The Names That Have Been Affected

Alexander: a name for the ages…

The name “Alexa” is derived from “Alexander”, a name dating back thousands of years to the historical figure, Alexander the Great. There have been many other famous people throughout history named Alexander, including a saint and a pope. Although it’s been in use to some degree ever since, the name had been steadily climbing in popularity in the US for the past 60 years, ranking as the 44th most popular baby name of the past 100 years. Many of the names that were derived from Alexander, such as Alexa and Alexis, have also become popular, especially in the last 40 years.

As a result, there are now many people (across many countries) with the name Alexa, or one that’s similar. The degree of impact that Amazon’s virtual assistant is having on them varies; some contend with their name frequently triggering devices when someone speaks to or about them, others have that issue, but also deal with dehumanizing commands and comments from people who now associate the name with giving orders to a virtual assistant.

Below: some of the names most affected, and the number of people in the US who have them. Data is from the Social Security Administration’s website, and include names that are homonyms, where applicable.

 
Tweet: "So Amazon Echo's wake word is "Alexa". That'll be useful in households with anyone named Alex, Alexa, Alexandra etc." Tweet is dated 11/7/14, the day after Amazon launched the Echo.
Tweet: "Does Amazon know how many people have kids named Alexa?" Tweet is dated 11/7/14, the day after Amazon launched the Echo.
Tweet to BabyNameWizard account: "Nominating Alexa, the name of the Amazon Echo robot. Much more popular than Sire, will be interesting to see the impact." Tweet is dated less than a month after the launch of the Echo

“The Big Three” names: Alexa, Alexis, and Alexia

Alexa

I30,000+

1990 - 1999 - Alexa was listed as the 109th most popular name in the US, with more than 30,000 babies registered as Alexa.

2000 - 2009 - Alexa was listed as the 54th most popular name in the US, with more than 48,000 babies registered as Alexa.

2010 - 2018 - Alexa was listed as the 49th most popular name in the US, with almost 40,000 babies registered as Alexa.

  • Tweet: "I know there are crises in the world or whatever but bro it sucks being named alexa in this day and age"
  • Tweet by Alexa99: "If you struggle with imposter syndrome, please know it could be worse. I am literally artificially intelligent." Crying emoji. Reply: "My name has been Alexa since 1995 so don't come @ me with imposter syndrome, @alexa99"

Alexis

450,000

The name Alexis ranks as one of the top 100 girl’s names in the US in the last 100 years. In addition to it being close enough to “Alexa” to frequently trigger Amazon’s AI, many people have trouble discerning between the two names, so those named Alexis will often get the same types of dehumanizing commands and comments that Alexas get. There are several variations in spelling of the name with the most common being Alexus and Alexys, and there are also more than 64,000 boys and men who are named Alexis.

  • Lex: "Just know if I introduce myself to you and the first thing you do is make an Amazon Alexa demand at me, I'm probably never speaking to you again." Alexis: "Literally my biggest pet peeve, and my names not even Alexa."
  • Tweet: "When you have a daughter named Alexis, you can't have Alexa in the house because she's always asking what you said."

Alexia

48,000

The name Alexia’s similarity to Alexa means that it will regularly trigger Amazon’s virtual assistant. Many people also hear it and see it as “Alexa”, so girls and women named Alexia often are subjected to the same voice assistant orders and requests as people named Alexa.