Why do Americans name hurricanes?

@reflectingmonkey makes sense. Usually though, the names like Mississipi river and Colorado river kinda make sense. But the idea of associating Irene with a year is odd to me rather than just refering the year directly. If that makes sense

@Iwantyourhotwife maybe its has to do with how the brain categorizes things, humans tend to personify things, forces of nature become spirits or gods, that sort of thing but in modern times we abandoned the animistic aspect and kept only the part about giving it a name. maybe animism is actually a kind of human instinct related more to how the brain works than specific belief systems.

@reflectingmonkey [quote] humans tend to personify things [/quote]
This is actually really insightful. Thank you