Children

On March 10, 2002, Jolie adopted her first child, Maddox Chivan Jolie-Pitt (originally Maddox Chivan Thornton Jolie[14]). He was born on August 5 2001, as Rath Vibol in Cambodia and he initially lived in a local orphanage in Battambang. Jolie decided to apply for adoption after she had visited Cambodia twice, while filming Tomb Raider and on a UNHCR field trip in 2001. After her divorce from her second husband, Billy Bob Thornton, Jolie received sole custody of Maddox. His name is Celtic in origin, usually translated as "beneficent",[57] and like Jolie's other children, Maddox has gained a considerable celebrity and appears regularly in the tabloid media; he was named the "cutest celebrity kid,"[58] and he is known for his mohawk hairstyle.

On July 6, 2005, Jolie adopted a six-month-old girl from Ethiopia, Zahara Marley Jolie-Pitt (originally Zahara Marley Jolie), who was orphaned by AIDS. Zahara was born on January 8, 2005 as Tena Adam.[59] Jolie picked her up at a Wide Horizons For Children orphanage in Addis Ababa. Shortly after they returned to the United States Zahara had to spend time in a hospital for dehydration and malnutrition. Jolie stated that "she was six months and not nine pounds. Her skin, you could squeeze it, it stuck together."[42] Zahara's name means "flower" in Swahili, the second name "Marley" comes from late Jamaican reggae superstar Bob Marley.[57]


Jolie and Pitt in Pune, India October 2006Brad Pitt was reportedly present when Jolie signed the adoption papers and collected her daughter;[42] later Jolie indicated that she and Pitt made the decision to adopt Zahara together.[60] In December 2005 it was confirmed that Pitt was seeking to legally adopt Jolie's two children, and on January 19, 2006, a judge in California approved this request. The children's legal surnames were formally changed to "Jolie-Pitt".[61]

On May 27, 2006, Jolie gave birth to a daughter named Shiloh Nouvel Jolie-Pitt in Swakopmund, Namibia by a scheduled caesarean section. Shiloh, according to a long-standing translation from the Bible, has come to mean "the peaceful one".[57] Pitt confirmed that their newly-born daughter will have a Namibian passport,[62] and Jolie decided to offer the first pictures of Shiloh through the distributor Getty Images herself, rather than allowing paparazzi to make these extremely valuable snapshots. People paid more than $4.1 million for the North American rights, while British magazine Hello! obtained the international rights for roughly $3.5 million; the total rights sale earned up to $10 million worldwide – the most expensive celebrity image of all time.[63] All profits were donated to an undisclosed charity by Jolie and Pitt. On July 26, 2006 Madame Tussauds in New York unveiled a wax figure of two-month-old Shiloh; it was the first infant re-created in wax by Madame Tussauds.[64]

On March 15, 2007, Jolie adopted a three-year-old boy from Vietnam, Pax Thien Jolie-Pitt, who was born on November 29, 2003 and abandoned at birth at a local hospital, where he was initially named Pham Quang Sang.[65] Jolie collected the boy from the Tam Binh orphanage in Ho Chi Minh City.[66] His new name is a combination of the Latin word for "peace" and the Vietnamese word for "sky" or "heaven."[57] Jolie revealed that his first name, Pax, was suggested by her mother