As smart speakers have hit the mainstream over the past couple of years in the United States and around the world, it’s important to take a moment to think of the many people who now share their name with an ubiquitous virtual assistant designed to serve its human overlords. And no, I’m not talking about you, Bixby. Imagine having named your kid Alexa shortly before Amazon debuted its popular virtual assistant in 2014. You now have to live with the fact that your child’s name will forever be associated with the world’s most popular digital servant.
As a matter of fact, there are clear signs that Amazon’s decision to give its digital assistant a rather popular name, has ruined that name for years to come. According to the U.S. Social Security Administration, the number of babies named Alexa in the United States has dropped from 6,052 in 2015 (which is when Amazon’s first smart speaker Echo became widely available) to just 348 in 2024. Having been the 32nd most popular name for girls born in 2015, Alexa’s rank dropped to 806th in 2024, the lowest it’s been since 1985. Source.
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Tbh it would be really useful to see all the years before 2015 to see if there’s a trend
via The Name Grapher
Wait, it peaked first?! Wild
I guess it makes sense, people suddenly started hearing the name more so more parents thought it sounded good. Only when people realised that the Echo was here to stay they started deciding against it.
And let’s not forget the contributions of Billy Joel.
The number of babies named ‘Hey Google’ has remained stable, however.
Yeah, I know a girl named “Alexandra”, who will readily tell you that even during the first time, when she got called “Alexa” and told to perform a menial task, she did not find that funny. And the joke certainly did not get less old since then…
I think they have the internet’s permission to punch people when they do that.
It’s an interesting point. It would definitely suck to have a name that matches some popular international product. I wonder if at some point in the future people could sue to prevent it, or request compensation for a childhood of bullying.
Why should I change my name? He’s the one who sucks!
My name was perfectly fine until big pharma stole it and sold it back to me: Ex-Lax.
Allegra Exlax Colace. Hardcore name or pharmacy run list?
Now i wanna see how the name Karen is holding up.
what happened in the 1980s?
It was an old person name.
Jessica and Ashley and Jennifer took over.
Karen is not particularly special as a name that became overwhelmingly popular in just one or two generations, and then fell back off. And so even as earlier generations considered it to be a child’s name, later generations came to associate it with older women.
Gladys and Gertrude and Edith are other examples, highly associated with certain older generations.
One day we’ll think of Madison and Emma and Mackenzie as old lady names too.
Holy shit it is self-sustaining.
I bet amazon is proud
