Elon Musk and Grimes’ Son’s Birth Certificate Confirms His Name, X AE A-XII

Elon Musk and Grimes did have to slightly alter the spelling of their son’s name to conform with California law, the 1-month-old child’s birth certificate confirms. On the document obtained by TMZ Tuesday, the child’s name is listed as X AE A-XII Musk after the Tesla CEO and singer first attempted to spell the moniker X Æ A-12 Musk before being informed that no special characters or numbers would legally be allowed.

As for the pronunciation of the name, the two still appear to be on different pages. Shortly after X AE A-XII was born on May 4, Musk went on The Joe Rogan Experience podcast to talk about the birth of his son. He said at the time it was Grimes who “mostly came up with the name,” adding, “Yeah, she’s great at names.” According to him, X AE A-XII is pronounced with X “like the letter,” while “the AE’ is pronounced like ‘ash.’” Grimes, whose real name is Claire Boucher, described the pronunciation differently on Instagram, however, telling an inquiring follower, “It’s just X, like the letter X. Then A.I. Like how you said the letter A then I.” She also explained the meaning behind the name on Twitter, revealing the A-12 portion was in reference to the couple’s “favorite aircraft.”

Musk confirmed on the Joe Rogan Experience the nod to the Lockheed A-12 reconnaissance aircraft built by the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency. “A-12 was my contribution. The Archangel-12, the precursor to the SR-71, the coolest plane ever,” he explained. Grimes confirmed on social media that despite the complicated name, his parents have taken to calling their son simply “X.” AE A-XII is Grimes’ first and Musk’s sixth child, as he has five sons from a previous marriage. His first son, Nevada, died of SIDS at 10 weeks old in 2002.

Musk admitted that at 48, he was enjoying fatherhood more than he had when he welcomed his first five sons as a younger man. “Actually, I think it’s better being older and having a kid,” he said. “I appreciate it more. Babies are awesome. They’re awesome. They’re little lovebugs. It’s wonderful. It’s great.”