Published 19:42 IST, May 25th 2020
Did Elon Musk, Grimes change son X Æ A-12's name as per California law? Mother responds
The Tesla and SpaceX CEO and his girlfriend Grimes, who welcomed their first child on May 4, have now changed the name to 'X Æ A-Xii'.
More than a month after announcing the rather 'unusual' name of their newborn son, Elon Musk and Grimes have now changed the name and it is no less complicated. The couple had earlier named his son 'X Æ A-12' which created a huge buzz on social media with netizens asking about the meaning and pronunciation. The Tesla and SpaceX CEO and his girlfriend Grimes, who welcomed their first child on May 4, have now changed the name to 'X Æ A-Xii'.
Earlier media reports had suggested that the name 'X Æ A-12' could be illegal as per California laws and the couple may not be able to register it legally. After reports of the name change surfaced, fans have been wondering if the change has been made as per the California laws. "Did you change the baby name because of Californian laws? What is the baby's new name?" asked one Twitter user in the comments under the latest post.
Grimes, a Canadian singer whose Christian name is Claire Elise Boucher, replied "X Æ A-Xii" in response, without confirming the reason for the change. In another comment, Grimes said, "Roman numerals. Looks better tbh." The user further commented: 'You aren't allowed to have numbers in your name so she replaced the numbers with Roman numerals.' To this, Grimes replied: 'one dash is allowed.'
Name not legal in California?
The original name X Æ A-12, which appears to be a series of numbers and signs, could actually be illegal in California, several reports claimed. While neither Musk nor Grimes has revealed the place of the child's birth, speculations are rife that the baby was born in California. Names aren't allowed to have special characters according to Los Angeles laws, several international media reports suggest. Accents, umlauts or other symbols or emojis are also reportedly not permitted while an apostrophe is acceptable in some cases.
Names in California, as per the law, can only have twenty-six characters of the English language and special characters and numerical aren't permitted. A report stated that the couple "won't be able to register" their son's name in California, where the child is believed to have born. However, it is still not clear if the new name will be considered legal as reports suggest that even Roman numerals are not allowed in California. In the new name, the couple has just replaced 12 with Xii.
How to pronounce X Æ A-12?
As people have been flooding social media with queries about the pronunciation of the quirky name, Grimes finally quenched the curiosity and replied to a query by an Instagram user.
"It's just X, like the letter X. Then A.I. Like how you said the letter A then I," wrote Grimes on in response to a query on Instagram.
Soon after, Musk too explained the pronunciation which, however, differed from the one given by his girlfriend Grimes. During an appearance on The Joe Rogan Experience, Musk spilt the beans on the name. He started by saying that the name has mostly been suggested by Grimes.
Laying out the exact pronunciation of the name of his newborn son, Musk said: "So, it's just X, the letter X, and then the Æ is pronounced Ash." He said that he suggested adding A-12 as an homage to the Archangel 12, what he said is the "precursor to SR-71, the coolest plane ever." The verdict: X Ash Archangel Twelve.
Updated 20:05 IST, May 25th 2020