Washington: Tesla and SpaceX founder Elon Musk welcomed his first child with partner and Canadian singer Grimes on May 4, 2020. The celebrity couple named their baby ‘X Æ A-12’.
Ever since Elon Musk announced his baby’s name, it has been one of the most talked about topics on social media. Twitterati started questioning about the confusing and controversial name. “How on Earth do you pronounce “X Æ A-12?” The internet had asked after the billionaire entrepreneur.
In an interview with podcaster Joe Rogan last year, Elon Musk spoke about his son’s unique name and 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.”
He also mentioned that it was his girlfriend and Canadian singer, Grimes who came up with the name. However, A-12 was his contribution and it stands for Archangel 12, which is an aircraft.
After welcoming her son, Grimes took to Twitter to explain the entire meaning of the name, two days after the baby was born. 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).”
Later, the celebrity couple made a slight change in the numeral part of the name, which is now written in the Roman format as ‘X AE A-XII’.
Elon Musk and Grimes have been dating since about May 2018, when they made their debut as a couple at the Met Gala. Musk also has five other sons with his first wife, Justine.