Elon Musk shared the joyful news that he and his partner—the musician Grimes—welcomed a baby boy to the world! When a Twitter user asked what his name was, Elon casually replied:
X Æ A-12 Musk
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 5, 2020
Unsure if the reply was a joke or actually his name, the Internet did what you’d assume. Commenting and replying with typical reaction gifs, memes, and inside jokes.
It wasn’t until later that day when his partner Grimes shared the actual meaning behind the name that the Internet collectively realized this was indeed for real.
•X, the unknown variable ⚔️
•Æ, my elven spelling of Ai (love &/or Artificial intelligence)
•A-12 = precursor to SR-17 (our favorite aircraft). No weapons, no defenses, just speed. Great in battle, but non-violent ?
+
(A=Archangel, my favorite song)
(⚔️? metal rat)— ꧁ ༒ Gℜiꪔ⃕es ༒꧂ ??? 小仙女 (@Grimezsz) May 6, 2020
Hilariously, the first reply to the tweet was Elon himself, correcting Grimes!
this is how to pronounce X Æ A-12 btw pic.twitter.com/yZbOtmEC5K
— CoffeeMaestro (@coffeemaestro_) May 6, 2020
People tried to decipher the name and decided that his name was actually Kyle.
As one twitter friend clarified:
X: Greek letter "Chi", pronounced "Ki"
Æ: Pronounced "Ai"
A-12: 12th letter of the alphabet, "L"
It's pronounced "Kyle" (Ki-Ai-L)
X Æ A-12 (Kyle) Musk
We are also in the year of the Metal Rat in the Chinese zodiac.
— Jose Emilio Orozco (@ElJemilio) May 6, 2020
hey so do we pronounce “metal rat” or is it silent
— jewelcakes ☁️ (@snickerszlove) May 6, 2020
Chuck e cheese animatronic robots wondering how to spell X Æ A-12 name in his birthday party pic.twitter.com/f7EEgRRZNO
— ??????? (@majiddave) May 6, 2020
— Dr. chris andrade ??? (@minombreeschris) May 6, 2020
Your kid's name must contain at least one lowercase letter, one capital letter and one number.
— jesuisG (@jesuisvalery1) May 5, 2020
j.xo pic.twitter.com/KELLi8GNFX
— fifty shades of j (@questionltd) May 5, 2020
Grimes putting X Æ A-12 to sleep pic.twitter.com/repsM9ZZje
— TinaValentina (@TinaDuckbill) May 7, 2020