Elon Musk recently welcomed a son with his girlfriend Grimes and their name choice for the baby was unique. The SpaceX CEO revealed on Twitter that they had named their baby X Æ A-12. This, of course, confused and amused netizens in equal measures. Some wondered if Elon Musk was trolling his followers about the name of the baby. However, the couple is serious about their choice, and Elon has also clarified how to pronounce the name.
During a podcast, Musk said, “So, X is just the letter X, Æ is pronounced as Ash. And, A-12 is my contribution and it is just pronounced as A-12. Therefore, the final pronunciation of the name is, “X Ash A Twelve.”
Moreover, Elon Musk mentioned that it was Grimes who came up with the name for the baby. He just added A-12 which stands for Archangel 12, an aircraft.
Singer Grimes took to Twitter to explain the name. She wrote, “X, the unknown variable. Æ, my elven spelling of Ai (love &/or Artificial intelligence). A-12 = precursor to SR-17 (our favourite aircraft). No weapons, no defenses, just speed. Great in battle, but non-violent + (A=Archangel, my favorite song) (metal rat).” Musk corrected her in the tweet and wrote that it is SR-71 and not 17.
The baby was born on May 4 which is also proclaimed as Star Wars Day. Grimes announced the pregnancy in January 2020. However, she admitted that she felt “woefully ill-prepared” for the experience through a social media post.
Elon Musk and Grimes started dating in 2018.