RT A NAME THAT STOPPED THE INTERNET: ELON MUSK’S NEW PHOTO WITH SON SEKARH IGNITES GLOBAL SPECULATION

There is a fresh photo of Elon Musk’s young son out on social media. And it again brings a spotlight on his Indian heritage, not just because he has been named Sekhar after famous Indian physicist Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar but also due to the Indian heritage of the kid’s mom Shivon Zilis.

Elon Musk has 14 children. They all have some unique names, including one named X A-Xii Musk. But of all, one kid has his name inspired by an India connection. He is Strider Sekhar and his latest photo on social media is creating a buzz. Sekhar, according to Musk, has been named after Indian physicist Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar. Now, that is not the only India connection Sekhar has. He is also connected to India through his mother, Shivon Zelis.

Musk recently shared a photo posing with two of his children, Strider and Comet. In the caption accompanying the photo, he wrote: “Me with my son, Strider Sekhar (named after Aragorn & great Indian physicist Chandrasekhar) and daughter, Comet Azure, named after the most powerful spell in Elden Ring.”

In that caption, Musk made it clear that the name “Sekhar” is a tribute to Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar, the legendary astrophysicist who won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1983 for his groundbreaking work on how stars evolve, collapse, and eventually become black holes and white dwarfs.

Given Musk’s history of naming his children after his interests and inspirations, choosing the name “Sekhar” follows a familiar pattern. For instance, his child X A-12 — whom he shares with singer Grimes — has a name that blends artificial intelligence, aircraft references and linguistic symbolism. The name Comet Azure is inspired by gaming lore. So in that context, naming a child after one of the greatest minds in astrophysics fits perfectly with his fascination for space, science and technology.

But the Indian connection for Sekhar doesn’t stop with the Nobel laureate.

Sekhar’s mother Shivon Zilis is his another link to India. That is because Shivon has Indian heritage via her mother who was a Punjabi. Shivon was born in Markham, Ontario, to Sharda Zilis, a Hindu Punjabi Indian mother, and Richard Zilis, a White Canadian father. She grew up in Canada, studied at Unionville High School, and later graduated from Yale University in 2008.

As for her relationship with Musk, her professional paths crossed with Musk long before their personal lives became public. From 2017 to 2019, she worked at Tesla as a project director on the Autopilot product and chip design team. She later served as director of operations and special projects at Neuralink. The two were also connected through OpenAI, where Zilis was involved in non-profit work and served on the board until 2023, this is also reportedly one of the places where she is believed to have first met Musk.

Zilis and Musk’s relationship came out in public in 2022, when court documents filed in Travis County, Texas, revealed that Musk and Zilis had welcomed twins, a son and a daughter, in November 2021 via IVF. The filing was related to changing the names of the twins to include their father’s last name and their mother’s last name as a middle name. Reportedly, the pair has four children together.

But the Indian connection for Sekhar doesn’t stop with the Nobel laureate.

Sekhar’s mother Shivon Zilis is his another link to India. That is because Shivon has Indian heritage via her mother who was a Punjabi. Shivon was born in Markham, Ontario, to Sharda Zilis, a Hindu Punjabi Indian mother, and Richard Zilis, a White Canadian father. She grew up in Canada, studied at Unionville High School, and later graduated from Yale University in 2008.

As for her relationship with Musk, her professional paths crossed with Musk long before their personal lives became public. From 2017 to 2019, she worked at Tesla as a project director on the Autopilot product and chip design team. She later served as director of operations and special projects at Neuralink. The two were also connected through OpenAI, where Zilis was involved in non-profit work and served on the board until 2023, this is also reportedly one of the places where she is believed to have first met Musk.

Zilis and Musk’s relationship came out in public in 2022, when court documents filed in Travis County, Texas, revealed that Musk and Zilis had welcomed twins, a son and a daughter, in November 2021 via IVF. The filing was related to changing the names of the twins to include their father’s last name and their mother’s last name as a middle name. Reportedly, the pair has four children together.