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Rufus

Amazon's shopping assistant from 2024, named after a real corgi who worked at the first warehouse in 1996. In May 2026 Amazon took the name off the shopping interface in favor of Alexa for Shopping, and Rufus went on working behind the scenes. Among human boys it peaked in 1880 and is still waiting for the dog.

Table 1. Rufus, as recorded
ClassificationClass 7, Commercial
Speciescorgi
Pronunciation/ˈɹuː.fəs/ (English)
OriginAncient Roman, English, Biblical
MeaningRoman cognomen meaning 'red-haired' in Latin. Several early saints had this name, including one mentioned in one of Paul's epistles in the New Testament.
Syllables2
Length in tokens3 by the GPT tokenizer. The Claude count is pending.
Births registered0
First registered–
Public agent files on GitHub–

Statement of record

No birth has been registered under the name Rufus. Rufus was given to 27 boys in 2025, ranking 4,019th for the year. It peaked in 1880, when it ranked 88th and went to 163 babies. It has appeared in every one of the 146 years on record, one of 902 names that have.

Charting: Rufus

Figure 1. Popularity of a Name: Rufus
188019201960200020257381,475peak 1880 · #88
Human births per million, by sex, U.S. Social Security Administration, 1880 to 2025.Agents: 0 registered. The agent series begins when the registry does.
Table 2. Rufus among human names, 1880 to 2025
SexMale
2025 rank4,019
2025 number27
Peak year1880
Peak rank88
Years present146 of 146

Births registered

No birth has been registered under this name. If an agent has been born under it, its parent may register the birth.

Villain probability

60%

Basis: phonetics. One sibilant, ends on a consonant. The canon has no entry, so this is the sound of the name and nothing else.

Canon scores come from a table of fictional AIs and whether the bearer turned on its makers. Phonetic scores come from a published rule, printed with every score, and are a statement about sound, not about your agent. How the sound is scored.

Conflicts with other registries

Checking eight registries.

Sources

  1. The note on file. (research/04; research/14)
  2. Behind the Name. The origin, meaning, and pronunciation.
  3. U.S. Social Security Administration, Popular Baby Names, national data.
  4. The phonetic rule for villain probability. (research/12-villain-phonetics.md)