Elon Musk, Tesla and Space X CEO, took to twitter to announce the birth of their son on Tuesday and shared a photo of the newborn baby with the world. “Mom and baby all good,” he posted; in which several thousand people replied congratulating the visionary.
Mom & baby all good
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 5, 2020
In addition to that, Musk also reveals that the child will be named X Æ A-12 on Twitter after being asked by a follower; and if that name doesn’t read and seem good to you — don’t worry, you’re not alone.
However people were left baffled and questioned the veracity of his statement whether he was being serious or not due to his nature on the social media platform. After which, his girlfriend, Grimes, real name Claire Elise Boucher, Tweeted an explanation as to what the baby’s name means to her followers on the same platform.
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Even if that’s the case, many are still left stuck in confusion as regards the pronunciation of the baby’s name, and memes involving the choice of moniker have been steadfast and rampant.
What does X Æ A-12 even mean?
So what does the name really mean? According to a Tweet by the 32 year old singer/musician, Grimes, X stands for the “unknown variabl;” while Æ connotates her Elven spelling of Ai, which means artificial intelligence and “love” in various languages like Japanese.
Æ, a ligature of a and e known as ash, appeared in Latin and Old English but has remained obsolete for a long time. However, in languages like Danish, Norwegian, and Icelandic, Æ is considered a letter.
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As a matter of fact, Æ has been used by the singer herself in one of her songs on her latest album. 4ÆM is the title of the song choice. So technically speaking, the couple really had their way in naming their child based on the things that they like — the things that they love.
Their favorite aircraft
She continues to say that A-12 is a precursor for SR-17 (Elon and Grimes’ favorite aircraft); to which earned a correction from her 48 year old boyfriend, Musk, that it was actually SR-71 not SR-17 — a Cold War spy aircraft, a Lockheed plane built for the CIA which was initially known as Archangel by its designers during its development. Grimes also claims Archangel is a favorite song of hers but fails to mention who the song is by.
The couple, however, has not initially offered any explanation as to how the name is pronounced. However, when asked about the pronunciation of the possibility of the name being read as X Ash Archangel by someone on Twitter, Musk liked the tweet, offering the biggest clue as to how it might sound.
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How do you say the name?
In a recent podcast hosted by Joe Rogan, Musk offered the revelation on how the name is pronounced in response to the question asked by Joe Rogan.
How do you say the name? Is it a placeholder?”
To which, Musk responded that it’s pronounced as “X Ash A Twelve.” It does signify how it’s spelled and thus, creating the pronunciation for the peculiar name.
He then continued to say that Grimes was the one who mostly thought of the name and several explanations about it, too.
First of all, my partner’s the one that mostly came up with the name. I mean it’s just X, the letter X, um, and the ‘Æ’ is pronounced, ‘Ash,’ and then, A-12 is my contribution. Archangel 12, the precursor to the SR-71, coolest plane ever.”
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But is it all legal?
But the biggest problem of all remains to be whether the name is legal or not. Grimes is thought to have given birth in their home state of California where certain names cannot be registered and may face them some legal challenges towards its registrations as non-alphabetic characters are not allowed by law.
The rules impose that names must consist of the 26 letters from the alphabet. Pictographs, ideograms and diacritical marks for example è, ñ, ē, ç cannot be used when registering the birth.
These same laws are imposed not only in the state of California but in other parts of the world as well. One such example is New Zealand in which the name 4Real was denied because names cannot start with a number.
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Quite possibly, the name X Æ A-12 might not appear on the baby’s official birth certificate; or at least not in the spelling that Grimes and Musk shared. Why? A family attorney in the state of California already announced that the state does not allow symbols on birth certificates.
In addition, the lawyer said that the name isn’t illegal — it’s just with the symbols and characters. For one, the character “Æ” might not be accepted; to which they have to re-register it again.
Are there other weird names?
In Sweden, a couple went to the high court for naming their child Metallica which tax officials deemed inappropriate. This is due to the Swedish law that names must first gain the approval of authorities before its usage.
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What do you think about the fact that you need to consult officials first before registering the name of your new born? Do you think it’s fair? Nevertheless, Grimes and Musk continued on to name their child how they wished.
Grimes first announced about her pregnancy with Musk in January through an Instagram post in which she explained the difficulties of pregnancy while working. It was there when she said that they were “woefully prepared.”
I feel like I was woefully ill prepared [because] I [don’t know] if pregnancy is as visible or discussed as it should be. I just didn’t [really] understand what I was getting into. It’s been good too, but it makes working a lot harder. Good at writing and having lots of wild ideas [though], but anything physical is hard. I’m also way more emo and less capable of bravery in the face of haters online and stuff haha.”
Musk, who already have five sons and been divorced thrice (twice by the same woman); he has been dating the musician since 2018 so it’s kind of a decent year for them to have a baby.
The status of their relationship was revealed in Met Gala 2018 when Grimes wore a choker shaped like the Tesla logo, signifying their commitment towards each other which shocked both the music and business world.
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Now, the couple is happily enjoying and Grimes is in the recovery stage. But what do you think about baby X Æ A-12? Have you seen the photos? What do you think about his name? Many of us want our babies to have a beautiful name so they can carry it through their lives; but what if both of your parents became creative and gave you the name you would find odd in the future?
Source/s: CNet | Business Insider
