Social media users have often blamed Clement L. Wragge, an Australian meteorologist in the late 19th and early 20th century who monitored weather systems between 1880-1920, as being behind modern hurricane names taking human forms. Wragge allegedly named storm systems after various groups he disapproved of including politicians.
One Reddit post with over 63,000 upvotes discussed this rumor on Sept 17, 2024 during that year’s hurricane season:
Hurricanes and cyclones receive human names because Clement Wragge was the initial meteorologist to name them after politicians who displease him; this allowed him to describe them as ‘causing great distress’ or wandering aimlessly byu/Bad-Umpire10
Though secondary sources have often credited Wragge with initiating the practice of naming tropical cyclones and hurricanes tracked by his observatories — most prominently Australia — with specific names for his observatories, 20th-century storm naming in America has taken on more of a systematic approach since 1950s, overseen by weather agencies both domestically and globally. Hurricanes have historically acquired names due to various circumstances; often for personal, historical, geographical or scientific purposes.
Today, the World Meteorological Organization identified hurricanes across North America.
Modern Western Society Gives Credit to Wragge for Naming Hurricanes
According to Encyclopedia Britannica, Wragge appears to have created the practice of assigning storms individual names during his entertainment of himself in the 1890s by giving storms names such as women or figures he disliked like politicians; National Museum Australia made similar claims.
However, this account relies mainly on secondary sources rather than historical documents. A 2006 research article by the Royal Meteorological Society noted Wragge was “certainly in Australia as being the first individual to give names of tropical cyclones and low pressure systems systematically.” Furthermore it stated:
He began this practice around 1890 by naming tropical cyclones. According to secondary sources, initially using Greek alphabet letters alone as names of disturbances was followed by characters from Greek and Roman mythology; female names; politicians (usually disliked but occasionally appreciated); as well as anyone whom he greatly admired such as Melba.
Below is an image of how it appeared in a journal:
Wragge founded several observatories before serving as Queensland Government meteorologist between 1887 and 1902. According to Encyclopedia of Australian Science and Innovation, his death came in 1922 after serving his state from 1887-1902.
(Public Domain)
A 1970 article published in Weatherwise journal by the American Meteorological Society also acknowledged Wragge’s talent for naming storm systems; that article can be read completely on NOAA website.
Article noted the pioneer meteorologist from Australia responsible for creating an “easy and practical method of tracking storms.” In essence:
His practice of giving tropical storms names of island beauties that he admired was part of an elaborate system to classify various weather types; one such category being cold cyclones on the polar front. These storms frequently troubled farmers and sailors near him so he reserved masculine names of politicians opposed to providing subsidies for his various projects as names for these troublesome storms, effectively drawing public attention towards critics while associating devastating gales and floods with state neglect of services provided to farmers and sailors by this method.
Hurricanes have long been an ever-present force on Earth; according to the National Hurricane Center, hurricanes in the West Indies were historically known by their saint day of impact as centuries passed, such as Santa Ana on July 26 1825 in Puerto Rico or both San Felipes on Sept 13 1876 and 1928 (both named San Felipe).
Cragge may be given partial credit for initiating the modern tradition of giving hurricanes personal names; however, as is discussed below, other nations such as the U.S. didn’t adopt this habit until around mid-20th century.
Atlantic Hurricanes Often Named by International Group
According to the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), hurricanes were initially named arbitrarily when storms formed.
Antje’s Hurricane” became so-named after it tore apart the mast of a boat named Antje in an Atlantic storm during World War I and caused significant damages, according to UN Specialized Agency reports. Furthermore, in mid-1900s began using feminine names for storms as practice became prevalent.
However, in an attempt to develop a more systematic and efficient naming system for storms, meteorologists later adopted an alphabetic list as their storm identification scheme – for instance Anne would be considered the inaugural storm of each year by this criterion, according to WMO research.
Before the turn of the 20th century, forecasters began using male names when naming storms forming in the southern hemisphere (according to WMO).
Since 1953, Atlantic tropical storms have been named from lists created and updated by the National Hurricane Center and now administered and updated by an international committee of the World Meteorological Organization. While original lists featured only female names until 1979 when men’s names began being included as alternate choices with the women’s lists; six such lists will eventually be used again with this year’s list becoming part of its rotation in 2025.
If a tropical cyclone becomes particularly deadly or costly, its name is retired and replaced with another one; otherwise if more tropical cyclones than anticipated occur during one season then an additional list of names must be employed as backup.
NOAA reported that up until the early 1950s tropical storms and hurricanes were tracked according to year and order in which they appeared during that year; over time this became confusing; accordingly the agency stated:
Time has shown us that using short, easily remembered names in written and spoken communications speeds up communications faster and reduces confusion when multiple tropical storms hit simultaneously. Prior to using such names in written or verbal communications, resulting in false reports when advisories broadcast from radio stations were misunderstood for warnings about an entirely separate storm located hundreds of miles away.
Quick and memorable names make information about storms more widely disseminated more quickly.
For other oceans such as the Pacific, storms are named in their region of formation to avoid duplicative names from neighboring countries and through WMO approval processes. For instance, Australia Bureau of Meteorology names Pacific-area tropical cyclones from an alphabetically ordered list that alternates male and female names alphabetically by first letter – see for instance here
