# Black hurricane names...necessary? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [August 5, 2003, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-hurricane-names-necessary/193149 "2003-08-05T17:31:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![tramp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/4491bb/32.png) [@tramp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tramp)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2003, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-hurricane-names-necessary/193149/1 "2003-08-05T17:31:40Z")
Ok now I really am not of the “dittohead” variety but I am going to throw caution to the wind and agree with Rush Limbaugh on this one… [Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee suggest we need more “black” names for hurricanes](http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=33896) Is that necessary? I mean “black names”? What exactly is a black name? Why can’t Hugo, Andrew and Claudette be considered “black” names? Why are they automatically assumed to be white names? ---
**Author:** ![Stuffy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f17d59/32.png) [@Stuffy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stuffy)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2003, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-hurricane-names-necessary/193149/2 "2003-08-05T17:55:47Z")
Politician says somethng stupid, news at 11. ---
**Author:** ![Amp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Amp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amp)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2003, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-hurricane-names-necessary/193149/3 "2003-08-05T18:01:15Z")
Hurricane Shaquita Jackson levels Tampa, news at 11. ---
**Author:** ![blowero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/41988e/32.png) [@blowero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blowero)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2003, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-hurricane-names-necessary/193149/4 "2003-08-05T18:02:28Z")
Chalk this up as the first and probably only time I will ever agree with Rush. “Black names” indeed; the very idea is racist in itself. ---
**Author:** ![Schoir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ac91a4/32.png) [@Schoir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Schoir)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2003, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-hurricane-names-necessary/193149/5 "2003-08-05T18:10:39Z")
She’s an [idiot](http://www.jacksonlee.house.gov/feedback.cfm?campaign=jacksonlee&type=Let%27s%20Talk). ---
**Author:** ![malkavia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/malkavia/32/5621_2.png) [@malkavia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/malkavia)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2003, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-hurricane-names-necessary/193149/6 "2003-08-05T18:18:05Z")
You know if they named a hurricane “Shaniqua” before she’d mentioned this, she woulda been up in arms about it. Pfeh. ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2003, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-hurricane-names-necessary/193149/7 "2003-08-05T18:24:40Z")
Has there ever been a Hurricane Sheila? ---
**Author:** ![Michael\_Ellis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/977dab/32.png) [@Michael\_Ellis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Michael_Ellis)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2003, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-hurricane-names-necessary/193149/8 "2003-08-05T18:49:39Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Monty \* > \*\*Has there ever been a Hurricane Sheila? \*\* Not according to google. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2003, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-hurricane-names-necessary/193149/9 "2003-08-05T19:17:03Z")
Here’s my solution. Take the top 100 most common names for the previous year and use a random number generator to pick the name. Democracy and impartiality. How could anyone argue against that? ---
**Author:** ![Grey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b782af/32.png) [@Grey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grey)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2003, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-hurricane-names-necessary/193149/10 "2003-08-05T19:25:48Z")
Well you need at least 26 named storms to use up all the alphabet. Remember that it goes alphabetically. ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2003, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-hurricane-names-necessary/193149/11 "2003-08-05T19:41:32Z")
Well, Democrat Texans will now have to refrain from claims that the Republicans have any corner on the dim bulb concession in Texas. As noted in the article and above, (some) women raised hell that using only female names was detrimental to perceptions of women, and now a black woman is mad that we are not using “black” names to equally abuse blacks? ---
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2003, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-hurricane-names-necessary/193149/12 "2003-08-05T19:41:49Z")
And they’ve retired a lot of names that have been used for significant storms (e.g. Andrew, Bob, Hugo, Georges, etc.) ---
**Author:** ![catsix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e19b73/32.png) [@catsix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/catsix)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2003, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-hurricane-names-necessary/193149/13 "2003-08-05T22:38:08Z")
Black names? She means names like George, right? Cause Hurricane George was named after George Washington Carver? Or is Sheila Jackson Lee so narrow in her perception that a black man can’t be named George and a white woman can’t be named Shawnda\*? \*Used ‘Shawnda’ as an example because I used to know a girl named that. She was often incorrectly assumed to be black. ---
**Author:** ![Dogface](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9d8465/32.png) [@Dogface](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dogface)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2003, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-hurricane-names-necessary/193149/14 "2003-08-05T22:59:34Z")
Hey, you could name them great things like “LaTrine!”. (Alas, I’ve seen someone saddled with it. She was Black. Poor dear was too young to suffer from the name, yet.) ---
**Author:** ![rjung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/45deac/32.png) [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2003, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-hurricane-names-necessary/193149/15 "2003-08-05T23:09:43Z")
WHat constitutes a “black name”, anyway? I mean, there’s no law preventing a Japanese family from naming their kid “Leroy” or “Colin,” right? ---
**Author:** ![Michael\_Ellis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/977dab/32.png) [@Michael\_Ellis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Michael_Ellis)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2003, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-hurricane-names-necessary/193149/16 "2003-08-05T23:19:27Z")
Ana Bill Claudette Danny Erika Fabian Grace Henri Isabel Juan Kate Larry Mindy Nicholas Odette Peter Rose Sam Teresa Victor Wanda ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2003, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-hurricane-names-necessary/193149/17 "2003-08-05T23:36:54Z")
Ah, Sheila, a good Irish name, 'tis! I’m sorry, but this is the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard. ---
**Author:** ![andros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e480ec/32.png) [@andros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andros)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2003, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-hurricane-names-necessary/193149/18 "2003-08-06T00:28:13Z")
Yo, **rj**. . . since when is Colin a traditionally black name? ---
**Author:** ![elmwood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmwood/32/3060_2.png) [@elmwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elmwood)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2003, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-hurricane-names-necessary/193149/19 "2003-08-06T00:31:33Z")
I like the idea of Italian-American hurricane names. It might be interesting to follow Hurricane Ange, Hurricane Vinny, Hurricane Salvatore, Hurricane Paulie, Hurricane Joey, Hurricane Ant’ny, Hurricane Vito and Hurricane Rocco. I also think Asian-American hurricane names are a must. After all, they’re underrepresented in American popular culture. Therefore, it’s a must that we have hurricanes bearing such Asian names as Cindy, Julie, Robert and John. ---
**Author:** ![errata](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/839c29/32.png) [@errata](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/errata)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2003, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-hurricane-names-necessary/193149/20 "2003-08-06T01:05:49Z")
I’d like to hear from people named DeShaun or Kiesha to see what they think. Is it a good thing to have a hurricane with the same name or bad? Maybe it’s neither, maybe it’s just representative of the culture naming them. If it’s really value neutral, then yes, I don’t see any reason why there shouldn’t be African-American names attached. The crap that Limbaugh spewed in response hardly shows any higher intelligence than Jackson’s. I don’t think I can agree with a single point he made. As for an alternative naming scheme, I suggest pet names, like Sparky or Precious. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-hurricane-names-necessary/193149.md?page=2)