This dad might change his toddler daughter’s name – for a relatable reason
A dad took to US parenting forum Netmums, worried that the name he and his wife had chosen for their daughter would lead to a lifetime of bullying.
Is he right? Or is he over-reacting?
“Annoying and frustrating”
Turns out it’s not even a weird name, but simply one the 16-month-old has in common with a popular home assistance voice gadget – Amazon’s Alexa.
After carefully choosing a name they obviously loved, Amazon released their Alexa, and it’s taken the shine off the couple’s choice.
“We had our first child and named her Alexa,” he posted, “this was just before Amazon decided to release their pointless gadget which it now seems is taking over the world.”
“More times than not when you’re asked what her name is by someone new they make reference to having one at home, or say something similar which is annoying and frustrating,” he went on. “Life growing up and at school can be hard enough, so we’re reluctantly considering changing her name to save her years of … bullying, teasing etc.”
“Really worried she will hate it”
With this in mind, the couple are mulling over the options and wondering if they should just bite the bullet and switch their baby’s name for something less …. Amazon.
They note that they really love the name Alexa, and that they’d make any name change to benefit their daughter, not themselves.
“We’ve thought of changing it to Alex which would be easier, but we may go for a complete change to something different as we’re not keen on Alex. Of course we will ultimately make this decision ourselves but I’m the kind of person that likes to gauge peoples opinion to help me make up my mind. We love the name Alexa but are really worried she will hate it and need to think of her, not us.”
Overthinking it?
Forum users were quick to reassure this dad, confirming that the name was lovely and that the family should ride out the word association and resulting conversations that came with the name Alexa.
“I would not change a child’s name at this stage as it would be very confusing for her. However, the next time you get a smart remark about that electronic gadget, you could say that if you had had $5.00 every time someone had said that to you, you would be a very rich man by now … Or that your Alexa is older than Amazon’s and they should have asked you first.
“I wouldn’t change it. I really don’t want to sound rude but I think you may be overreacting a bit. It’s her name, I’d keep it.”
Nobody panic!
It’s possible the family are overthinking this a little, but their quest to protect their kiddo is a relatable one. That said, kids named after popular companies and products have managed to get on with their lives without incident so far – think Levi, Lincoln, Hunter, Aria, Nova, Carter and Frankie for starters.
For what it’s worth, we think that by the time this little girl realises she shares a name with the Amazon device (which is not really such a big deal, anyway) the Alexa will have been superseded and some other name will be part gadget, part girl!
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