The Weather Channel and weather.comreleased its winter storm names for the 2017-18season on Thursday, marking the sixth season of naming winter storms.

The names will be used in alphabetical order to identify winter storms that meet naming criteria. was the first of its kind to be developed by The Weather Channel.

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"It's simply easier to communicate about a complex storm if it has a name, which our naming program has demonstrated," said, senior hurricane specialist at The Weather Channel and compiler of the list. "Good communications benefits everyone."

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According to winter weather expert of The Weather Channel, there were 22 named winter storms in the 2016-17season, matching the total from both the 2015-16 and , but less than the26 named storms in and 27 storms in .

(RECAP:Warmest Winter on Record For Lower 48 States in 2015-2016)

Norcross said this season's names originated with a list of 2016'smost popular baby names, excluding any current Atlantic hurricane names on the for the next six years, any eastern Pacific names on the list for the next two years, and any (those particularly deadly, destructive and historic).

Below is the list of 26 names to be used this season, as well as background on each and a guide for names with multiple or difficult pronunciations.

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Aiden- From an Old Irish name meaning "fire."

Benji- Short for Benjamin, anold Hebrew name meaning "son of the south."

Chloe(KLO-ee) - From Greek, it is a reference to blooming or the young green shoot of a new plant.

Dylan- From Welsh words meaning "great tide."

Ethan- From a Hebrew name meaning "strong," "solid" or "firm."

Frankie- A nickname for Frank, Francisor Frances from the Germanic tribe the Franks.

Grayson- From the Middle English word that meant steward plus son.

Hunter- From the time when people in England were named for their work.

Inga- Related to the name of a people who lived on the North Sea called the Ingaevones.

Jaxon- From the son of Jack, which was a nickname for John in the Middle Ages.

Kalani- From the Hawaiian words meaning the plus heaven or sky.

Liam- From Irish, a short form of William, which comes from German.

Mateo(muh-TAY-o) - The Spanish form of Matthew, which is distantly derived from the Hebrew word for gift.

Noah- From the biblical character Noah, derived from the Babylonian/Assyrian word forrepose/rest.

Oliver- The English form of the French name Olivier.

Polly- From Molly, which is an old nickname for Mary.

Quinn- Derived from an Irish Gaelic word meaning "chief" or "counsel."

Riley- Derived from Reilly, which comes from the Old Irish name Raghailleach.

Skylar- A modified version of Tyler merged with the word sky.

Toby- Derived from Tobias, a name from old versions of the Bible.

Uma(OO-ma) - From multiple cultures including the Sanskrit word meaning "tranquility."

Violet- Originally from the name for the Latin name for the flower, viola.

Wilbur- Mr. Ed’s owner in the TV show about a talking horse.

Xanto- From the Ancient Greek name Xanthus meaning "blonde."

Yvonne(ee-VONN) - Related to a nickname for the Old French name Yves, which came from the name of a type of wood used to make bows.

Zoey- Derived from the Greek word for life.