# Am I the only one who thought I could name my Echo anything I wanted?



## Laterz

I swear, I must have read it in multiple places, that I could use any name I wanted as my Echo's wake-up word. I was so psyched to call it Hal, ala 2001. But nope, it's either Alexa or Amazon. 

Man, did I feel robbed! And mislead, to be honest with you. I can't remember where I read it, but I swear it was multiple places that said we'd be able to give Echo any name we wanted. 

Oh well...


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## cinisajoy

JohnFai said:


> I swear, I must have read it in multiple places, that I could use any name I wanted as my Echo's wake-up word. I was so psyched to call it Hal, ala 2001. But nope, it's either Alexa or Amazon.
> 
> Man, did I feel robbed! And mislead, to be honest with you. I can't remember where I read it, but I swear it was multiple places that said we'd be able to give Echo any name we wanted.
> 
> Oh well...


The internet is the greatest trickster.


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## Ann in Arlington

JohnFai said:


> I swear, I must have read it in multiple places, that I could use any name I wanted as my Echo's wake-up word. I was so psyched to call it Hal, ala 2001. But nope, it's either Alexa or Amazon.
> 
> Man, did I feel robbed! And mislead, to be honest with you. I can't remember where I read it, but I swear it was multiple places that said we'd be able to give Echo any name we wanted.
> 
> Oh well...


Sorry for the confusion . . . though I'm pretty sure you didn't read it here.  There's been a fair amount of discussion about wanting to name it something else. And yes, most people want to call it "Hal".  Word is, that capability will eventually come.


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## Laterz

Ann in Arlington said:


> Sorry for the confusion . . . though I'm pretty sure you didn't read it here.  There's been a fair amount of discussion about wanting to name it something else. And yes, most people want to call it "Hal".  Word is, that capability will eventually come.


I hope so! And I'm sure it wasn't from here. I read a lot of the tech sites like Cnet, etc, and I'm sure it was one of them...

Here's one of those articles from 2014 that gave me the impression I could change Echo's name:

http://www.ibtimes.com/pulse/27-names-call-your-amazon-echo-instead-alexa-1720482

There are others but I can't find it at the moment. Oh well, I guess I just didn't read close enough...


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## barryem

I think you didn't read closely enough.  The discussion you linked to makes it fairly plain that you're stuck with the name "Alexa".  All of Amazon's explanations say it can be called "Alexa" or "Amazon" and that more names may be available in the future.

I've read quite a bit about the Echo.  I got one of the early ones and for a while I read everything I could find about it, looking for new ideas for using it.  Nearly all the stuff I read mentions that it needs more names.  I'm sure a few articles never broached the subject but the vast majority list that as a limitation.

Barry


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## Laterz

barryem said:


> I think you didn't read closely enough. The discussion you linked to makes it fairly plain that you're stuck with the name "Alexa". All of Amazon's explanations say it can be called "Alexa" or "Amazon" and that more names may be available in the future.
> 
> I've read quite a bit about the Echo. I got one of the early ones and for a while I read everything I could find about it, looking for new ideas for using it. Nearly all the stuff I read mentions that it needs more names. I'm sure a few articles never broached the subject but the vast majority list that as a limitation.
> 
> Barry


The linked article wasn't really the one where I got the idea from, but it was the only one I could find at the moment. But you're probably right, it's likely I just didn't read close enough. Either that, or people realized they were wrong and changed their articles...


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## Sandpiper

I'd like to be able to use name other than Alexa or Amazon.  I may change it to Amazon, but do I say it too often here otherwise?  I live alone.  Well, me and the dog.  My saying ALEXA bothers him.  He hears me say that and he gets anxious.  Even if he's sleeping he gets up and looks at me like he's worried, "What?  What's wrong?"


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## HappyGuy

Visions of Star Trek and Captain Kirk having to say, "computer" before using the ship's computer system.


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## Andra

HappyGuy said:


> Visions of Star Trek and Captain Kirk having to say, "computer" before using the ship's computer system.


If I can say "computer" to get her to talk, then I NEED to have Majel Barrett-Roddenberry's voice


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## HappyGuy

Andra said:


> If I can say "computer" to get her to talk, then I NEED to have Majel Barrett-Roddenberry's voice


Now, wouldn't THAT be something!


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## D/W

I knew before purchasing Echo that the only wake-word choices were _Alexa_ or _Amazon_.

I do hope they give us the ability to choose a different name in the future. I find the word _Alexa_ a bit difficult to say, and I use the word _Amazon_ quite often during conversation.


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## Sandpiper

DreamWeaver said:


> I knew before purchasing Echo that the only wake-word choices were _Alexa_ or _Amazon_.
> 
> I do hope they give us the ability to choose a different name in the future. I find the word _Alexa_ a bit difficult to say, and I use the word _Amazon_ quite often during conversation.


Choice other than Amazon should have been a one syllable name / word. _Alexa_ is comparatively a mouthful.


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## Ann in Arlington

Sandpiper said:


> Choice other than Amazon should have been a one syllable name / word. _Alexa_ is comparatively a mouthful.


It makes sense, though, that the default is not something that's said frequently in general conversation. Otherwise the thing would turn on all the time. And if it was just one syllable, well, that syllable could show up in other ordinary words -- again triggering it to turn on when not really wanted.

Suppose they'd picked "Hal", which is what a lot of people like because of the _2001_ connection. But people say syllables that sound like "Hal" all the time; "how" could easily be mis-heard as "Hal", Halloween, know-how, etc. Lots of words that have that, or a similar syllable. I could see the Echo waking up regularly during a fairly normal conversation.

So, really, a string of three syllables that are not commonly used in that pattern is the best choice for a general default -- minimizes confusion.


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## loonlover

I have "activated" Alexa when asking intinst a question on more than one occasion. Most of those times we have not been able to figure out what word triggered a response. Looking at what was heard by the Echo doesn't help us figure it out either. It does seem to happen to me more than him.


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## The Hooded Claw

Alexa gets vexed and confused whenever I watch Lexus commercials on tv. I agree that three syllables is probably the most complicated name that could be gotten away with, but even it sometimes causes false positives.


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## Mike D. aka jmiked

The Hooded Claw said:


> Alexa gets vexed and confused whenever I watch Lexus commercials on tv. I agree that three syllables is probably the most complicated name that could be gotten away with, but even it sometimes causes false positives.


I was watching an episode of _DCI Banks_ Sunday night, when the Echo spontaneously started streaming some audio music channel. I stopped it, thought for a moment, then rewound the episode half a minute then re-played it. Sure enough, the Echo started playing the music again. Silenced it, and then _I_ tried saying the offending phrase. No response. Played the TV again, and the streaming resumed. Very strange. I changed the volume of the TV and it didn't do it when that line was said.

I don't remember the phrase, but nothing in it sounded even remotely like "Alexa". It seemed to be volume sensitive, which is puzzling. What the Echo heard was "alexa can we find awesome".

I think I've already mentioned in another thread that I have to turn the microphone off when any episode of _Castle_ is on TV, because one of the characters is named Alexis. 

Edit: It just did it again. The TV said "But they're like 60 quid online" and Alexa pops up and says "For how long?".

Mike


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## Ann in Arlington

"like sixty" could come through as "alexa"


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## Dragle

JohnFai said:


> I swear, I must have read it in multiple places, that I could use any name I wanted as my Echo's wake-up word. I was so psyched to call it Hal, ala 2001. But nope, it's either Alexa or Amazon.
> 
> Man, did I feel robbed! And mislead, to be honest with you. I can't remember where I read it, but I swear it was multiple places that said we'd be able to give Echo any name we wanted.
> 
> Oh well...


Maybe you can compromise and it will answer to "Halexa".


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## Chad Winters

or Hal 9000


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