Baby named as X Æ A-12
Elon Musk, Grimes name their boy ‘X Æ A-12’
Social media users were left scratching their heads when SpaceX CEO Elon Musk and Canadian singer Grimes revealed the name of their baby 'X Æ A-12'.
Earlier on Monday, Elon announced the birth of their son on twitter saying "Mom & baby all good".
Elon said the child would be called X Æ A-12 Musk and his girlfriend later offered an explanation to her followers on social media, reports BBC.
Many on Twitter have been asking how the name ‘X Æ A-12’ will be pronounced.
What’s the meaning?
When Musk, known to joke on Twitter, announced the name, many people questioned whether he was being serious.
However, Grimes, real name Claire Boucher, explained the name's meaning to her fans.
Æ, a ligature of a and e known as ash, appeared in Latin and Old English but has mostly fallen out of use. However, in some languages such as Danish, Norwegian and Icelandic, Æ is classed as a letter.
The singer has used Æ before, naming a song on her latest album 4ÆM.
The A-12 is a Lockheed plane built for the CIA. It was known by designers during its development as Archangel.
She also claims Archangel is her favourite song but does not explain who the song is by.
Meanwhile, how the name is pronounced yet remains unclear.
However, when someone on Twitter asked Musk whether it could be X Ash Archangel, Musk liked the comment, giving the biggest clue as to how it might sound.
Question of legality
It's thought that Grimes may have given birth in California where certain names cannot be registered.
The rules there stipulate that no pictographs, ideograms and diacritical marks for example è, ñ, ē, ç can be used when registering the birth. Names have to consist of the 26 letters of the alphabet.
California isn't the only place in the world with regulations on baby names. In New Zealand, the name 4Real fell foul of authorities because names cannot start with a number.
A Swedish couple went to the high court in Sweden after tax officials deemed their child's name Metallica "inappropriate".
Under Swedish law, both first names and surnames need to win the approval of authorities before they can be used.
However, in 2014, three babies in Scotland were named M, R and T. Other names people have chosen, according to the National Records of Scotland, include Daiquiri and Spartacus.
Unusual names aren't new. Census records during the 18th and 19th Centuries revealed people named King's Judgement, Noble Fall and Cholera Plague.