Retired Hurricane Names Table
| Season | Names retired |
|---|---|
| 1954 | Carol, Hazel, Edna |
| 1955 | Connie, Diane, Ione, Janet |
| 1957 | Audrey |
| 1960 | Donna |
| 1961 | Carla, Hattie |
| 1963 | Flora |
| 1964 | Cleo, Dora, Hilda |
| 1965 | Betsy |
| 1966 | Inez |
| 1967 | Beulah |
| 1968 | |
| 1969 | Camille |
| 1970 | Celia |
| 1972 | Agnes |
| 1974 | Carmen, Fifi |
| 1975 | Eloise |
| 1977 | Anita |
| 1978 | Greta |
| 1979 | David, Frederic |
| 1980 | Allen |
| 1983 | Alicia |
| 1985 | Elena, Gloria |
| 1988 | Gilbert, Joan |
| 1989 | Hugo |
| 1990 | Diana, Klaus |
| 1991 | Bob |
| 1992 | Andrew |
| 1995 | Luis, Marilyn, Opal, Roxanne |
| 1996 | Cesar, Fran, Hortense |
| 1998 | Georges, Mitch |
| 1999 | Floyd, Lenny |
| 2000 | Keith |
| 2001 | Allison, Iris, Michelle |
| 2002 | Isidore, Lili |
| 2003 | Fabian, Isabel, Juan |
| 2004 | Charley, Frances, Ivan, Jeanne |
| 2005 | Dennis, Katrina, Rita, Stan, Wilma |
| 2007 | Dean, Felix, Noel |
| 2008 | Gustav, Ike, Paloma |
| 2009 | |
| 2010 | Igor, Tomas |
| 2011 | Irene |
| 2012 | Sandy |
| 2013 | Ingrid |
| 2015 | Erika, Joaquin |
| 2016 | Matthew, Otto |
| 2017 | Harvey, Irma, Maria, Nate |
| 2018 | Florence, Michael |
| 2019 | Dorian |
| 2020 | Laura, Eta, Iota |
| 2021 | Ida |
| 2022 | Fiona, Ian |
| 2024 | Beryl, Helene, Milton |
| 2025 | Melissa |
One hundred Atlantic hurricane names have been retired since record-keeping began - struck from the six-year rotation because the storm behind the name was too deadly or too costly to reuse in good conscience. Carol (1954) starts the list and Melissa (2025) ends it so far; in between sit the names that became shorthand for catastrophe: Camille, Hugo, Andrew, Katrina, Sandy, Harvey, Maria, Ian, Helene.
The mechanism is formal: the National Hurricane Center explains that when a storm is so deadly or costly, the name is stricken from the list and another name is selected to replace it, by vote of the World Meteorological Organization's international committee. The replacement keeps the same letter - which is how Leah now stands where Laura once did, and Imani where Ida stood, on the 2026 and 2027 lists. The table below is the complete retirement record, year by year, straight from the NHC's own history page.
How to use
- Type a year to see which names were retired after that season - or scan the table for the full 1954-to-present record.
- Read a clustering of years as a history of bad seasons: 1955 and 2004 and 2017 each retired four names, and 2005's five remains the record.
- Cross-reference a name with the current lists: retired names never return; everyone else comes back on the six-year wheel.
Frequently asked questions
How many hurricane names have been retired?
One hundred Atlantic names through the 2025 season, across 54 different years since the practice began after the devastating 1954 season (Carol, Hazel and Edna were the first). The pace is not even: the 2000s retired 24 names and the 2010s sixteen, while entire quiet decades of the 1970s-80s often passed with none - retirement tracks the calendar of catastrophic landfalls, not a quota.
Which year retired the most hurricane names?
2005 - the season of Katrina - retired five: Dennis, Katrina, Rita, Stan and Wilma. Four-name seasons include 1955 (Connie, Diane, Ione, Janet), 1995, 2004 and 2017 (Harvey, Irma, Maria, Nate). Recent years keep the drumbeat: 2020 took Laura, Eta and Iota, 2022 took Fiona and Ian, and 2024 retired Beryl, Helene and Milton.
Who decides which names get retired?
The World Meteorological Organization's international committee, meeting after each season, following the rule the National Hurricane Center states plainly: a name is removed when its storm was so deadly or costly that future reuse would be insensitive or confusing. There is no formula - the vote weighs deaths, damage and the region's memory. What is mechanical is the replacement: the substitute name starts with the same letter, slotted into the same position on the same year list.
Did a hurricane ever share a name and get confused with a retired one?
Yes - that confusion is exactly what retirement prevents. The classic case is 2005's Katrina versus 1981's harmless Hurricane Katrina, and even storms as different as 1992's Andrew and 1986's Andrew: same name, utterly different storms six years apart. After retirement, a headline name belongs to exactly one catastrophe forever, which is the practice's real job - keeping the historical record and the public's memory unambiguous.