What’s in a name? If you live in The Bahamas — a lot.

Each year, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) selects a rotating list of names for storms in the Atlantic. It’s a system that’s been around for decades, designed to help meteorologists, governments, and the public track and communicate about systems with clarity.

But for those of us in the hurricane belt, these names aren’t just labels — they become part of our history.

Here are the 21 names for 2025:
Andrea, Barry, Chantal, Dexter, Erin, Fernand, Gabrielle, Humberto, Imelda, Jerry, Karen, Lorenzo, Melissa, Nestor, Olga, Pablo, Rebekah, Sebastien, Tanya, Van, Wendy.

If a few sound familiar, that’s because the WMO reuses the same lists every six years. But if a storm becomes too deadly or destructive, its name is retired permanently — a quiet but powerful act of respect. No one’s rushing to bring back names like Dorian or Katrina.

Is it superstition? Maybe. But after what those names came to mean for entire nations, no one’s taking chances. There’s an unspoken understanding in storm-prone places: once a name is burned into the collective memory by tragedy, you don’t call on it again.

This year’s list feels deceptively gentle — Andrea, Wendy… maybe even Dexter (unless you’ve seen the show). But we’ve learned not to judge a storm by its name. Some of the most unassuming names have fueled the fiercest systems. Once a name is assigned to a system, it means it’s strong enough to get noticed — and that’s the only cue you need to take it seriously.

With NOAA forecasting up to 19 named storms, there’s a good chance we’ll be hearing many of these in the weeks ahead. Let’s hope they stay out to sea — but stay prepared just in case they don’t.

BahamasLocal will continue to track each storm from first advisory to final update. Keep an eye on our Hurricane Headlines section as the season unfolds.