Active discussions

Help protect children from gaming harms.

Take our survey

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Baby names

Find baby name inspiration and advice on the Mumsnet Baby Names forum.

Original poster

Amazon Alexa??

36 replies

Irishkez · 16/12/2016 22:51

We had provisionally chosen the name Alexa Grace for our little girl who is due in January however I'm now reading that Amazon are now launching some sort of technology thing that they have named Alexa!

Can any technology buffs out there tell me if this is likely to be a big deal. Ie do you think it's likely The name Alexa be really synonymous with this Amazon thing in the future? Or maybe it's the kind of thing only tech minded people will even know about.

Look forward to your advice!

OP posts:
Are your children’s vaccines up to date?
Set a reminder
New posts on this thread. Refresh page
SunnyDayDreaming101 · 27/12/2016 20:21

It's a great name though! Don't let me put you off, I just know I would get myself into a cafuffel cause I'm buying an echo Confused

Original poster
Irishkez · 27/12/2016 18:36

Grin sunny day dreaming!!!

OP posts:
SunnyDayDreaming101 · 27/12/2016 18:14

I also had Alexa in my short list, I've had to scrub it. The Amazon echo is named Alexa and its brilliant!

My sis got one and you need to say Alexa for it to begin listening to your commands, I can just imagine shouting in my dd and the bloody technology answering me instead. I'm defo getting an echo they are fab!

NiceFalafels · 22/12/2016 20:06

Alexia with nick name Alexa

Original poster
Irishkez · 22/12/2016 20:03

That's good to know, thank you for that.

OP posts:
Enidblyton1 · 22/12/2016 17:18

My friend has one of these and also a DD called Alexa. It's no big deal. You don't have to call it Alexa. He was calling it Echo.

I'm also lot convinced this is going to be the 'next big thing'. It's a bit gimmicky really.

I wouldn't let it out you off Alexa

BendydickCuminsnatch · 22/12/2016 14:06

We and at least 2 other family members have Amazon Alexas. Alexa is still on our baby name list! But could be confusing because Amazon Alexa listens to what you're saying and responds to 'her' name so if you're calling for your kid, Amazon Alexa will pipe up too.

Salmotrutta · 22/12/2016 10:26

Mercedes is a proper female name - Spanish I think?

The car brand was named after the daughter of one of the company directors and the surname of another if memory serves correctly.

KylieJo · 19/12/2016 15:20

I was about to say that Amazon Alexa sounds like a game character or something, but then read your OP. Well, your chosen name is ok, I don't think you should worry.

OlennasWimple · 19/12/2016 15:12

Would you call your daughter Mercedes or Siri?

sugarplumfairy28 · 19/12/2016 11:00

Sorry to throw this in there but according to some of the geeks I know, it could well be the next big thing. The big thing itself is actually the Echo which is the piece of technology that is note worthy, however the voice service is called Alexa.

The idea behind it, will be to control all your devices through one method - the Echo. What you will be talking to though is Alexa. I doubt it will be known as the Echo for long, it may well become the name given to the technology in the same way a vacuum cleaner is known as a hoover.

I would say it really depends what circles you run in and taking a bet on it either way. I wouldn't use it.

crje · 19/12/2016 05:10

I wouldn't use it.

I'd imagine people asking her Siri like questions as a 'joke'.

It would be a pain

mathanxiety · 19/12/2016 04:42

It's a gadget with a name you have to say each time you use it. It's not like a blender.

How about Alicia Grace?

purpleprincess24 · 18/12/2016 19:36

We bought one the week it came out ... it's a gadget and nothing more, so I wouldn't worry

Starsandcars9 · 18/12/2016 19:21

Orla grace?
Camilla grace?
Sadie grace?

Original poster
Irishkez · 18/12/2016 08:36

Thanks so much for the American perspective - there's no way we can go ahead with it if it were to become that popular here. Back to the drawing board I guess!

OP posts:
mathanxiety · 18/12/2016 06:12

I would avoid it too. There are ads for the device all over TV in the US at the moment.

I know a young woman who uses her full name 'Sigrid' now because of 'Siri'. She had been Siri since she was a baby but it got to be too much for her.

OlennasWimple · 18/12/2016 05:01

Personally I would avoid it now - if I already had an Alexa I wouldn't change her name, but I would change advance plans.

Could you call her Alexandra and plan to call her Alexa for short, but chose a different NN if the Amazon thingy is very successful?

LastAnni · 18/12/2016 04:56

Hmm, I'm going to disagree here. I live in Silicon Valley and pretty much everyone we know has an Echo. And yes, they all call them Alexa and walk around their houses snapping their fingers and demanding Alexa do things for them.
I would tread cautiously, as tech trends tend to seep out from Silicon Valley to the rest of the world.

FannyWincham · 17/12/2016 23:01

I have a friend with a DD called Cortana - then Xbox lunched Cortana on the Xbox one a few years later, it's not been an issue

Seriously? Are they gamers? Cortana has been the AI assistant in the Halo gaming franchise since 2001.

user1481966408 · 17/12/2016 09:55

This reply has been deleted

Message deleted by MNHQ. Here's a link to our Talk Guidelines.

Original poster
Irishkez · 17/12/2016 09:44

Really useful info here - thanks everyone!

OP posts:
KenDoddsDadsDog · 17/12/2016 07:57

You can change the name of the Amazon Echo / Dot anyway . Ours is Ronaldo 😂

celeryeater · 17/12/2016 04:16

We have one in our home (it's amazing!) but we changed the name you have to say to give it instructions to Echo, because I felt it was a bit woman slave ish to have it with a woman's name (although the voice it responds in is still female). I think it's early technology though and although I do think the technology will be popular eventually there will probably be repackaged with a different name by that point. I wouldn't let it put me off the name if that was what I liked.

Pluto30 · 17/12/2016 04:02

Siri is a popular name where my DH is from, and it never really struck me as odd even though I use Siri quite often. Grin

Wouldn't worry at all about Alexa. If you strike off every name that has some form of association, you'd have no names left!

Alexa Grace is gorgeous.