People named Alexa and their loved ones challenge Amazon over Echo wake word

The problem, which has attracted complaints since Alexa's launch in 2014, is not confined to the UK.

Lauren Johnson, from Massachusetts, USA, has started a campaign called Alexa is a Human.

She said: "My daughter Alexa is nine now. The whole thing is a step beyond 'normal' teasing and bullying. It's identity erasure. The word Alexa has become synonymous with servant or slave. It gives people a licence to treat people with the name Alexa in a subservient manner."

Lauren added that for older children, a lot of the Alexa jokes can be sexual in nature.

The issue also affects adults. Alexa lives in Hamburg, Germany, and suffers jokes both in her private and professional lives.

"If I do a presentation at work, as soon as I say my name someone always makes a comment," she told the BBC.

"I think it's ethically unacceptable that a brand can hijack a human name and totally change its meaning. My name is my identity.

"I would encourage everyone who is called Alexa to fight for their name. It is Amazon who has to step back."

Since Amazon's Alexa devices were introduced in the UK in 2016, the popularity of the name has dramatically fallen. Then it was the 167th most popular baby name in England and Wales, but by 2019 it was 920th.

Amazon says: "As an alternative to Alexa, we also offer several other wake words customers can choose from, including Echo, Computer, and Amazon. We value feedback from customers, and as with everything we do, we will continue to look for ways to offer them more choice in this area."

Alexa is not the only voice assistant to have a name also used by real people.

Siri, the name of Apple's voice assistant, is short for Sigrid and is used in Norway, Sweden and the Faroe Islands. However, its pronunciation in Norwegian is closer to "see-ree", combined with a rolling "r" which may mitigate the risk of confusion.

One adult called Siri, resident in the UK, has previously told the BBC that she received quite a lot of jokes from people about her name, including one from an Apple helpdesk employee.

eddie wrote:I think they’re all a bunch of whiny cunts complaining over absolutely nothing. Jog on, idiots.

Ben Reilly wrote:

eddie wrote:I think they’re all a bunch of whiny cunts complaining over absolutely nothing. Jog on, idiots.

See, I agree with that to an extent, but if I was the father of a girl named Alexa and found out that boys at her school were saying to her, "Alexa - suck my dick" I'd be absolutely livid.

Which leads me to the opinion that Amazon should have picked a much less common wake word.