Grimes is not far removed from having given birth to her first child, which she and boyfriend Elon Musk decided to name X Æ A-12 Musk, a decision and a name that have raised a lot of questions. Grimes explained what the unusual name means, but one questioned that remained was how to say it, since the proper pronunciation isn’t necessarily obvious by looking at the letters (and numbers). Those questions have been cleared up now, though, as Grimes has taken to Instagram to explain how to say “X Æ A-12.”
Grimes appears on the cover of the latest issue of Italian Vogue, so she shared images from the shoot and wrote, “I was having a baby this week so I literally didn’t realize my Italian Vogue cover came out!! Simulation feels like its at level 10 atm. Might be offline for a bit as of today, but this is an honor of the highest order! Thanks so much. I want to write more but my brain is mega fried right now. Love G.”
In the comments of that post, somebody asked how to say her baby’s name, and Grimes offered, “It’s just X, like the letter X. Then A.I. Like how you said the letter A then I.”
So, there we have it: “X Æ A-12” is pronounced like “X-A-I” (“ex ay eye”), so it would seem Grimes’ son has the first name with a silent 2 (among other characters).