X Æ A-12: 7 possible theories about Elon Musk and Grimes' baby name
4ÆM is a song title on Grimes’ recent album
Your support helps us to tell the story
This election is still a dead heat, according to most polls. In a fight with such wafer-thin margins, we need reporters on the ground talking to the people Trump and Harris are courting. Your support allows us to keep sending journalists to the story.
The Independent is trusted by 27 million Americans from across the entire political spectrum every month. Unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock you out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. But quality journalism must still be paid for.
Help us keep bring these critical stories to light. Your support makes all the difference.
Elon Musk and Grimes have sparked both confusion and speculation after announcing the name of their newborn son is X Æ A-12 Musk.
On Monday, the Tesla and SpaceX CEO announced the arrival of his and Grimes’ son on Twitter, writing: “A few hours away!” before later adding: “Mom & baby all good.”
Later, in response to a fan’s inquiry about the infant’s name, Musk said: “X Æ A-12 Musk.”
While it is not clear whether the tech billionaire was joking or not, the apparent name of the couple’s son has prompted fans to hypothesise about what the series of letters could mean.
According to one person on Twitter, the combination of symbols may be translated to “X Ash Archangel” – as Æ is pronounced “ash” and A-12 was the name of the CIA’s A-12 aircraft, which went by the codename “Archangel”.
Considering Musk liked the tweet, it seems possible the fan has guessed correctly.
The theory seems even more likely when considering the song title 4ÆM on Grimes’ most recent album – which one person suggested could have been a tribute to the couple’s unborn son.
“Theory: this is true and the baby will be called Ash (representing the world tree of Norse mythology perhaps?). The song 4ÆM on Grimes’ new album is a coded dedication to their son. 4ÆM = ‘For Ash Musk’,” they wrote.
However, others have come up with equally plausible theories – ranging from tie-ins to SpaceX to Roman numerals.
“X for SpaceX, Æ for After Earth and A-12 for the original SR-71 designation, which was the first reusable vehicle to go to space,” one person hypothesised.
Another suggested that the baby may actually be named Jão – because X is the Roman numeral for 10 and J is the 10th letter in the alphabet.
“I got Jão,” they tweeted. “X = 10 = J. Æ = ã. A – 12 (count backwards) = O.”
According to one possible theory, the name is actually “Kyle” as “X = Greek letter chi, æ is pronounced ‘ai’, A-12 stands for the 12th letter in the alphabet, L.
The book of Genesis, and Grimes’ song Genesis are another interpretation, with a fan suggesting that the first letter of the child’s name means Genesis.
“X = 10 in Roman numerals, 10 is an angel number representing God and his government on the Earth, ‘God said’ appears 10 times in Genesis I,” the theory reads. “Grimes has a song titled Genesis. Maybe X means Genesis.”
Yet another theory dates back to January, when Musk responded to a pregnancy photo Grimes shared with the comment: “x is y.”
Musk, who has five sons with his ex-wife Justine Wilson, and Grimes, whose real name is Claire Boucher, have been together since 2018.
In addition to sharing the couple’s unique baby name choice, Musk also shared the first photos of the newborn on Twitter.
In one photo, the tech entrepreneur placed a tattoo filter on the child’s face, while the other sees the new dad, wearing an “Occupy Mars” shirt, holding his son.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments