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Grimes Explains The Meaning Behind Her Son's Name

It's the intersection between art and tech, of course.

When Grimes initially announced her pregnancy, it was almost a given that the baby would be given the most futuristic, absurd name a human baby has ever had. Fans and haters alike inundated her with unhinged baby name memes, and much to Grimes' chagrin, they had a grain of truth to them. "I don’t want to say," she said to The Face back in February 2020 regarding her and eccentric tech billionaire Elon Musk's baby name options. "But, annoyingly, some of the memes about my naming ideas are on point." She delivered — figuratively and literally — with the birth of her first child, a son named X Æ A-12. The name seemed a God-tier troll at first, but Grimes broke down X Æ A-12's significance on Twitter a few hours after giving birth, so it's very much the real deal.

To no one's surprise, the name is smack dab in the middle of the intersection between art and tech. The first character, X, is for the unknown variable, while Æ represents Grimes' elven spelling of A.I. Lastly, A-12 signifies her and Musk's "favorite aircraft," a Lockheed reconnaissance aircraft — literally a spy plane, to be perfectly clear — built for the C.I.A. "No weapons, no defenses, just speed," she wrote. "Great in battle, but non-violent."

Grimes added that X Æ A-12 makes her think of what a main character in a story would be named, and that she hopes her son vibes with that as he grows up. "I am recovering from surgery and barely alive so may my typos b forgiven but, damnit," she followed up to the explanation. "That was meant to be profound." Congratulations to the new mother!