In the 90s and early 2000s the popularity of the name Alexa was exploding. In 1985 there were 201 babies called Alexa, 20 years later there were almost 5000.
Enter Amazon
At the end of 2014 Amazon released the Amazon Alexa, its virtual assistant that has absolutely, completely, revolutionised the way we set timers when our hands are dirty... and a few other household tasks.
After the Alexa was released the popularity of the name jumped up, with Alexa becoming the 32nd most popular baby girl name in 2015. Explaining that initial jump is difficult in the context of the huge fall in popularity in the next few years, where the number of babies called Alexa halved -- perhaps as Amazon's Alexa made its way into more homes.
The naming of Alexa was obviously intentional. A device that lives in your home, listens and talks to you, definitely needs to be made to feel as human as possible. Technically speaking, the Amazon Echo is the actual device, and Alexa simply your helpful virtual assistant hiding within it.
It's not just Amazon using first names to humanise their brand though. Marcus is the new consumer arm of banking giant Goldman Sachs, lola is the travel management software launched in 2015, Casper is a mattress company, Oscar is an insurance company and Alice helps entrepreneurs grow their business. Keep an eye out for our premium chart service -- Kevin.
