Alexa Morales takes great pride in her name. But after Amazon launched the virtual assistant Alexa in November 2014, the 28-year-old girl started to feel uncomfortable.
According to Morales, people started making jokes about his name, pretending to give him orders or asking questions in a robotic voice. At first he responded casually to this kind of joke. But over time he became bored. He was not comfortable with the name 'Alexa' which came from his late father's name being made fun of.
"When I hear my name now, I don't think of good things. It's more like pressure," said Morales, who works as a pharmacy technician, quoted by the Washington Post.
There are nearly 130 thousand people in the United States (US) named Alexa. The name grew in popularity after singer Billy Joel and model Christie Brinkley named their daughter Alexa in 1985.
According to an analysis of Washington Post Social Security Administration data, in 2015, there were more than 6,000 baby girls in the US named Alexa. After Amazon chose Alexa as the name for its virtual assistant service, the name's popularity plummeted. In 2020, only about 1,300 babies will be given the name.
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The Washington Post interviewed more than 25 women named Alexa and some of the parents who named their children Alexa to hear stories about how Amazon changed their feelings about the name and the identity of the name Alexa. The people named Alexa who were interviewed were aged between 5 and 55, and they lived throughout the US, Mexico, Canada and Europe.
Some people are amused and indifferent to Amazon's Alexa. But most feel aggrieved and annoyed at the ridiculous rants that equate them with Amazon's Alexa. One of them even said the joke eventually turned into verbal sexual harassment which disgusted him.
So, it is understandable that Alexa Morales was embarrassed and frustrated. She continues to be the butt of Alexa's name joke, even after sharing the story behind her name. The name holds a sad story about his father who tragically died while he was still in his mother's womb.
In 2018, Morales began changing his first name from Alexa to just Lex. He also refuses to buy anything from Amazon, partly because of the name of the device and partly because he hates hearing negative news about working conditions at the company founded by Jeff Bezos.
"I can't even look at Amazon stuff anymore and I always want to kick it," he said.
Her mother, Erim Corado understands her daughter's decision to change her name to Lex. But he felt it was like a loss of connection between father and daughter.
"He deserves the treatment of his name being respected, not to change him for the belittling treatment of our daughter," Corado said.