When and Why Did Naming Hurricanes Start? Prior to the 1950s, hurricanes were identified by the year and the order in which they occurred. The system was imperfect since meteorologists and the media had to keep tabs on multiple storms at the same time. In 1953, the U.S. began using a list of female names to better clarify which hurricanes were coming. Male names were assigned to storms in 1978. Soon after in 1979, the co-ed database of names now used to track Atlantic storms was officially adopted. Names for the letters Q, U, X, Y and Z are omitted from the database. The list also includes 21 names for each year. When hurricanes are especially fatal or destructive, names may be retired out of respect. Andrew, Katrina, Ike and Sandy are some of the names that have been taken off the list.