Alexa has become America‘s most popular virtual assistant. But with 68 million Echo devices sold globally, there are likely multiple "Alexas" in many homes today. To solve the confusion of figuring out which device is responding, Amazon now allows easy changing of Alexa‘s default wake word.
This guide will walk through customization steps while exploring the convenience and business factors driving voice tech personalization. After examining options to make Alexa distinctly yours, you‘ll discover an experience hand-tailored to your lifestyle.
The Evolution of Virtual Assistants Starts with a Name
Alexa wasn‘t the first voice-based assistant. That honor goes to Siri, introduced on Apple‘s iPhone 4S in 2011 offering conversational help via speech recognition. Amazon soon launched Alexa on Echo smart speakers in 2014, popularizing in-home voice interaction for controlling music, shopping lists, and smart devices.
Since then, speech recognition capabilities have rapidly improved thanks to neural networks and natural language processing. The global market for speech recognition reached $7.5 billion in 2021, forecast to expand at a 19% annual growth rate through 2028 according to business consulting firm Grand View Research.
Speech Recognition Revenue U.S. 2018-2028 (Grand View Research)
With Google Home, Microsoft Cortana and other virtual assistants now arriving to serve various audiences, wake words help brands stand out while avoiding verbal crossover from competitors.
For consumers managing their increasingly complex smart home ecosystems, the ability to customize that initial activation provides useful clarity to better leverage voice-first benefits.
Why Change the Wake Word on Your Echo Device?
Amazon has sold over 100 million Alexa-enabled devices globally as of 2022. With smart speakers becoming ubiquitous in living rooms, kitchens, bedrooms and offices, there‘s a good chance you already talk to "Alexa" regularly if not hourly.
But defaulting to Alexa all the time can get repetitive. Having options to change the wake word spices up your interactive experience. Here are primary reasons people customize Alexa‘s name on their Echo devices:
Differentiate Between Devices – Eliminate confusion of which Alexa answers by giving unique names. For larger homes, this helps target requests.
Increase Privacy – Those wary of privacy concerns with always-listening mics may use alternative names less likely overheard by others.
Personalized Experience – Aleternate wake words allow owners to put their personal stamp giving interactions more character. Fun names especially for kids‘ rooms help adoption.
As you‘ll see ahead, picking the wake word offers a simple but meaningful way to tailor Amazon‘s offering to your family‘s needs. While currently limited to four replacement options, expanded personalization seems inevitable.
Steps to Easily Change Your Echo Wake Word in the Alexa App
With a few quick taps in the Alexa app, it takes less than a minute to assign an alternate default name for your Echo smart speaker or display. Just follow these instructions:
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Open Alexa App – Launch on iOS/Android, logging in to account managing target Echo.
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Select Echo – Tap name of the specific Echo device you wish to customize under the Devices menu.
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Choose "Echo & Alexa" Menu – Access settings for Alexa interactions, wake word and related features.
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Edit Wake Word – Tap to reveal the replacement name choices available.
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Select Custom Name – Choose your preferred new default wake word for the Echo.
Once saved, Alexa immediately begins responding to your new chosen wake word when triggered instead of saying "Hey, Alexa…". Feel free to tweak this back to the default or another option anytime as tastes evolve!
| Current Wake Word Options for Echo Devices |
|---|
| Alexa |
| Computer |
| Echo |
| Ziggy |
While only four words today, in future Amazon may provide additional alternatives or even custom wake word creation capabilities as speech recognition tech continues advancing.
For now, most find one of the above choices fits their personality or needs just fine. Next let‘s examine the built-in replacement name options in more detail to determine what resonates best.
Which Custom Wake Word Should You Use?
Beyond the simple fun of trying alternate Alexa names, choose wisely as you‘ll likely engage with hundreds if not thousands of requests over your smart device ownership. Optimal criteria for an effective custom wake word includes:
- Distinctive – Unique sound and syllable patterns
- Natural to Voice – Feels comfortable saying aloud regularly
- Memorable – Easy to recall even with periods of non-use
- Culturally Relevant – Fits language/dialect of owners
Running through how the pre-set custom wake words available today on Echo units stacks up on these criteria sheds light on ideal user scenarios:
Computer
- Distinctiveness – Very distinct 1 syllable word not commonly spoken
- Naturalness – Feels unnatural to address an appliance this way
- Memorability – Hard to forget this classic sci-fi trope
- Relevance – Mainly suits tech enthusiasts seeking fiction fantasy
Best For – Those wanting an old school Star Trek Computer experience! Also handy for eliminating Alexa confusion if "Alexa" is someone‘s actual name in the household.
Ziggy
- Distinctiveness – Unique made-up name without other meanings
- Naturalness – Not a name owners likely identify with but easy to say
- Memorability – Quirky aspect aids recall
- Relevance – Fits with sci-fiAssistant name stereotype
Best For – Echo owners wanting a funky-sounding smart assistant name carrying artificial intelligence connotations.
Echo
- Distinctiveness – Only one meaning, not easily confused conversationally
- Naturalness – Feels logical addressing the device by product name
- Memorability – Easy to remember the device itself
- Relevance – Directly matches branded device
Best For – Those seeking the simplest or most pragmatic custom wake word inline with the Amazon Echo badging.
Alexa
- Distinctiveness – Less effective when multiple "Alexas" are present
- Naturalness – Already widely adopted and feels natural to say
- Memorability – Brand awareness aids strong recall
- Relevance – Designers created this word specifically for virtual assistant purposes
Best For – Users satisfied with the familiar default that avoids mixing things up. Also allows integrating other brands‘ assistants using own wake words.
Hopefully examining the criteria for effective wake words against the built-in options provides guidance on which replacement name suits your personality or use cases best.
But customization of Alexa extends far beyond this initial entry point. Changing her accent or niches uses through skills and routines allows tailoring the experience much deeper.
Additional Ways to Personalize Your Virtual Assistant
The wake word primarily serves functional purposes like device differentiation or privacy. But other personalization avenues on Alexa-powered smart speakers allow you to craft a truly bespoke automated assistant.
Change Alexa‘s Voice
Beyond the name/word used to wake your Echo, another customization is changing Alexa‘s default voice. In the U.S., we‘re used to Alexa‘s American female tone. However, Alexa now speaks several dialects of English plus multilingual options.
You can toggle between American, Australian, British, Canadian, and Indian accents. Alexa also speaks native Spanish, Portuguese, French, German, Italian, Japanese, and Hindi languages. So for multi-lingual households, set the accent matching resident languages.
The three English variants (Australian, UK, Indian) prove interesting for giving Alexa distinct regional personalities. An Aussie Alexa wakes things up while British refined sensibilities or Indian lilt spices interactions.
Don‘t be afraid to test drive options even temporarily for fun. Alexa makes it easy to revert back anytime.
Build Custom Routines
While choosing a favorite Alexa voice expands personality, custom Alexa Routines allow programming her capabilities to match specific preferences.
Routines act as mini voice apps – trigger a custom phrase and have Alexa perform multiple sequenced actions of your choosing.
Langualama/Shutterstock.com
For instance, saying "Alexa, movie time" could automatically dim compatible smart lights, lower shades, turn on the TV and receiver, and pull up Netflix. Useful before bed or heading out commands also come in handy to double check locks, thermostats, and appliances.
Tap the Routines icon then the blue "+" in the Alexa app to build your own sequences. Deleting is just as easy when needs change.
Install Skill Blueprints
Alexa Skills add capabilities from checking sports scores to playing sound effects. The Skills Blueprints toolbox makes it simple for anyone to publish customized skills, even for personal use.
For example, make a private Trivia Blueprint quiz game combining personalized questions on family history, memories, or jokes. Or code a custom soundboard responding with inside jokes.
Browse blueprints here then publish your creation to instantly work on your linked Echo device via your custom invocation name. Another avenue for Alexa‘s abilities to feel tailored your family and friends.
Skill Blueprints tick most the optimal criteria boxes for effective custom wake words covered earlier:
- Distinctive – Unique phrases not triggering other Skills
- Natural to Voice – Conversational invocations possible
- Memorable – Connects interactions to owner‘s personal life events/memories
- Culturally Relevant – Localized family references build adoption
Get creative in making Alexa even more your personal assistant through custom Skills!
How Do Other Smart Assistants Allow Customization?
Alexa offers the most flexibility redefining initial and ongoing interactions among major voice assistant platforms today. But competitors provide some degree of personalization worth considering when choosing your brand.
Siri – Only responds to the "Hey Siri" wake command with no user modification option or accent selection as of 2022. Own pronunciation is simulated in responses.
Google Assistant – Similarly lacks alternate launch phrases but adapts speech closely to regional user dialects. Adds some personal results based on account.
Cortana – Also responds to fixed "Hey Cortana" wake-up without alternatives. Focuses personalization within productivity experiences instead.
Bixby – Samsung‘s assistant for their devices allows swapping English voice between male Alex and female Ella. Users cannot currently change the "Hi Bixby" activation though.
So in the virtual assistant wake word olympics, Alexa takes gold for its multiple built-in wake word options. Bixby earns silver for name/gender voice choice even if limited in scope. And Google Assistant bronze for the extensive dialect options available once engaged.
Alexa endothelin continues pushing ahead on customizable voice-first experiences most owners now demand. And her voice options spanning global regions and languages keeps expanding too.
Can You Change Wake Words on Non-Amazon Alexa Devices?
Beyond Echo brands, Alexa powers an increasing array of third party smart home devices with speakers and mics integrated. Top manufacturers featuring Alexa integration include:
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Sonos – Popular wireless home sound systems with Alexa control built into latest Sonos One models. Owners cannot alter the triggering "Alexa" wake word.
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Facebook – The Portal smart display acts as an Echo Show with video chat focus. Personalized "Hey Portal" wake phrase options help differentiate if owning multiples.
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Ecobee – Leading smart thermostat providing comfort and energy savings via Alexa voice convenience. No wake word alternatives available currently.
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GE Lighting – Alexa-enabled C by GE smart lamps and light switches as part of broad home automation ecosystem. Fixed Alexa wake word on all models.
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Bose – Wireless headphones and Bluetooth speakers benefiting from Alexa‘s extensive music/audio capabilities. Sticks with standard Alexa invocation phrase only for now.
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Garmin – Wearables brand offers the Garmin Speak series providing Alexa‘s capabilities in an auto-focused navigation device. No wake word modification setting exists.
As the hardware showcase above covers, most third-party Alexa integrations mandate use of the default Alexa/Amazon wake word currently – with Portal from Facebook the one exception.
We expect device makers may eventually expose wake word controls directly like Amazon. But for now modifying the activation trigger requires managing through the main Echo device settings as covered earlier.
The Future of Customizable Virtual Assistants
As Artificial Intelligence capabilities advance, look for wake word flexibility in Alexa and competitive platforms to keep expanding too. Assume updated names options get supplemented first, but even custom wake phrase creation tools could emerge down the road.
Natural language processing behind modern voice assistants continues improving to adapt to diverse regional dialects and accents more reliably over time as well.
And expect the current flood of Alexa appliances like microwaves, showers, mirrors and more to almost all soon allow personalized wake word access.
User preference around privacy, differentiation, and creativity demands it. And the assistants with the best customization options stand to build the most loyal installed bases over the long run.
FAQs: Changing Alexa‘s Name
Here are answers to some frequently asked questions around modifying Amazon Echo wake words and related options:
Can I change Alexa‘s name to anything I want?
Currently wake word swaps are limited to the provided Computer, Echo, Ziggy options alongside default Alexa. But additional choices may arrive in future.
Do I have to change Alexa‘s name if owning multiple Echo/Alexa devices?
Custom wake words help eliminate confusion on which device responds but aren‘t mandatory. Unique device names in the Alexa app also aids identifying the source.
What‘s the best custom Alexa name?
Each alternative wake word suits different preferences. Computer fits sci-fi fantasy scenarios. Echo takes pragmatic approach. Ziggy offers quirky assistant vibe. Default Alexa remains effective single device use.
Can I rename Alexa something offensive or against Amazon‘s policies?
Amazon requires wake words and other customization choices remain appropriate and inoffensive in order to publish. So best practice is keeping your Echo interactions family-friendly.
If I switch Alexa‘s name, will she respond differently to requests?
Outside of the specific wake word itself, Alexa‘s core functionality remains identical regardless of the chosen wake word. You still enjoy full access to over 100,000 Alexa capabilities!
Make Your Echo As Unique As You
With Amazon‘s devices sitting in over 20% of US households already plus settling into office spaces, Alexa truly qualifies as the country‘s most popular digital assistant.
But Alexa was never intended as a generic one-size-fits all appliance. Amazon wisely built in personalization from early days – starting with wake word substitutions we explored here up through custom skill building potentials.
So don‘t be afraid to tinker under Alexa‘s hood and take control of your experience. Rename Alexa on a whim as your mood suits! Build evening entertainment scenes tailored to your smart home ecosystem. Teach new tricks through private skills that speak your family‘s language.
Such modifications may seem trivial initially. But they foster essential familiarity and trust in voice interactions rapidly overtaking graphical screens in the race to dominate future human-computer exchanges.
The custom wake word opens the door to Alexa relationships as wonderfully diverse as the customers she aims to serve. Step through to a smarter home reflecting the true occupants within. Alexa stands ready to greet you by whatever name you choose!
