Why give them names?
Research has shown that the use of short, distinctive names to identify hurricanes – in written as well as spoken communications – is quicker and less subject to error than the former, more cumbersome latitude-longitude identification methods.

Since there can be 100 or more storms worldwide each year, meteorologists need a means of identifying individual storms to avoid confusion. Short names allow easy exchange of detailed storm information between hundreds of widely scattered stations, coastal bases and ships at sea.

2008
Arthur
Bertha
Cristobal
Dolly
Edouard
Fay
Gustav
Hanna
Ike
Josephine
Kyle
Laura
Marco
Nana
Omar
Paloma
Rene
Sally
Teddy
Vicky
Wilfred