49 Real Names That Parents Gave Their Children That Should Have Stayed Inside Their Heads

Many of the names on this list are a breeze compared to X Æ A-12. You'd be forgiven for thinking that Elon Musk's son's name is code for something. And it sort of is.

"First of all, my partner's the one that mostly came up with the name," Musk once revealed on The Joe Rogan Experience podcast. "I mean it's just X, the letter X, and the 'Æ' is pronounced, 'Ash,' and then, A-12 is my contribution."

The billionaire added that A-12 stood for "Archangel 12, the precursor to the SR-71, coolest plane ever."

In case you're wondering, X Æ A-12 is pronounced "X Ash A Twelve." According to CNET, "Æ" is a character used in some languages, including Danish and Norwegian. It's often pronounced "ash," but some people pronounce each letter, saying "A E."

Musk has more than a dozen children with a handful of different women. Three of them, including X Æ A-12, are with singer Grimes. Grimes and Musk also share a daughter called Exa Dark Sideræl (nicknamed Y), and a son, Tau Techno Mechanicus.

When explaining X Æ A-12's name, Grimes tweeted that she called X "the unknown variable," and said that Æ was "my elven spelling of Ai," which she explained as "love and/or artificial intelligence." 

The A-12, she said, was "our favorite aircraft," adding that it's "no weapons, no defenses, just speed. Great in battle, but non-violent." According to Grimes, the A in A-12 stood for "Archangel," which she revealed was "my favorite song."

X Æ A-12 isn't alone with his rather unique name. There are a string of celebrity babies and kids sporting highly unusual names.

Machine Gun Kelly and Megan Fox’s daughter is called Saga Blade Fox-Baker, while Fox's son with Brian Austin Green is named Journey. Kim Kardashian and Kanye West clearly also don't do "boring" baby names. "The names Saint and Chicago were reportedly Kardashian’s idea, as a tribute to West’s roots," reports Vogue. "Kris Jenner championed the name Psalm—and North, well, that moniker originated from a joke by Jay Leno."

Gwyneth Paltrow and Chris Martin were among the first celebrity couples to wow us with their choice of baby name. But now that we have kids like X Æ A-12, the name Apple doesn't seem so strange after all.

When explaining her daughter's name in 2004, Paltrow told Oprah Winfrey that “apples are so sweet, and they’re wholesome, and it’s biblical, and I just thought it sounded so lovely.”

Beth Riesgraf and Jason Lee reportedly took inspiration from the opening track of Grandaddy's 2000 album The Sophtware Slump when naming their child. Bizarrely, the song is titled “He’s Simple, He’s Dumb, He’s the Pilot,” and their son's name is Pilot Inspektor.

Jamie Oliver certainly doesn't shy away from offbeat baby names. The British chef and restaurateur's kids are called Poppy Honey Rosie, Daisy Boo Pamela, Petal Blossom Rainbow, Buddy Bear Maurice, and River Rocket Blue Dallas.

Cardi B and Offset have a daughter called Kulture Kiari. The Kiari part comes from Offset's legal name, which is Kiari Kendrell Cephus. And Kulture could have been Culture but it's spelled with a K, because, as Cardi B tweeted in 2018, “anything else woulda been basic Okrrrrr.”

Despite the thousands of fairly normal names out there to choose from, Shannyn Sossamon and Dallas Clayton decided to name their son Audio Science. Yes, really.

Then there's Adelaide Gail Zappa and Frank Zappa who seemingly refused to be outdone in the world of weird baby names. Their children are called Moon Unit, Dweezil, Ahmet, and Diva Thin Muffin.

"Moon or Motörhood were the two original contenders, and Unit was chosen because, as the eldest, Moon’s birth symbolized the family as a unit," reports Vogue. "Dweezil actually began as a pet name coined by Zappa for his wife’s pinky toe and was later adapted for their son. However, the hospital refused to register Dweezil under that name, so it remained a nickname (born Ian Donald Calvin Euclid) until he insisted on legally changing it at the age of five."

Ahmet — the odd one out — doesn't have an odd name at all. His is a common Turkish and Muslim name, and was a tribute to the co-founder of Atlantic Records, Ahmet Ertegun. As for Diva, her name was reportedly chosen because she was a rather vocal baby.

Thankfully, despite some really odd baby names, most people are still settling for fairly normal names. The Social Security Administration (SSA) released its annual list of the most popular names in the United States recently. They're based on babies born and named in 2025.

For girls, the top 5 are Olivia, Charlotte, Emma, Amelia and Sophia. The most popular baby boy names are Liam, Noah, Oliver, Theodore and Henry. Rather cute if you ask us. And definitely a whole lot easier to pronounce than X Æ A-12!