Updated: August 23, 2012

Ever wonder how a hurricane gets a name?

A list of names is created every six years by the World Meteorological Organization and as disturbances develop into tropical storms, they are named based on the lists -- which makes tracking and identifying them easier for weather experts.

The lists are alphabetical and they are assigned to storms in that order. If a name isn't used in a particular year, it's recycled to a list for the future. However, when storms are particularly destructive, the names are retired.

Do you share your name with one of these natural disasters? Click through to find out what hurricanes have been named in the past and which names will be used in the future.