Since a hurricane can last for a week or more, there can easily be more than one storm at a time.  Therefore, weather forecasters give each storm a name so that each storm can be easily identified.

Each year, the first tropical storm of the season is given a name that begins with the letter "A".  The second storm is given a name that starts with the letter "B", and so on.  

The letters Q, U, X, Y and Z are not used because there are very few names that begin with these particular letters.

Male and female names are alternated.  For example, the first name might be "Andrew" (a male name), and then the second name might be "Betty" (a female name) and so on.  Once the alphabet is completed, the naming begins with "A" again.

The name lists are made up by meteorlogists (the weather forecasters) at the World Meteorological Organization.