Elon Musk Clears Up Grimes' Explanation About Their Newborn Son X Æ A-12’s Name

Source: Twitter

Ever since Elon Musk and Grimes revealed that they named their newborn son X Æ A-12, fans have been wondering what the name means, they’ve tried to figure out how to pronounce it, and they’ve also asked if the couple can legally use the unusual moniker.

Grimes attempted to clear things up the day after she gave birth to X Æ A-12 when she tweeted that the “X” stood for “the unknown variable and “Æ” is the “elven spelling of Ai (love &/or artificial intelligence).” She also wrote: “A-12 = precursor to SR-17 (our favorite aircraft). No weapons, no defenses, just speed. Great in battle, but non-violent. A=Archangel, my favorite song.”

•X, the unknown variable ⚔️
•Æ, my elven spelling of Ai (love &/or Artificial intelligence)
•A-12 = precursor to SR-17 (our favorite aircraft). No weapons, no defenses, just speed. Great in battle, but non-violent 🤍
+
(A=Archangel, my favorite song)
(⚔️🐁 metal rat)

— 𝖦𝗋𝗂𝗆𝖾𝗌 ⏳ (@Grimezsz) May 6, 2020

The Canadian singer also added the words “metal rat,” which appears to be a reference to the Chinese zodiac sign of the rat, along with the number 12.

Not long after Grimes’ explanation of the name, the Tesla founder corrected her by tweeting that their favorite aircraft is the SR-71, not the SR-17. She replied: “I am recovering from surgery and barely alive so may my typos b forgiven but, damnit. That was meant to be profound.”

Musk tweeted again, writing that his girlfriend is “powerful,” along with a fairy emoji and a queen emoji.

Elon Musk and Grimes welcomed X Æ A-12 on Tuesday, and the SpaceX CEO posted the first two pics of the newborn on social media. For one of the photos, Musk used a filter that put tattoos on the baby’s face and eyes.

According to family law attorney David Glass, the name X Æ A-12 is technically legal, but the state of California won’t accept it.

pic.twitter.com/lm30U60OtO

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 5, 2020

“In California, you can only use the ’26 characters’ of the English language in your baby name,” Glass told People magazine. “Thus, you can’t have numbers, Roman numerals, accents, umlauts or other symbols or emojis. Although an apostrophe, for a name like ‘O’Connor,’ is acceptable.”

Glass claims that if Elon Musk and Grimes submit their son’s birth certificate with the name X Æ A-12, it will be rejected and they will have the option to appeal or change the name. Glass says that it is unlikely the state of California will approve the name because the state has been “struggling with using symbols.”