What's in a Name? Brad and Angelina's daughter, Shiloh Jolie-Pitt

The unusual first name of Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt's second daughter and first biological child was a major shocker when it was announced after her May 27, 2006 birth.  A "place name" best known as a Biblical city as well as the site of a Tennessee Civil War battle, Shiloh was originally intended as a name for Angelina's brother, James Haven. Jolie also reportedly used the name as an alias when she checked into hotels.

Shiloh debuted on the Social Security popular names list in 2007, the year after Shiloh Jolie-Pitt was born, and has been climbing ever since. It's now number 604, with nearly 500 little girls receiving the name in the last year counted. Though theoretically unisex, Shiloh has not cracked the Top 1000 for boys.

Shiloh's middle name, Nouvel, is in honor of French architect Jean Nouvel, a hero of architecture buff Brad's. Nouvel's most famous buildings include the Guthrie Theatre in Minneapolis and museums in Paris and Madrid.

Shiloh means "messiah" or "peaceful one" in Hebrew and Nouvel means "new" in French, so the name might be taken to mean New Messiah. Her nickname is Shi.

Shiloh, who's been photographed recently sporting a short haircut and boyish clothes, went through a period of answering only to the names John or Peter, Pitt told Oprah Winfrey in 2008.

While the name Shiloh could hardly be considered stylish, it does connect with two trends of the moment: "place names" and names that end with the "o" sound.  Other celebrity babies with place names include Kingston Rossdale, born just one day before Shiloh; Brooklyn Beckham and Bronx Wentz.  And those with name that end with an "o" sound include Bardot, infant daughter of David Boreanaz, and Lazaro, Gael Garcia Bernal's son.

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