Claudette and Danny, and Erika and Fabian.

The six head this year's who's-who of hurricanes and tropical storms expected to churn up the mid-Atlantic and Caribbean, hurricane specialist Ed Rappaport of the National Hurricane Center in Miami told The Royal Gazette . Hurricane season kicks off on June 1.

Following Fabian, Bermuda could play reluctant host to Grace, Henri, Isabelle, Juan, Kate, Larry, Mindy, Nicholas, Odette, Peter, Rose, Sam, Teresa, Victor, and Wanda.

While it's doubtful forecasters will have to use all the names, hurricane expert Professor William Gray of Colorado State University predicts that this year at least 11 tropical storms will spawn seven hurricanes. Three of them are likely to pack sustained winds of 110 miles-per-hour.

"In 1995 and 1996 we had the two most active hurricane seasons on record, ever, going back about 120 years. If our forecast is moderately accurate this year it will mean from 1995-97 we've had the most active consecutive three-year period ever,'' he said.

The job of naming the storms falls to a committee of scientists from the US, Canada, the Caribbean, Mexico, Central America, and northern South America, Mr. Rappaport said.

Scientists began identifying hurricanes with the military's phonetic alphabet -- alpha, bravo, charlie -- in the 1950s, then moved to using female names shortly after.