Grimes and Elon Musk named their son X Æ A-12, but the California law does not allow them to do so.
California law does not accept the name X Æ A-12
The supervisor of the Department of Public Health Vital Records Office in Los Angeles confirmed that the California law does not allow anyone to use symbols and numbers to name someone.
As reported to People by a family attorney named David Glass, a parent is only allowed to use the 26 characters of the English language for their baby's name. Roman numerals, numbers, accents, umlauts, or any other symbols and emojis are not accepted to be used for a person's name. An exemption is an apostrophe, like "O'Connor, that is allowed to be present in the name.
In the child's birth certificate, what is allowed to be input are the letters X and A, even if the couple wants to call their son X Æ A-12.
Origin of Grimes and Elon Musk's Son's Name
On May 4, Elon Musk and Grimes welcomed their son, and two days after, they shared with the public that they will call their son by the name X Æ A-12. At first, fans and followers did not want to believe the Tesla CEO's post, saying that he may be bluffing about their son's name.
Grimes, however, confirmed it by posting an explanation of how they came up with a unique name. She explained that the "X" was meant to describe an unknown variable, then the Æ means love or artificial intelligence and is also the elven spelling of Ai.
The Canadian singer followed through by saying that A-12 was added to their son's name because it was the precursor of SR-17, which is the couple's favorite aircraft. Other than that, the letter A also meant Archangel, her favorite song.
Official name and birth certificate should not include symbols
Glass said that if Elon Musk and Grimes submitted the birth certificate of their son with the name X Æ A-12, then it would be rejected, and they have to resubmit. The couple can appeal the rejection, but the chance of being accepted is low because California is having issues with the use of symbols.
In 2014, they tried to change the rule to allow some special characters, accents, or umlauts, but the bill was dropped because the cost of upgrading computer systems is too high. Glass said that the rule is not a law, but it is included in the handbook for vital records issued by the California Department of Public Health.
He added that in case the couple pushes through with the name, their son would not have an official name and birth certificate. The child could only get a social security number once the parents resubmit an approved birth certificate.
The baby is Grimes' first child with Elon Musk, while the 48-year-old CEO has five sons from his previous relationships. Musk's first son, Nevada, died in 2002 of SIDS when he was just 10 months old.
