What’s in a name? While most kids affectionately refer to their mothers as “mom” or “mama,” Grimes and her son, X Æ A-12, have done their own thing.
The musician, 33, spoke to Vogue about her unconventional parenting style and view of motherhood while getting ready for the 2021 Met Gala.
“I think having a baby was a big rebirth for me artistically,” she explained in the video, posted on Thursday, September 16. “Being a mother feels weird for me to say.”
The “Genesis” performer — who shares her son with Elon Musk — noted that her little one, 16 months, calls her by her given name: Claire Boucher.
“X says ‘Claire,’ but he doesn’t say ‘mama’… maybe he can sense my taste for the word ‘mother,’” she explained as she got her makeup done before the event. “Which, I don’t even know why I have a distaste for it, I respect it. I can’t identify with it, weirdly.”
The musician and the SpaceX founder, 50, welcomed their first child together in May 2020 after the entrepreneur tweeted about their bundle of joy’s arrival.
“News on baby?” one fan asked Musk via Twitter before he replied, “A few hours away.” Four hours later, he added, “Mom & baby all good.”
At the time, the billionaire tweeted the duo had named the newborn X Æ A-12 before sharing the first snaps of the baby.
Weeks later, Grimes revealed that she has nicknamed her son “Little X” during a Bloomberg interview. She then confirmed his name’s pronunciation via Instagram that month.
“It’s just X, like the letter X,” she wrote. “Then A.I. Like how you said the letter A then I.”
Musk — who also shares twins Xavier and Griffin, 17, and triplets Damian, Saxon and Khai, 15, with ex-wife Justine Musk — offered his own pronunciation guide during an appearance on the “Joe Rogan Experience” podcast.
“First of all, my partner is the one who, mostly, actually came up with the name,” he explained at the time. “I mean it’s just X, the letter X. And then the Æ is pronounced like ‘ash.’”
The pair continued to amicably coparent their little one as he grew older.
“Grimes was still living with Elon before and after she gave birth,” a source exclusively told Us Weekly in February. “He is still involved in the baby’s life and his whole family is as well.”
The insider added that the Tesla CEO’s mom, Maye Musk, had been “especially hands-on and loves helping out.”
Grimes and the billionaire began dating in 2018, shortly before they made their red carpet debut at that year’s Met Gala.
