Full List of Alexa Wake Words, Accents, and Celebrity Voices UK

If you’re fed up of the same old Alexa in your home every day, why not mix things up a bit by changing Alexa’s name or the sound of her voice.

In this article, I’ll share the full list of Alexa wake words, accents, and celebrity voices that are available to activate in the UK. This is sometimes different than the US where new features are often released first.

Alexa Wake Words

By default, Alexa responds to the simple wake word of “Alexa”, but this isn’t always ideal. Maybe you have someone in the house also called Alexa, or maybe an unfriendly ex that you don’t want to be reminded of.

Well, Amazon thought of that and provided a few handy alternative names for Alexa.

It appears that more wake words are on their way as Amazon have announced that they’ve trained their algorithm to detect “Hey Samuel” in the US to accompany the Samuel L Jackson celebrity voice. More on this below.

How to Change Alexa Wake Word to Computer

To change Alexa’s wake word to Computer:

• Open the Alexa app and head to the ‘More’ tab
• Select ‘Settings’ and then ‘Device Settings’
• Choose the Echo device you wish to change
• Select ‘Wake Word’ followed by ‘Computer’

The same process applies when changing the wake word to Amazon or Echo.

If you have any other device with Alexa built-in, such as a Portal or Sonos speaker, unfortunately, you have to stick with Alexa as the wake word for now.

Can You Change Alexa Wake Word to Jarvis?

No, you cannot currently change Alexa’s wake word to Jarvis. You can only change the wake word to Amazon, Computer, or Echo. Wake word options can be found in the settings menu of the Alexa app.

Can You Change Alexa Wake Word to Hal?

No, it’s not possible to change the Alexa wake word to Hal or anything other than the set options provided by Amazon which are Amazon, Computer, or Echo.

However, there is a Hal 9000 skill which might satisfy your cravings for now. Simply say “Alexa, open Hal 9000” to begin. Although, you’ll quickly find there is only one Hal quote and you can probably guess it.

Alexa Accents

If you want to spice up Alexa a little, you can choose from a range of different English accents.

You can change the accent for each Echo device individually so you could have different accents within your home.

How to Change Alexa’s Accent

To change Alexa’s accent:

• Open the Alexa app and head to the ‘More’ tab
• Select ‘Settings’ and then ‘Device Settings’
• Choose the Echo device you wish to change
• Select ‘Language’ and choose from the full list of languages and accents

When you change your language to be different from your usual language, you’ll get a message notifying you that some capabilities, skills, music, and content may be unavailable in your selected language.

Within the information page of every Alexa skill is a section detailing which languages (and accents) the skill is available for.

Can you change Alexa’s accent to Irish?

No, you cannot change Alexa’s accent to Irish. The only English-speaking accents available on Alexa are British, American, Australian, Canadian, and Indian.

Can you change Alexa to a male voice?

No, all of Alexa’s English-speaking accents are female. However, when celebrity voices launch on Alexa in the UK, it’s expected that there will be a mixture of male and female voices to choose from.

Alexa Celebrity Voices

If you’re getting a bit fed up with Alexa, why not switch things up a bit and invite some of your favourite celebrities around to take over Alexa’ voice.

Amazon announced celebrity voices back in 2019, however, fast forward a few years and there is still no support in the UK.

Despite this, Amazon have recently announced more celebrities will be joining the US line up so fingers crossed they are making them available in the UK too.

How To Change Alexa to Gordon Ramsay

If you fancy having your cooking insulted by a famously lairy chef, Alexa has you covered with the Gordon Ramsay skill.

Once activated by saying “Alexa, open Gordon Ramsay”, you can ask him what he thinks of your cooking. If you’ve ever watched Gordon Ramsay, you probably won’t be surprised at some of his outrageous critiques.

How to Change Alexa to Pikachu

Thanks to the Pikachu Talk Alexa skill, you can finally speak with some real-life Pokemon.

To use Pichachue on Alexa, enable the skill by saying “Alexa, ask Pikachu to talk”. You can follow up by asking Pikachu to tell you a funny story, sing happy birthday, or use Thunderbolt.

Can You Change Alexa to Samuel L Jackson in the UK?

You may have heard that Amazon has enabled celebrity voices in the US, with Samuel L Jackson leading the way. Amazon was able to do this using deep fake-style technology to mimic his voice.

This is promised to be the first in a line of celebrity voices that can replace Alexa’s voice. But, can you get Samuel L Jackson on Alexa in the UK?

Unfortunately not just yet. When trying to activate the Avengers and Star Wars superstar, you’ll be met with Alexa saying, “Sorry, Mr Jackson isn’t available here yet, the path of the righteous AI is beset on all sides by inequities”, a reference to one of his classic Pulp Fiction lines.

If you are desperate to hear Samuel L Jackson, you’ll need to get yourself a VPN router to trick Amazon into thinking your Echo is in the US.

How to Change Alexa to Chewbacca

You can now change Alexa into Chewie thanks to the Chewbacca Chat skill. Enable it by saying “Alexa, open Chewbacca chat” and your favourite Wookie will take over the speaker.

Say things like “Alexa, ask Chewbacca chat to punch it” to hear some Wookie responses. There are 6 hidden quotes that can be activated by saying some popular Star Wars quotes. If you can’t find them all, say “Alexa, ask Chewbacca Chat to tell me about the easter eggs” for some hints.

How to Change Alexa to R2D2

If Chewbacca wasn’t enough to satisfy your Star Wars craving, there’s an R2D2 Alexa skill as well. Launch the skill by saying “Alexa, open R2D2 talk” to start hearing some responses from the droid.

The skill is officially called “R2D2 talk” so you’ll need to say things like “Alexa, ask R2D2 talk if I am the senate”.

How to Change Alexa to Baby Groot

The Baby Groot skill is one of the best celebrity voice skills on Alexa. Simply say “Alexa, ask Baby Groot what time is it” and he will respond. The skill is exactly what you’d expect with the same response to every question.

How to Change Alexa to Borat

To celebrate the launch of Borat’s second movie on Prime Video, Amazon launched a Borat skill so that you converse with Kazakhstan’s top journalist.

To change Alexa into Borat, say “Alexa, open Borat Assistant”. Once enabled, Borat Assistant can sing songs, tell a joke and report the news, obviously.

Can You Change Alexa to Morgan Freeman?

Despite a number of Alexa skills claiming to offer Morgan Freeman, these tend to be Morgan Freeman quotes but aren’t in his voice. There is no way to change Alexa into Morgan Freeman at the moment, although it is one of the most requested voices.