Only three days after the birth of their newborn, X Æ A-12, Elon Musk went on the Joe Rogan’s show, to clarify any confusion over the pronunciation of their son’s name…not really.
“My partner was the one that mostly came up with name. X and then AE is ‘ash’ and then A-12 is my contribution. Archangel 12, coolest plane ever. It came from a CIA project called Archangel project.”
Elon Musk. Joe Rogan Experience #1470
May 07, 2020
There are a lot of theories as to how the name “X Æ A-12” is pronounced. The fans (and haters) expected an explanation of the kid’s name’s pronunciation, however, we were left wondering even after the interview.
But it shouldn’t really matter. Children’s names are oftentimes picked around the parents’ interests or personal history. Yes, this name is phenotypically different, but at the end of the day, it is yet another name that converses the interests of the parents and gifts the world a new way of thinking about names and what they really mean.
When Kim named her kid North West, for a while the public was dumbfounded by the strangeness of the name, but overtime, it became a norm. Even though we have had names such as “Octavio” and “Eleven” rooted from the Latin number 8, and the Stranger Things character, which have integrated numbers in them in a written form, we have never had (to my knowledge and research) numerics in a person’s legal first name.
If the human culture had set values and cultural holdings, nothing would ever change. Grimes’ and Elon Musk’s move in naming their child was bold, and that’s what the human culture needs. Bold moves and ceaseless evolution.
If you need inspiration for picking out a name, why not give yourself the complete freedom to pick a name grounded in number, colors, or… seek inspiration from Mafia nicknames.
