Elon Musk and Grimes’ Newborn Son’s Bizarre Name Explained

New mom Grimes shared a Twitter breakdown of baby X Æ A-12 Musk’s name

Elon Musk
Getty Images

Elon Musk and Grimes baby name selection is unique, you can’t deny that. After all, most baby names aren’t accompanied by a thorough bullet-point breakdown by their mom on Twitter.

But that’s the case with little X Æ A-12 Musk. who was born earlier this week to Musk and his singer girlfriend. Soon after, the Tesla and SpaceX head honcho shared his newborn son’s name on Twitter — and lots of people have been confused ever since.

Grimes looked to clear up some of that confusion late on Tuesday evening, tweeting a full explanation of what the “name” means. Try and follow along. It starts off easy enough, with “X” just meaning “the unknown variable.” “Æ,” Grimes said, is just her “elven spelling” of “Ai,” which can mean either artificial intelligence or the Chinese word for “love.” “A-12” is simply an ode to her and Musk’s favorite aircraft, the A-12 recon plane that was used in the mid-’60s. “No weapons, no defenses, just speed,” Grimes explained about the A-12, which could hit speeds of more than 2,000 miles per hour in its heyday. “Great in battle, but non-violent.”

On top of that, “A” also stands for “Archangel,” which Grimes said is her “favorite song.” Most fans believe she’s referring to the song by Burial, a British electronic artist she’s praised in the past. (You can hear the song here if you’re intrigued.)

That’s it, that’s the name. It’s really not that complicated.

On Wednesday, Musk offered a small correction to Grimes’ explanation — noting that the A-12 is actually a precursor to Lockheed’s SR-71 Blackbird (not an SR-17).

As for how to pronounce it, that’s still a bit of a mystery. Reps for Musk did not immediately respond to TheWrap’s request for comment, and so far, Musk and Grimes haven’t shared an explanation on Twitter, either.

On a lighter note, Musk shared a picture with his new baby on Tuesday:

Comments