File this news under "Definitely Saw That
Coming." In case you missed it, Elon Musk
and Grimes welcomed their first son together
in May 2020 and the Tesla CEO announced on
Twitter that they were naming him X Æ A-12
Musk. While it might have seemed like a joke
from the tech mogul, it turned out he was
serious.
Now, people name their babies all sorts of
strange things, especially celebs. However,
given the laws in the SpaceX founder's home
state of California, the billionaire and the
singer, whose real name is Claire Boucher,
may have to rethink what they want to call
their son.
According to the California Department of
Public Health Vital Records Handbook, punctuation
in names is allowed when necessary, but numbers,
pictures, emojis, or any other symbol is totally
forbidden. That's why they had to make a change
to the new baby's name.
On an Instagram post from Grimes in late May
2020, a fan asked, "Did you change the baby
name because of Californian laws? What is
the baby's new name?" Grimes didn't confirm
that they changed it because of the law, but
she responded that the new name is displayed
as "X Æ A-Xii", with the "12" now rendered
in Roman numeral form. She added in another
comment, "Roman numerals. Looks better tbh."
So what's the significance of the name? After
the internet had its fun with it, Grimes stepped
in to explain on Twitter. As it turns out,
the moniker is a nod to the couple's favorite
things. "X" stands for the "unknown variable,"
the ligature Æ stands for what Grimes called
her "elven spelling of Ai," and A-12 is a
kind of aircraft the couple purports to enjoy,
which is reportedly also known as "The Archangel".
"Archangel" also happens to be the title of
Grimes' favorite song, a track by the reclusive
British electronic musician William Bevan,
better known as Burial.
As Grimes mentioned in the tweet about her
son's name, the A-12 is the precursor to the
couple's favorite aircraft. But the singer
called that aircraft the SR-17 instead of
its correct name, which has the numbers flipped
around. Musk chimed in to correct his girlfriend
of two years, tweeting that it actually referred
to an SR-71, not an SR-17.
But wait, that's not all! Grimes concluded
her Twitter announcement with the phrase,
"metal rat." What could that possibly mean?
"I also suck at media. I say crazy things
and then I have them printed, so. Although
sometimes they print things I don't say."
Grimes definitely wrote "metal rat," and it
actually makes sense. As Business Insider
noted,
"The Chinese zodiac includes both animal signs
and five elements (earth, wood, water, fire,
and metal), and 2020 is the year of the metal
rat."
So now that we know what the name means, how
do you even say it? The jury's out. In fact,
even Musk and Grimes can't even agree on how
they'll pronounce the name. Grimes instructed
fans on Instagram, advising,
"It's just X, like the letter X. Then A.I.
Like how you said the letter A then I."
However, Musk told Joe Rogan on his podcast
that there was more to it than that. He said,
"I mean it's just X, the letter X. And then,
the Æ is, like, pronounced 'Ash'... and then,
A-12, A-12 is my contribution...Archangel-12,
the precursor to the SR-71, coolest plane
ever."
These new parents really need to get on the
same page!
This is Grimes' first child, but Musk has
five other children, twins Griffin and Xavier
and triplets Damian, Saxon, and Kai, from
his previous marriage to Justine Musk, his
first wife.
Musk and Grimes made their first public appearance
in May 2018 at the Met Gala and have reportedly
been dating ever since. Only time will tell
if they decide to get married any time soon,
but they have enough to figure out at the
moment, like how they're going to say their
son's name.
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