Featured Image Credit: Alexa Nizam / Phil Barker/Future Publishing via Getty Images
Topics: Amazon, Technology, World News, Celebrity, Viral
Poppy Bilderbeck
Topics: Amazon, Technology, World News, Celebrity, Viral
It's always a shame when someone - or something - has to come along, steal your name and ruin it forever.
Karens were left wailing after their name was royally dragged through the mud on social media and Chad hasn't exactly had it easy either
Or - slightly niche - if you're called Siri, you may now not be as big a fan of Apple.
And now there's another name which has fallen victim to popular culture and it's all because of Jeff Bezos' e-commerce company.
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That's right, a little technological device brought onto the market in 2015 was the turning point in one woman's relationship with her name.
Alexa.
"Alexa, what time is it?", "Alexa, what's the weather forecast?", "Alexa, turn down" - now imagine hearing people squawk that the whole time and your name is actually Alexa.
And for Alexa Nizam, the device released by Amazon has well and truly 'ruined' her name.
In first-person piece for Business Insider, Alexa explained: "Growing up, I loved having the name Alexa. Aside from a brief first-grade obsession with the name Rebecca, I've always been happy with it and never had a reason to feel otherwise."
However, when Amazon's Alexa came onto the scene, everything changed.
At first, the references were 'subtle', according to Alexa, with the vast majority of people asking if Alexa enjoyed sharing the name with Amazon's new device.
"I'd say that while they [Amazon] should have gone with something more obscure, it hadn't really affected me," she added.
Alas, she continued: "I was so naive."
The jokes kept on coming for Alexa: "I worked at a department store in 2018, and at least once a day, a customer would make fun of my name. 'What's the weather today, Alexa?' 'What time is it, Alexa?' Some would even say things like, 'I bet you get those jokes all the time,' as if they weren't part of the onslaught themselves."
It even got to the point where Alexa 'dreaded' meeting new people in the fear of them making a comment about her name.
So surely the coronavirus pandemic helped a bit? Wrong.
"During Zoom calls with coworkers, if anyone said my name, someone's device would go off in the background," Alexa explained.
Thankfully, Alexa has since come around to sharing a name with the speaker device more.
She resolved: "Despite the ups and downs, I'm still proud to be named Alexa."
Just don't ever ask her about what the weather's like.