Thanks, Elon Musk and Grimes! Now I Can Name My Kid NCC-1701 Without Fear!

I understand the uniqueness of naming a child, I really do. It’s a heavy burden because you are giving your child a name they’ll go by for the rest of their lives—if they so choose. Luckily for X Æ A-12, you can legally change your name. Pronounced … well … I’m really not sure, Elon Musk and Grimes took to the internet to share that they decided to name their child a series of letters and numbers as if this were a robot baby.

What’s great is that even the parents can’t seem to agree on the name.

Personally, I love the fact that an X represents two swords, meaning metal rat, but that’s just me. Maybe I’ll name my future child Metal Rat. What I will say is that because of Elon Musk and Grimes naming their child made up words, it means that I can now name my kids things like NCC-1701 and be okay with that. (At least all Star Trek fans know what I’m talking about right off the bat! No awkward, “profound” explanatory tweets required!)

The thing is, they can do whatever they want. It’s their child. But this is … a lot of made up things thrown into one. Like, what if you saved some of this for your future children if you’re planning on having them? Or middle names? Maybe X (⚔️ metal rat) could have been a first name, and then the made-up “elven” spelling of A.I. could have been a middle name?

In the course of writing this, I have realized that this is the year of the rat, and the year’s element is metal, meaning that, essentially, the X in his name is basically just 2020, so his name is 2020 A.I. A-12, in my eyes. I truly feel for the teachers who are going to just call him “Elon Musk’s kid” when he goes to school. It’s okay though, because the name might not even be accepted by the state of California.

All this being said, Twitter has been having a field day with Musk and Grimes naming their son in code, and honestly, we can’t really blame them, can we? We’re all looking for something to lighten our days, and Musk and Grimes going way too hard in the Musk and Grimes direction is honestly what we needed.

Look, Elon Musk and Grimes have the right to name their kid whatever they want (I don’t think the state of California should refuse them that right), but I would like an honest answer on how to pronounce it because when Elon Musk talked with Joe Rogan all he did was explain the reasons and not … you know, how to SAY IT.

And Grimes has explained it, but … not entirely? Really happy for Grimes and Elon Musk and their new addition X Æ A-12 (pronounced Jerry).

(image: Jason Kempin/Getty Images)

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Rachel Leishman

Rachel Leishman (She/Her) is an Assistant Editor at the Mary Sue. She's been a writer professionally since 2016 but was always obsessed with movies and television and writing about them growing up. A lover of Spider-Man and Wanda Maximoff's biggest defender, she has interests in all things nerdy and a cat named Benjamin Wyatt the cat. If you want to talk classic rock music or all things Harrison Ford, she's your girl but her interests span far and wide. Yes, she knows she looks like Florence Pugh. She has multiple podcasts, normally has opinions on any bit of pop culture, and can tell you can actors entire filmography off the top of her head. Her current obsession is Glen Powell's dog, Brisket. Her work at the Mary Sue often includes Star Wars, Marvel, DC, movie reviews, and interviews.

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