Singer Claire Elise Boucher, aka Grimes, and Tesla co-founder Elon Musk welcomed a son
together on May 4, 2020, just two years after they first started dating in May 2018. Musk
has five other kids - twins Griffin and Xavier and triplets Damian, Saxon, and Kai - from
his previous marriage to Justine Musk.
"Babies are awesome."
Shortly after Musk confirmed that both Grimes and their son were in good health, he shared
the little guy's name — X Æ A-12 Musk, apparently. But is that really how it's supposed
to be pronounced? As you might imagine, the answer is complicated.
As it turns out, the moniker is a nod to the couple's favorite things, as the singer relayed
on Twitter. "X" stands for the "unknown variable," the diphthong 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, as she mentioned in her tweet.
But wait - that's not all! Grimes concluded her announcement with the phrase, "metal rat."
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."
Now that we've caught you up on the baby's name, let's fill you in on how Grimes reacted
to Musk correcting her announcement. Hint: She didn't take it too well.
As Grimes mentioned in the tweet about her son's name, 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 wa s the numbers flipped around. Elon Musk didn't miss a beat clarifying the
Vancouver native's error, replying to her tweet,
"SR-71, but yes."
Grimes, who was just one-day post-delivery when Musk sent out his tweet, clapped back,
"I am recovering from surgery and barely alive so may my typos b forgiven but, damnit. That
was meant to be profound."
Musk replied, quote, "U r a powerful" next to a princess and fairy emoji.
Grimes and Musk's back-and-forth aside, it's important to mention their son's name can't
appear as X Æ A-12 Musk on the birth certificate, per California law. Attorney David Glass told
People why:
"In California, you can only use the '26 characters' of the English language in your baby name.
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 added,
"They have an opportunity to appeal the rejection of the birth certificate application but it's
unlikely that it will be granted because, again, California ... has been struggling
with using symbols."
Even if the name can't be used as-is on a birth certificate, it probably won't prevent
the parents from using the unique name at home. But what is that pronunciation, exactly?.
Elon Musk cleared this up during an appearance on The Joe Rogan Experience podcast, sharing,
"It's just X, the letter X. And then the Æ is, like, pronounced 'ash.' And then A-12
is my contribution [...] Archangel-12, the precursor to the SR-71, coolest plane ever."
This would potentially translate to "X Ash Archangel", which would legally meet the birth
certificate requirements in California.
However, Musk's pronunciation might differ from Grimes' interpretation, as she told a
fan something different. Grimes shared on Instagram:
"It's just X, like the letter X. Then A.I. Like how you said the letter A then I."
Hmm.
As for who came up with the baby's moniker? That honor went to mama Grimes. Musk gushed
to Rogan,
"She's great at names."
Since nobody seems to agree about how this baby's name is pronounced, let's switch gears
to another mystery - where Musk and Grimes will live with their little one. We're curious
because a few days before their baby's arrival, Musk declared he's selling his houses. He
declared on Twitter, quote, "Will own no house." Say what?
The tech entrepreneur said of his decision,
"Don't need the cash. Devoting myself to Mars and Earth. Possession just weighs you down."
Grimes wasn't happy with Musk's interesting mission, as he noted on Twitter,
"My gf @Grimezsz is mad at me."
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