Woman who loved her name had it ‘ruined’ by Amazon and people started making fun of it

It might be people that are named after cities and countries that get you chuckling, but there may have been an avenue that you haven't explored in the name realm.

This woman has been put through the ringer for the best part of 10 years due to her moniker, which has only been the butt of the joke since Amazon made one decision.

We've all been there when we've seen celebrities name their children the most ridiculous 'unique' names, but very rarely do people laugh at someone with a relatively normal name.

It's a hard deal to live with, as the only thing you can do in that situation is legally change it - but who is really that bothered?

Alexa Nizam has shared her experience with her name in the past few years, and yes that's right, Alexa like the Amazon virtual assistant.

Penning a piece for the 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."

That is, until Amazon introduced virtual assistant Alexa to the world in 2015.

Alexa Nizam

She said that it was 'subtle' at first, but all in all: "While they should have gone with something more obscure, it hadn't really affected me.

"I was so naïve."

Alexa went on to recall the time she worked in a department store in 2018, where a customer made fun of her name, asking questions such as 'what's the weather today, Alexa?' or '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," she added.

She also recalled the 'Alexa, play Despacito' meme that took the world by storm in the late 2010s, and described it as 'the peak' of her 'torment'.

Some felt sorry for her, others kept making fun of her, but Alexa was left dreading introducing herself to anyone because of this.

She did get a brief silver lining moment at her college graduation though, as she was returning to her home state of California, Alexa wrote on her gown cap: "Alexa, play 'Going back to Cali.'"

Getty Stock Photo

Remembering the pandemic, Alexa recalled that during Zoom calls with colleagues, people's virtual assistants would go off in the background whenever her name was said.

It caused several disruptions of light laughter from others as their Amazon Alexa would say that it couldn't understand what the command was.

But to this day, Alexa has admitted that it still happens, but the memes have started to quiet down and she has started to love her name again.

Introducing herself as 'Alexa, like the Amazon robot' has helped people remember her name, reducing the chances that she's called Alexis, Alexia or Alex.

Alexa still wishes Amazon followed Apple with the Siri route, or stuck to its own name like Google did, but shockingly, she actually has her own Alexa assistant, though it responds to 'Echo' to avoid confusion.

If you ever run into Alexa, it's essential that you don't ask for the weather.