Reclaiming her identity. Elon Musk’s transgender daughter filed a name change request to be legally acknowledged as female and change her surname from Musk to Wilson.
“I no longer live with or wish to be related to my biological father in any way, shape or form,” the 18-year-old told a Los Angeles court on Wednesday, June 22, according to NBC news. A judge granted the request, legally changing Musk’s daughter’s name to Vivian Jenna Wilson.
“There being no objections, the petition for change of name, recognition of change of gender, and issuance of new birth certificate is granted,” the judge ruled.
The Tesla CEO, who has yet to publicly comment on his daughter’s decision, sparked backlash in December 2020 for his tweets about gender pronouns. “When you put he/him in ur bio,” Musk wrote alongside a picture of a soldier rubbing blood on their cheeks.
After receiving criticism for the post, the businessman tweeted, “I absolutely support trans, but all these pronouns are an esthetic nightmare.” In a subsequent tweet, he reminded his followers that Tesla had received a perfect score on the 2022 Corporate Equality Index.
Musk also tweeted “pronouns suck” in July 2020, but his on-off again partner Grimes convinced him to delete it. “I love you but please turn off ur phone or give me a dall [sic]. I cannot support hate. Please stop this. I know this isn’t your heart,” the Canadian musician wrote in response to the tweet.
As a couple, the electronic artist and SpaceX engineer sparked their own controversy in May 2020 when they named their son and first child together X Æ A-12. In order to comply with California state law, the baby’s first name was later changed to X with AE A-XII as a middle name. In a March 2022 Vanity Fair interview, Grimes revealed that the couple had also welcomed a daughter, Exa Dark Sideræl, via surrogate in December 2021.
Musk shares six children, including Vivian, with his ex-wife Justine Musk, whom he was married to from 2000 to 2008. During their marriage, the duo used IVF treatments to conceive and welcomed twins Griffin and Vivian in 2004 and triplets Damian, Kai and Saxon in 2006. They also had a son Nevada who died from Sudden Infant Death Syndrome at 10 weeks old in 2002.
The South African native’s second wife, Talulah Riley, said she saw him be a good father while they were married from 2010 to 2012. “He tries to come home early for family dinners with me and the kids and maybe play some computer games with the boys,” she said in Ashley Vance’s biography about the business magnate.
While Amber Heard was dating Musk, she shared photos of three of the billionaire’s children climbing on his back at once. “Kidding around,” she captioned the May 2017 Instagram post.
Scroll through for a breakdown of everything to know about Musk’s daughter’s name change: