Elon Musk Reveals He Named His Son After Aragorn and His Daughter After a Powerful Elden Ring Spell
Elon Musk has once again captured the internet’s attention with his unique approach to naming his children. The tech billionaire recently shed light on the inspirations behind the names of his twins, whom he shares with Neuralink executive Shivon Zilis. In a social media exchange that quickly went viral, Musk revealed that his son and daughter carry names rooted in high fantasy and astrophysics.
The revelation came after a user on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, posted a photo of Musk posing with the twins. Musk replied to the image with a breakdown of their full names and the specific homages they represent. The children, previously known to the public simply as Strider and Azure, actually bear the full names Strider Sekhar and Comet Azure.
Musk explained that his son, Strider Sekhar, is named after a combination of a literary hero and a scientific legend. The first name, Strider, is a direct reference to the character Aragorn from J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings. Before he is revealed as the heir to the throne of Gondor, Aragorn wanders the wilds under the ranger alias “Strider,” a name that signifies resilience and hidden nobility.
The middle name, Sekhar, serves as a tribute to Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar, a renowned Indian-American astrophysicist. Chandrasekhar was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1983 for his theoretical studies on the structure and evolution of stars. This choice also honors the heritage of the twins’ mother, Shivon Zilis, whose mother is of Indian Punjabi descent.
For his daughter, Musk turned to the world of modern interactive entertainment. Her name, Comet Azure, is inspired by the video game Elden Ring, a title Musk has frequently praised as a masterpiece. specifically, the name references “Comet Azur,” which is widely considered one of the most powerful and visually spectacular sorceries available to players in the game.
The spell itself allows players to fire a tremendous beam of cosmic energy, obliterating enemies in seconds. Musk has been a vocal fan of the game since its release, often sharing his character builds and admiration for the art style online. It appears that his appreciation for the game’s lore ran deep enough to permanently influence his family tree.
These names fit a well-established pattern for the Tesla CEO, who often blends science fiction, history, and technology when naming his offspring. His children with the musician Grimes, for example, bear names like X Æ A-12 (nicknamed X), Exa Dark Sideræl (nicknamed Y), and Techno Mechanicus (nicknamed Tau). Each name usually comes with a complex backstory involving aircraft, mathematical variables, or elven linguistics.
Shivon Zilis, the mother of Strider and Comet, is a top executive at Neuralink, Musk’s brain-chip company. The pair welcomed the twins in November 2021, though the news of their birth was not immediately made public. Zilis has a background in artificial intelligence and has worked with Musk across several of his ventures, including OpenAI and Tesla.
Beyond his family life, Musk remains a central figure in global headlines due to his management of X and his other ambitious ventures. He has been aggressively reshaping the social media platform since his acquisition, introducing subscription models and pivoting the company toward video content. Simultaneously, his aerospace company SpaceX continues to push boundaries with the development of the Starship rocket, aiming for eventual manned missions to Mars.
The cultural touchstones Musk referenced for his children are also currently enjoying moments of renewed relevance. The Lord of the Rings franchise is in the midst of a major revival, with Warner Bros. announcing new live-action films. The first of these projects, tentatively titled The Hunt for Gollum, is set to bring Andy Serkis back as both director and star, reprising his iconic motion-capture role.
Fans of the series are also speculating whether Viggo Mortensen will return to the role of Aragorn, the character who inspired Musk’s son’s name. Mortensen’s portrayal of the ranger-king in the early 2000s trilogy remains a definitive performance in fantasy cinema. The actor has recently been focusing on directing his own westerns and dramas, but he has not ruled out a return to Middle-earth if the story is right.
On the gaming front, Elden Ring continues to dominate the conversation in the industry. Developed by FromSoftware in collaboration with Game of Thrones author George R.R. Martin, the game sold millions of copies and won numerous Game of the Year awards. Its massive expansion, Shadow of the Erdtree, was released recently to critical acclaim, further cementing the title’s legacy.
The specific spell “Comet Azur” became a meme within the gaming community because of its sheer power. Players discovered they could use it to defeat difficult bosses almost instantly, leading to jokes about the “easy mode” laser beam. By naming his daughter after this specific element, Musk is giving a nod to a very specific, overpowered mechanic that millions of gamers recognize instantly.
This blend of pop culture and serious science is characteristic of Musk’s public persona. He frequently references memes, games, and sci-fi novels in his business presentations and rocket naming conventions. The Falcon rockets, for instance, are named after the Millennium Falcon from Star Wars, while the drone ships are named after spaceships from Ian M. Banks’ Culture series.
As Musk continues to expand both his family and his business empire, the public remains fascinated by the intersection of the two. His choices often spark debates about the weight of names and the influence of celebrity culture on parenting. With fourteen children now known to the public, the list of Musk’s unique baby names serves as a timeline of his shifting interests over the decades.
Tell us what you think about these video game and fantasy-inspired names in the comments.
