Here’s How to Pronounce X Æ A-12 Musk’s Name, Because No One Has the Slightest Clue

From Cosmopolitan

It’s really no secret that Grimes and Elon Musk are an…unconventional couple. I mean, when you pair a man who’s trying to film movies in actual outer space with a woman who (a) creates medieval-inspired electro pop music and (b) legally changed her name to “c”—the physics measurement of the speed of light—you’re bound to get something interesting. And guess what? We did—they had a baby!

Grimes and Elon welcomed their first child together, a beautiful and healthy baby boy. After Grimes delivered, Elon chatted with fans and shared the baby boy’s unusual name, which has now been heard (and mispronounced) around the world: X Æ A-12 Musk (written

X AE A-XII Musk on his birth certificate, since California has rules about numbers in names). Has a nice ring to it, don’t you think?

Of course, people online congratulated the pair, but the number one question on everyone’s mind remained—how the hell do you pronounce X Æ A-12 Musk’s name?? Luckily for you, we have *some* answers. Elon Liked a post that broke down the baby’s name components, which gave us all a semblance of a clue:

But according to Grimes, here’s what the name means:

According to Dictionary.com, Æ translates to “ash” but the symbol is really pronounced like the “a” in “cat” or “bad.” The X in the name gets its usual pronunciation, the A-12 translates to “Archangel,” and the last name (hands down the most simple part) is Musk.

Three days after X Æ A-12 was born, Elon gave us a breakdown of the name. “First of all, my partner is the one who, mostly, actually came up with the name. She’s great at names,” he said during an appearance on the Joe Rogan Experience. “I mean, it’s just X, the letter X. And then the Æ is, like, pronounced ‘Ash’…yeah…and then A-12 is my contribution,” adding that the Archangel 12 is “the coolest plane ever.” He didn’t exactly put all the sounds together and say the name in full, but it was something.

And while that provides insight, Grimes legit gave a different answer to the correct pronunciation when someone asked her on Instagram.

So without further ado, the official pronunciations of X Æ A-12 Musk’s name are:

Oh, and it’s also worth mentioning that California law states a baby’s name can only have the 26 letters in the English alphabet, since the state’s birth-registration handbook explains that baby names aren’t allowed to include inappropriate punctuation or symbols that represent ideas.

We now have the answer (kinda), but the internet’s probably going to continue thinking X Æ A-12 Musk’s name is pronounced like this until Grimes and Elon are in agreement:

Please feel free to reminisce on Grimes and Elon’s hella-eventful relationship timeline while you nail down the proper way to say this beyond unique baby name.

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