Wait, didn't we just finish a season? It feels like the wind hasn't even stopped whistling, but here we are, already looking at the calendar for 2026. If you're wondering what the name of the next hurricane will be, you’ve come to the right place, though the answer depends entirely on when you're reading this and which ocean you're looking at.
Right now, we are in the "quiet zone." It’s mid-January 2026. The Atlantic is cold. The Gulf is calm. But the machinery of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) never stops. They have the names ready years in advance. They're basically just sitting in a spreadsheet waiting for a tropical wave to get its act together.
The First Name on the 2026 Atlantic List
For the 2026 Atlantic hurricane season, which officially kicks off on June 1, the very first name out of the gate is Arthur.
Arthur isn't a new guy. You've probably heard it before. In the world of hurricanes, names are recycled every six years unless a storm is so devastating that the name is "retired" out of respect and for historical record-keeping. The 2026 list is actually a repeat of the 2020 list. Well, mostly. There’s one big change.
Remember Hurricane Laura? The Category 4 monster that slammed into Louisiana in 2020? Yeah, that name is gone. It was retired because of the sheer destruction it caused. In its place for 2026, we have Leah.
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So, if a storm forms in the Atlantic this June, call it Arthur. If a second one pops up, it’s Bertha.
What is Name of Next Hurricane? The Full 2026 Atlantic List
People get weirdly obsessed with these lists. It's like checking the lineup for a music festival, except the headliners can blow your roof off. Here is exactly what the WMO has lined up for the Atlantic basin (which includes the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean) this year:
- Arthur
- Bertha
- Cristobal
- Dolly
- Edouard
- Fay
- Gonzalo
- Hanna
- Isaias
- Josephine
- Kyle
- Leah (The rookie on the list!)
- Marco
- Nana
- Omar
- Paulette
- Rene
- Sally
- Teddy
- Vicky
- Wilfred
Notice something? There’s no Q, U, X, Y, or Z. Finding enough short, easy-to-understand names starting with "Quincy" or "Xavier" that don't sound ridiculous in three different languages (English, Spanish, and French) is apparently too much of a headache for the WMO.
What about the Pacific?
If you live on the West Coast or in Mexico, the "next hurricane" is a different story. The Eastern Pacific season actually starts a bit earlier, on May 15. Their first name for 2026 is Amanda.
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The Pacific list is longer. They actually use X, Y, and Z. So, if we have a wild year out west, we could end up with Xavier, Yolanda, and Zeke. It’s a lot of names. Honestly, it’s rare to get that deep into the alphabet, but it happens.
Why do we even name them?
It sounds kinda cute, right? Giving a massive, swirling vortex of doom a name like "Dolly."
But there’s a real reason. Before the 1950s, meteorologists used latitude and longitude. Imagine a radio announcer trying to say, "Everyone at 28.5 North and 75.2 West needs to evacuate immediately!" It was a disaster. People got confused.
Names are "sticky." They stay in your brain. You remember that Hurricane Katrina was the "big one" or that Andrew changed Florida forever. Using names makes communication faster and reduces errors when multiple storms are active at once.
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The "New" Rules for When We Run Out
Back in 2020—the year this current list was last used—we ran out of names. It was a chaotic season. They had to start using the Greek Alphabet. Alpha, Beta, Gamma... it sounded like a frat party gone wrong.
The WMO decided that was too confusing. People couldn't remember if Zeta came before Eta. Now, they have a Supplemental List. If we burn through Wilfred in the Atlantic, we don't go to Alpha anymore. We go to a new list of regular names starting with Adria, Braylen, and Caridad.
How to Stay Ahead of the Next Storm
Knowing the name is fun for trivia, but knowing the forecast is what keeps you safe.
- Check the "Outlook": The National Hurricane Center (NHC) starts issuing daily "Tropical Weather Outlooks" in mid-May. They use a color-coded map. Yellow means "maybe," orange means "probably," and red means "get your batteries ready."
- Ignore the "Hype-casters": You’ll see people on social media posting maps of a "Mega-Cane" hitting New York three weeks from now. Ignore them. Tropical meteorology is barely accurate five days out, let alone twenty.
- The "L" Names are the ones to watch: For some reason, names starting with L, M, and N often fall right in the middle of peak season (August and September). That’s when the ocean is warmest. That’s when the "Cape Verde" storms—the long-track monsters—usually form.
If you're sitting on the coast, don't wait for Arthur to show up on the radar to buy your water. The best time to prep is now, while the names are still just words on a page. Once a name is assigned to a storm, the window for calm preparation closes fast.
Keep an eye on the Atlantic starting in June. Arthur is waiting.
Next Steps for You: Start your seasonal prep by checking your local "Hurricane Guide" for 2026. Verify your evacuation zone and ensure your insurance policy covers wind and flood—most standard policies don't cover the latter. Pack a "Go-Bag" with three days of essentials before the first name on the list even forms.