Now that using a voice assistant is commonplace for most of us, you are probably wondering why they are called what they are called and, especially, why Amazon's is called Alexa. What was the reason for choosing that and not another name. Because it could perfectly have been called in a similar way to Google Assistant, Amazon Assistant (Amazon Assistant). Well, we are going to tell you why Alexa is called Alexa. Surely you find the story curious and who knows if you even clear up some other false belief.
The origin of Alexa
Alexa is a name of Greek origin and feminine gender that has variants such as Alejandra, Alexandra or simply Alex among many others. Its etymological meaning is: the one who is protective or the woman she will protect. But this is not really what you are interested in knowing or what we want to tell you, but rather why Amazon's voice assistant is called that, what is the origin or reason for the name used by the well-known Alexa voice assistant.
To find out why it is called that, the first thing to do is go back in time, to 2014 late. It was in November of that year when Amazon announced Alexa along with Echo. With the arrival of the company's first smart speaker, a voice assistant with a female name appeared on the scene.
Alexa was the name of a solution created by the company founded by Jeff Bezos that would allow the user to communicate and perform a multitude of actions just by saying the appropriate voice command. Of course, many wondered why that name.
Among some initial hypotheses was that Alexa was named after the Library of Alexandria. This has always been considered a place brimming with wisdom, and to some extent it might make sense, because Alexa would theoretically have the ability to answer any question you ask her. However it was not the case.
Alexa was born inspired by the voice on board the Star Trek ship, but the name had nothing to do with the series and movies of said space saga but a much more logical reason. The engineers and scientists responsible for developing Alexa decided that this was a good name because it included the letter X.
La X is a strong consonant, so when pronouncing it, the sound generated is loud and allows the speaker or Alexa-compatible devices to identify it better than other possible trigger words.
That was the reason and origin of Alexa as a name for Amazon's voice assistant. It could have been called in many other different ways, it is true, but the final choice was conditioned by that particularity when it came to pronouncing.
The problem with being called Alexa
Despite the good choice made by those responsible for the development of Alexa, at least that was the feeling they had, over time there were those who were not amused that such a successful product used the name of their daughter or their own.
In the United Kingdom, to be more specific, there are more than 4.000 people under 25 years of age that their names are Alexa. So, imagine the number of disparate situations they would have had to endure. Some parents even went so far as to demand a name change, because their daughters received constant jokes from classmates who spoke and asked for things as if they were the Amazon assistant.
For this reason, the company had introduced the possibility of using another name years before. So whoever wanted could use another wake word instead of Alexaas the Amazon or Echo. A solution that was not satisfied in the same way, because most do not use these words and continue to resort to the one that is established by default: Alexa.
So the direct consequence was the reduction in the use of said name to call newborn girls in practically all countries.