What We Know About Grimes and Elon Musk's 3 Children

Updated on Oct 3, 2023 at 1:20 PM

Grimes is reportedly suing Elon Musk in order to secure parental rights over her three children. Per Today, court documents show that on Sept. 29, Grimes filed a "petition to establish parental relationship," a motion that legally solidifies the identities of a child's unmarried parents. The filing arrived days after the musician wrote ". . . tell Elon to let me see my son or plz respond to my lawyer" on Twitter in a since-deleted post, per TMZ. Reps for Grimes and Musk did not immediately respond to POPSUGAR's request for comment.

Grimes and Musk share three children. The news of their third child — named Techno Mechanicus — was revealed in a Musk biography by Walter Isaacson, and Grimes confirmed the baby's arrival on Twitter (now X). "I wish I could show u how cute little Techno is but my priority rn is keeping my babies out of the public eye," she wrote in part.

Grimes and Musk welcomed their first child together, X Æ A-Xii, in May 2020. The pair also call their son X. They next welcomed a daughter in 2021; her name was originally Exa Dark Sideræl Musk, but in March 2023, Grimes revealed that they had changed her name. The musician shared a photo of her daughter on Twitter, and when someone commented "omg baby sailor mars hiiii," Grimes replied, "She's Y now, or 'Why' or just '?' (But the government won't recognize that)." Y, she appeared to say, represents "curiosity, the eternal question, and such."

Though Musk and Grimes welcomed a new child together, the status of their relationship remains unclear. Musk has 11 known children with three different partners, per Insider. He and his first wife, author Justine Wilson, gave birth to a child named Nevada Alexander Musk in 2002, though he died at 10 weeks old. Afterwards, Wilson and Elon welcomed twins named Griffin and Vivian Musk in 2004, and then went on to have triplets named Kai, Saxon, and Damian Musk in 2006. Elon also has twins with Shivon Zilis, the director of operations of Elon's company Neuralink. The twins were reportedly born in November 2021 — just one month before the birth of Y.

Ahead, learn more about Grimes and Elon's three kids together.

Elon Musk and Grimes's Kids: X Æ A-Xii or X

Grimes and Elon welcomed their first child, X, in May 2020. "Mom & baby all good," Elon tweeted at the time. Later that week, Grimes explain the significance of her child's name on Twitter. "X, the unknown variable," she wrote. "Æ, my elven spelling of Ai (love &/or Artificial intelligence). A-12 = precursor to SR-17 (our favorite aircraft). No weapons, no defenses, just speed. Great in battle, but non-violent + (A = Archangel, my favorite song) (metal rat). I think it sounds like the name of the main character in the story. I hope he vibes with that. OK, going back into the pain/ beauty reverie for [some] time, just came on to add my thoughts. Peace to all."

Grimes and Elon began dating in 2018 and made their debut as a couple at the Met Gala that year. In September 2021, Elon told Page Six that the pair were "semi-separated" but remained friends and were still living together. Then, in a December 2021 interview with Vanity Fair, Grimes said that she would "probably refer to [Elon] as my boyfriend, but we're very fluid. We live in separate houses. We're best friends. We see each other all the time."

Yet they ran into trouble with that name due to California law, which specifies that names can only contain letters, not characters. Grimes later announced in an Instagram comment that they'd changed their son's name to X Æ A-Xii, replacing 12 with numerals, per People, but a birth certificate obtained by TMZ revealed that the baby's official name is simply X.

Elon Musk and Grimes's Kids: Y or ?

Grimes and Elon welcomed their second child via surrogacy in 2021, Grimes revealed in a Vanity Fair interview. Later on, she shared that she hadn't planned on revealing the existence of her second child in the story. "Def held back a lot, contrary 2 headline," she tweeted a few days after the piece was published, per CNN. "& didn't mean for them 2 find out about my daughter so please respect her privacy as I'd love her to be able to live as private of a life as possible."

The baby was originally named Exa Dark Sideræl Musk, though now her nickname — Y — appears to be her new official moniker.

Elon Musk and Grimes's Kids: Techno Mechanicus

According to Isaacson's Musk biography, the pair's third child, Techno Mechanicus, goes by Tau, per The New York Times. Many online believe the baby's name is a reference to Warhammer 40,000, a miniature war game. Mechanicus is a faction in the game.