Elon Musk

Grimes Says She and Elon Musk Have Changed Their Baby's Name

Out are the digits, in are the Roman numerals

In this May 7, 2018, file photo, Grimes and Elon Musk attend the 2018 Costume Institute Benefit at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City.
Taylor Hill/Getty Images

Elon Musk and Grimes have updated the name of their newborn son.

The couple made waves earlier this month when they revealed they had named their baby X Æ A-12, pronounced "X Ash A Twelve." But in an Instagram post on Sunday, Grimes said the baby’s name is now X Æ A-Xii — a tweak to comply with what their home state permits on a birth certificate.

“Did you change the baby name because of Californian laws ? What is the baby’s new name?” someone asked in the comments.

“X Æ A-Xii," Grimes replied without expounding on the reason for the alteration.

"Nice! Just removed the numbers to confirm to California law," someone else wrote.

"Roman numerals. Looks better tbh," responded Grimes, whose birth name is Claire Boucher.

People were left scratching their heads when the singer and the Tesla founder first announced the baby’s name.

On Twitter, Grimes gave a detailed explanation of how they came up with the unusual moniker.

A few days after the baby’s birth, Musk appeared on “The Joe Rogan Experience” podcast, during which he clarified how to pronounce the child's name.

The name appears to have run into some legal issues, however — hence the latest adjustment.

"A name like 'X Æ A-12' would not be allowed," Matt Conens, a spokesman for the Office of Public Affairs of the California Department of Public Health, wrote in an email to USA TODAY. "Vital records must be completed with the 26 alphabetical characters of the English language and appropriate punctuation such as hyphens, apostrophes, periods and commas."

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