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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!

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1horatio · 16/12/2016 22:53

I don't know a thing about technology.

But for a moment I thought you wanted to call DD Amazon Alexa Grin

Alexa Grace is lovely.

BaggyCheeks · 16/12/2016 22:53

It's not going to be a big deal. It was a name before it was a gadget.

If you wanted to call her iPhone or Walkman, then perhaps it would be different. Wink

Starsandcars9 · 16/12/2016 22:55

I'd go with it - you can always use the nn Lexie

MrsBlennerhassett · 16/12/2016 23:01

Alexa Grace is lovely! I wouldnt worry because Alex type names are a very common name so Amazon using one is not going to prevent people from using them. I mean theres a TV channel called Dave... but Dave is a very much used name so no one automatically thinks of the tv channel when they meet someone called Dave!
Its only when names are pretty rare and they are made famous by a certain thing that i think you need to worry because then yes, probably everyone will think of that product when they hear that name.
Alexa is too widely used for that to happen tho i reckon.

RJnomore1 · 16/12/2016 23:04

Amazon Alexa sounds fab 😁

Alexa grace is fine I promise

Original poster
Irishkez · 16/12/2016 23:04

Great, thanks for this, much appreciated!

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MoonHare · 16/12/2016 23:08

Hmm. Difficult to predict but I know someone who has an Amazon alexa and you do have to say "Alexa" everytime you ask it something.

GinIsIn · 16/12/2016 23:11

Alexa is already here. She's basically Siri, but for your home. You do have to say Alexa every single time you use it, so in every house that has one they will think of that first, but how many houses that will be, I couldn't say.

WLmum · 16/12/2016 23:24

Probably no more than we already say it in our house then! Go for it, our Alexa is fab, get lots of nice comments about her name - slightly unusual but not unknown. Google urban dictionary Alexa - if you get the same entry I did, you'll see it's a winner!
Amazon or not!

SheSaidNoFuckThat · 16/12/2016 23:31

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

hollachup · 16/12/2016 23:47

It's not actually called Alexa, it's called the Amazon Echo. As pp have said you have to call it Alexa to ask it something. Would you have a problem with Siri?

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.

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.

KenDoddsDadsDog · 17/12/2016 07:57

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

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

Really useful info here - thanks everyone!

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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.

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.

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?

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.

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!

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Starsandcars9 · 18/12/2016 19:21

Orla grace?
Camilla grace?
Sadie 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

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?

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