Elon Musk Says He Might Name His Next Kid After a COVID Variant

Let's hope he doesn't.

Numbering Babies

It looks like new COVID-19 strains are about to surge this winter — and their new names may be inspiring Tesla CEO and notably prolific reproducer Elon Musk.

It all started with Dogecoin co-creator Billy Markus, who posted a screenshot of an article featuring the names of a number of new COVID strains, which bear a passing resemblance to both X Æ A-Xii and Exa Dark Sideræl, the controversial names of Musk and Claire "Grimes" Boucher's first and second children, respectively.

"Did Elon Musk name these new COVID variants?" Markus asked, referring to the variants named "XBB, Q.1.1, and BA.2.75.2."

Musk replied that the headline was "definitely" giving him "kid naming ideas," adding a laugh-crying emoji for good measure.

Say It Ain't So

While it's almost certain that the SpaceX and Tesla CEO is, as his emoji usage suggests, joking, it wouldn't be the first time that he brought a joke to life.

For instance, the entrepreneur just sold out of his meme perfume, which is designed to smell like burnt hair, a venture that started out as a dumb Twitter quip he made earlier in the year.

Given that the man has at least nine kids and is showing no signs of slowing down anytime soon — Musk believes that shrinking birth rates will lead to a collapse of the global population — it's not entirely out of the question that Musk may resort to number his children.

Let's hope that it doesn't get to that point — for our sakes and for the kids.

More Musk world: Grimes "Accidentally Reinvents Scientology" in Bonkers Interview With an Anti-Vaxxer