How to pronounce 'X Æ A-Xii,' the slightly tweaked name Elon Musk and Grimes gave their new baby

• Elon Musk and Grimes have had their first child together, and the world is still confused by the baby's name.
• When someone on Twitter asked what the couple named their son, Musk tweeted, "X Æ A-12 Musk."
• Soon after, Grimes tweeted a breakdown of what each character means: X is the "unknown variable," Æ is her "elven spelling of Ai," and A-12 is a type of CIA aircraft known internally as Archangel.
• Grimes later clarified in an Instagram comment: "It's just X, like the letter X. Then A.I. Like how you said the letter A then I." Musk used a conflicting pronunciation, saying on the "Joe Rogan Experience" podcast that the Æ is pronounced "ash."
• Now it appears that the couple has changed the spelling of the baby's name to comply with California state law. Grimes recently posted that it's now: X Æ A-Xii.

The tech billionaire Elon Musk and the musician Grimes have had their first baby together, and the world is still a bit confused by his name.

When a follower asked Musk soon after the baby was born what they'd named their new son, Musk replied, "X Æ A-12 Musk."

Many speculated that the name was a joke. Musk is a known Twitter prankster, frequently posting jokes and memes for his 33.6 million followers. He's also gotten into hot water for his reckless tweeting about things like taking Tesla private or calling a British cave diver who helped rescue a trapped Thai soccer team a "pedo guy."

Others speculated that the string of characters Musk tweeted was a riddle or an equation that added up to the actual name. One person guessed that the name was actually "X Ash Archangel," which Musk liked on Twitter.

Soon after, Grimes posted a breakdown of what each character means: X stands for the "unknown variable," Æ stands for Grimes' "elven spelling of Ai," and A-12 stands for a type of CIA aircraft known internally as Archangel.

"Metal rat" at the bottom of Grimes' tweet is a reference to the baby's sign. The Chinese zodiac includes both animal signs and five elements (earth, wood, water, fire, and metal), and 2020 is the year of the metal rat.

But Grimes' clarification only complicated the situation further. The character Æ is known as an ash, and the actual sound the symbol refers to is like the A in "cat" or "bad," according to Dictionary.com, and not like "ai."

Soon after, Grimes posted photos from her Italian Vogue cover shoot on Instagram — and in the comments she responded to someone asking how the name was pronounced.

"It's just X, like the letter X," Grimes wrote. "Then A.I. Like how you said the letter A then I."

But it seems that even Grimes and Musk couldn't agree on the pronunciation. In mid-May, Musk appeared on the "Joe Rogan Experience" podcast and shared for the first time how he pronounces the name.

"It's just X, the letter X. And then the Æ is, like, pronounced 'ash,'" Musk told Rogan. "And then A-12 is my contribution ... Archangel-12, the precursor to the SR-71, coolest plane ever."

Musk said Grimes was the one who came up with the name. "She's great at names," Musk said.

But the confusion wasn't over. California laws about naming a baby stipulate that the name can include only the 26 letters of the English alphabet. According to the state's birth-registration handbook, baby names can't include "ideograms," or symbols that represent a thing or an idea, and can include only "appropriate punctuation," like the hyphen in the name Smith-Jones. Names cannot include numeric characters.

Musk and Grimes live in California, meaning "X Æ A-12" couldn't be listed on the baby's birth certificate. In an Instagram comment on Sunday, Grimes said that the couple changed the spelling of the baby's name to comply with state laws — the new spelling is "X Æ A-Xii," according to Grimes.

"Roman numerals. Looks better tbh," Grimes said in a follow-up comment.

While it's still not clear how the latter half of the name is pronounced, it appears that Musk and Grimes are keeping it simple day-to-day and calling the baby, simply, "X." When a follower recently asked Musk how "lil' X" is doing, he responded: "Cute as a button."