | Victor | Virginie | Vince |
| William | Wendy | Wilfred | Wanda | Walter | Whitney |
Original Source: http://geology.com/hurricanes/hurricane-names.shtml
