A new study has found that hurricanes with female names claim more deaths because people do not respect them.

America’s National Academy of Science investigated hurricanes from the last 60 years, finding that amongst the most dangerous storms, female-named hurricanes killed almost twice as many.

The effect was even more severe when a strongly masculine and strongly female name were compared. The study says: “[Our] model suggests that changing a severe hurricane’s name from Charley… to Eloise… could nearly triple its death toll.”

A number of experiments were undertaken to further demonstrate this “implicit sexism". In the tests, participants predicted that male hurricanes were more intense and that female hurricanes did not require as much safety preparation.

Based on the findings, the paper appealed for a new hurricane naming system:

“For policymakers, these findings suggest the value of considering a new system for hurricane naming to reduce the influence of biases on hurricane risk assessments and to motivate optimal preparedness.”

According to the Washington Post, there have been mixed reactions to the paper in the American meteorological community, with some praising the benefits for assessing risk perception and other considering other variables more important. The National Hurricane Center, which names the storms, has so far declined to comment on the findings.