An older image of Angelina and Shiloh, thanks to Splash
This week’s US Weekly has more information that might explain why Angelina and Brad named their latest addition “Shiloh.” Angelina used to make hotel and restaurant reservations using the alias “Shiloh Baptist.” After Shiloh was born she stopped using the name, probably because everyone would have figured out it was her at that point:

Turns out Angelina Jolie has always liked the name Shiloh. Hot Stuff has learned that the actress, 32, used to make hotel and restaurant reservations under the alias “Shiloh Baptist.” However, a source notes that Jolie retired the false moniker after her daughter’s May 2006 birth.

[From US Weekly, print edition, April 28, 2008]

Angelina’s brother James Haven has said that his parents first wanted to give him the middle name Shiloh, but picked the name Haven instead. He is quoted as claiming that Brad and Angelina asked him if it would be ok if they used the name for their daughter, and that he gave them his blessing and called it an honor.

Last summer James was spotted driving an SUV with the California license plate Shhiloh, as if someone was whispering his niece’s name. The vanity plate was in a holder for the Saddleback Church from Lake Forest, California. It’s a huge Baptist church known for progressive values. Maybe James Haven really is a parishioner or he could be paying tribute to his niece along with making an in joke with his sister, considering that she supposedly called herself “Shiloh Baptist” at some point. “Shiloh” means “Messiah” or “Peaceful One” in Hebrew, along with being the site of one of the bloodiest battles of the US Civil War.

Along with the “brother’s nickname” theory, there’s also a story that Shiloh is named after her place of conception. It’s a pretty name no matter how Angelina and Brad came up with it. They manage to pick unique but not weird names for their kids, and they’ll soon have to come up with another one - or two, for their expected arrival.

Angelina’s brother, James Haven, has a custom California license plate that pays tribute to his first biological niece. It reads “Shhiloh” and features a plate holder from the “Saddleback Church,” with the saying “You Matter to God.” Shiloh has the biblical meaning of “the peaceful one,” or the Messiah, so the plate holder may have a double meaning, and/or Angelina’s brother could be religious. (There has also been speculation that the 18 month-old is named after her place of conception.)

James Haven, Angelina’s older brother, is very devoted to his niece. On Thanksgiving Day, the actor was seen driving an SUV with the license plate “Shhiloh” in Beverly Hills. Of course, he’s the uncle of Angelina and Brad’s 18-month-old daughter, Shiloh. James was loading up his car with freshly baked pies and other goodies, says a witness.

[From In Touch weekly, print edition, December 10, 2007]

That’s cute and all, but isn’t it a somewhat stupid idea to get a custom license plate when you’re the brother of someone as famous as Angelina? It seems like James Haven should carefully protect his anonymity, but maybe it’s more important to him that he be recognized. He gives an interview about his sister just about every month, so he’s keen to capitalize on their relationship as much as possible. I was going to say something snarky about how it’s a good thing that Shiloh has blonde hair and looks just like her dad, but that’s just cruel to speculate about. A little public kissing between siblings doesn’t equal incest no matter how much we bring it up, and that’s old news. He’s just a proud uncle - and an out of work actor.

Header image was created by the Acme License Maker and a picture of James at the Mighty Heart premiere on 6/13/07. The image below is a scan from In Touch. Get this week’s edition to see the full version.

Note: The scan below was done for Celebitchy.

Boy the Jolie/Voight/Haven clan sure like to bring up old anger at least once every few months. It seems to be a seasonal ritual with them. While Angelina doesn’t talk about her father Jon Voight very much, John Voight sure does a lot of talking about Angelina. And why not? She’s a big star and he hasn’t done much of anything lately. If he wants to get into the papers, I can’t imagine a better way to do it that by talking about all their old issues and old hurt and how life sucks for him because Angelina and brother James Haven just can’t get over the fact that their dad was a complete jerk to them growing up. It really annoys me when someone treats someone else like crap, and then gets mad at the person for not getting over being treated like crap. Kind of like, “I should be able to do whatever the hell I want to you, and you should just deal with it and not make me feel badly as a result.” It’s from the Jon Voight school of psychology.

“After son James Haven’s accusations of ‘mental abuse’ in a recent magazine article, Jon Voight is speaking out. The 68-year-old actor, who is also Angelina Jolie’s dad, tells Usmagazine.com in a statement:

“‘I find it very heartbreaking that my children want to paint a bad guy portrait of me. I feel it comes from their inability to let go of years of programmed anger from their mother, who understandably felt quite hurt when we divorced. In all truth, I tried to give him and their mother continuous love and support and large sums of money. God knows, for years I’ve tried to mend this relationship. Perhaps the trauma of their mother’s passing has made it worse.’

“In November’s Marie Claire, Haven says he dedicates himself to helping abandoned women and children due to his own scarred experience as a child. Of his famous father, Haven says, ‘I don’t want to constantly berate my father — I wish him well, and I hope he finds peace — but he put my mom through years of mental abuse.’

“Despite the affront, Voight continues to hope for a relationship with Haven, and Jolie. He tells Us, ‘I continuously send them my heart and love and am always available to them for whatever they may need from me.’”

[From Us Weekly]

Yep, you continuously send them your heart and love, unless whatever they need from you is to take some lasting, permanent responsibility for your behavior and truly do what it takes to make amends. But as long as what they want from you is facile and superficial, you’re totally there for them. And if you can talk to a bunch of gossip magazines about how mean your kids are to you in your old age, all the better, right? Remember that time when Voight (apparently intentionally) referred to Zahara as Shakira to the press? Very grownup and mature, it sounds like you’re a great person and would make a fabulous grandfather Jon Voight. I think Angelina is probably moving on, focusing on making a happy family, and doing whatever it takes to make sure they don’t have to deal with you like she did. So it sounds like the problem is more that your kids don’t need you, and that bugs you.