This is How ‘Alexa’ Got Her Name!

So the other day Sarah Deien and I were discussing downloading the Y101 skill to your "Alexa"-enabled device so you can listen to Y101 all the time! All you have to do is just say "Alexa, play Y101". It's as simple as that and Y101 can be heard. It got me to wondering why they chose the name "Alexa". Well, according to www.businessinsider.com, the Amazon engineers were inspired by the computer on Star Trek. When Captain Kirk said something to the computer it answered him. They didn’t want to use the word “computer” and according to the Business Insider story, they tested several names and chose "Alexa" because it has “soft” vowels and an “X” in the name. That made it unique from other names selected as options.

They also chose it because on Star Trek, there was reference to the library of Alexander which was the keeper of “all knowledge”.  So now you know where “Alexa” came from.

As I began this, I mentioned we were talking about “Alexa” on the air and we both wondered what would happen if "Alexa" met a real "Alexa".….