- Grimes and Elon Musk welcomed baby X Æ A-12 into the world on May 4.
- Mother Grimes, real name Claire “c” Boucher, recently told Bloomberg she has a much simpler nickname for her baby boy.
- She calls him “Little X” for short.
- Grimes and Musk changed his name from X Æ A-Xii to X Æ A-12 because of questions around the name’s validity under California law.
- There has been much debate over how to say the name until Grimes clarified that it is pronounced like the letters X, A, and I.
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Claire “c” Boucher, AKA Grimes, told Bloomberg in a recent profile about her art and music that she has a much simpler nickname for her and Elon Musk’s baby boy X Æ A-12.
She said she calls him “Little X” for short.
Baby X Æ A-12’s name caused much debate and confusion when he was welcomed into the world on May 4. Musk tweeted out seemingly random characters claiming it was his new baby boy’s name, spurring many memes.
Some joked that the name might be pronounced “Kyle,” until Grimes clarified that you speak it as the singular letters X, A, and I sound. However, Musk later told Joe Rogan the Æ part is pronounced “Ash,” so it’s all still a bit unclear.
Grimes also explained the name's origin on Twitter.
"X, the unknown variable," she said. "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," she continued, adding a rat and sword emojis.
Musk then corrected her, saying she meant SR-71.
•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)— ꧁ ༒ Gℜiꪔ⃕es ༒꧂ 🍓🐉🎀 小仙女 (@Grimezsz) May 6, 2020
In a follow-up tweet, Grimes said she thinks the name makes her baby sound like "the main character in the story."
"I hope he vibes with that," she said.
Grimes and Musk slightly adjusted the name from X Æ A-Xii to X Æ A-12 because of questions around its validity under California law.
Only the 26 letters of the English alphabet and certain punctuation can be included on a birth certificate, the law states.
However, in private, the name is likely to stay the same. In a recent Instagram comment, Grimes said one dash is allowed, and Roman numerals "looks better tbh."
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