The system by which tropical cyclones are given short, distinctive names so that warnings reach the public clearly and there is no confusion when more than one storm is active in a region.
- Naming is coordinated regionally; for the North Indian Ocean (Bay of Bengal and Arabian Sea) the India Meteorological Department (IMD) is the responsible Regional Specialised Meteorological Centre that assigns names.
- Thirteen countries around the basin contribute names to a common list: Bangladesh, India, Iran, Maldives, Myanmar, Oman, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sri Lanka, Thailand, the UAE, and Yemen; names are used in sequence as storms form.
- A cyclone over the North Indian Ocean is named only once it intensifies into a cyclonic storm (sustained winds of about 62 km per hour and above).
- Names are meant to be easy to pronounce, neutral, and not offensive; unlike the Atlantic, North Indian Ocean names are not reused or retired in the same alphabetical-yearly way.
- Recent examples include Amphan, Nisarga, Tauktae, Yaas, Asani, and Biparjoy; the IMD also runs the cyclone warning and colour-coded alert system for India.
That the IMD names North Indian Ocean cyclones, the panel of thirteen contributing countries, and the threshold of a cyclonic storm before naming are recurring current-affairs and geography facts.
Naming is regional, so North Indian Ocean storms are named by the IMD, not by a single country's whim; a depression is not named until it becomes a cyclonic storm; the same region's cyclones (Bay of Bengal and Arabian Sea) share one combined name list.
The IMD names North Indian Ocean cyclones from a shared list contributed by thirteen member countries, once a storm reaches cyclonic-storm strength.