Justice for Alexas: The trauma of being named after a world-famous device

Are you a little bit Alexa? Are you a little bit sick of it?

My mam had a couple of names picked out for me because she didn't know if I was going to be a boy or a girl. One of the boy names she had picked out for me was Marcel, which on paper sounds fine. But given that Friends was one of the biggest shows in the 90s and featured a monkey called Marcel, I feel like I would have spent my school years getting nothing but monkey references. I managed to dodge a bullet there, but for anyone named Alexa the same can not be said. I think it's time we showed a little bit of moral support to the Alexas of the world. In a world where you can be anything, being Alexa ain't easy right now. The famous tech device has taken the world by storm but can you imagine the amount of jokes you'd have to endure right now if your name was Alexa? The constant commands from friends, family and even random people you've just met, simply because you share your name with a household device. In fairness to any adult Alexas, your parents didn't know this was going to happen — they had no clue. I know when I was naming my children I didn't think, 'I wonder if a piece of technology will have the same name in the future?''. It's just not something that crosses your mind. Then there's the flip side; parents who named their child Alexa but now regret it. One mum in the UK even went so far as to say that she wants to change her two year old's name because she worries she will be bullied:

"'I'm 100% certain she is going to be picked on, bullied and teased for being called this. I've briefly mentioned to my ex my thoughts and he is firmly of the thought her name isn't to be changed."

I don't necessarily think she needs to go that far as the association between the tech device and the name will probably die down over the years, and sure you can always have her go by a nickname like Lexie in school. Having spent many years in school being referred to as 'Melissa Milk Carton', I know only too well what it is like to share a name with a common object and my heart goes out to the Alexas of the world right now dealing with the same silliness.

See also: It's Official - Nobody in Ireland is Calling Their Baby Karen Anymore