How did Hurricane Sandy get its name?

Answer 1

Each year has a predetermine list of names for tropical storms and hurricanes in the Atlantic. The storm we call Sandy was the 18th tropical storm to form in the Atlantic in 2012, and so got the 18th name on the list.

Answer 2

Since 1953, Atlantic tropical storms had been named from lists originated by the National Hurricane Center. They are now maintained and updated through a strict procedure by an international committee of the World Meteorological Organization.

The six lists are used in rotation and re-cycled every six years, i.e., the 2012 list will be used again in 2018. The only time that there is a change in the list is if a storm is so deadly or costly that the future use of its name on a different storm would be inappropriate for reasons of sensitivity. If that occurs, then at an annual meeting by the WMO committee (called primarily to discuss many other issues) the offending name is stricken from the list and another name is selected to replace it. Several names have been retired since the lists were created. [1]

This year's available names for the Atlantic were:

Alberto

Beryl

Chris

Debby

Ernesto

Florence

Gordon

Helene

Isaac

Joyce

Kirk

Leslie

Michael

Nadine

Oscar

Patty

Rafael

Sandy

Tony

Valerie*

William*

Sandy was the 18th tropical storm of the season, so it got the 18th name on the list.

* There were 19 named storms in the Atlantic Ocean in 2012, so the names Valerie and William (20 and 21 respectively) were not used.