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Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt's daughters, Shiloh Jolie-Pitt and Zahara Jolie-Pitt© GettyImages

Angelina Jolie reveals the significance behind her and Brad Pitt’s daughter Shiloh’s name

Mom Angelina reveals how her daughter’s name pays tribute to someone very special to her


UPDATED JUNE 11, 2020 2:53 PM EDT

Actress and proud momma-of-six,  Angelina Jolie , reveals the touching true story behind the chosen name of her first biological child with fellow actor  Brad Pitt . She opens up about the heartbreaking details that influenced and provided inspiration for her daughter  Shiloh Jolie-Pitt ’s name and how it was a name that the actress has always held close to her heart. In an interview with Vanity Fair, the Maleficent actress shared that it was a name that her parents, actor Jon Voight and her late mother Marcheline Bertrand, had previously chosen.

Shiloh Jolie Pitt© GettyImages
Shiloh Jolie Pitt was named after Angelina’s parent’s first child

The Girl, Interrupted actress explained, “It was a name my parents almost named their first child – there was a miscarriage: Shiloh Baptist. Because my father had been shooting in Georgia and that was the most southern name [my parents] could come up with.” She went on to reveal that prior to the birth of her daughter with Brad Pitt, she used the name quite a bit as a way to honor it. “It’s a name I always liked. I used to go under it in hotels: Shiloh Baptist. I’d gone under it when Brad called hotel rooms where I was staying,” the actress explained. So it’s no surprise that when it came time to name their first child together, this was a name that instantly came up (and won) when the couple began thinking of possible baby names for their daughter.

"The Boy Who Harnessed The Wind" Special Screening, Hosted by Angelina Jolie© GettyImages
Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie share six children together: Maddox, 18, Pax, 16, Zahara, 15, Shiloh, 14, and 11 year old twins Knox and Vivienne

But this isn’t the first time we get insight into how purposeful Angelina Jolie is with her six children. In her column for  Time  magazine, the mamá opened up how about her time with her kids has been since the pandemic has started. “We’re all locked in, we’re doing all right… Well, the two things that affect children from my view the most being out of school is of course, education, and the challenges of education. I know parents across the country are challenged with homeschool and maybe that‘s more a challenge for the parents than the children,” she expressed. The actress also admitted that she has been able to learn a lot from her kids during this time, mainly how it is okay to not be “perfect” and how her kids “just want [her] honest [and] doing [her] best.”