Celebrity Baby Names: Jolie-Pitt Twins

Well, OBV we have to talk about the new baby twins of Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt. What do you think of the names? The boy is Knox Leon, and the girl is Vivienne Marcheline.

Boy names in their family: Maddox, Pax, and Knox.
Girl names in their family: Zahara, Shiloh, and Vivienne.

37 thoughts on “Celebrity Baby Names: Jolie-Pitt Twins

  1. Kimberly

    I think Vivienne is beautiful, but I don’t think it really fits with Zahara and Shiloh. Not too crazy about the whole end in x thing with the boys, but I do like the name Knox.

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  2. Athos

    I love Vivienne, but it really doesn’t “go” does it?

    All the others do seem to match, although the -x is thing is a bit silly.

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  3. brooke

    I like the names and the family connections – Marcheline is Angelina’s late mother’s name and Knox is Brad’s maternal grandfather’s middle name.

    Vivi is a cute nickname that goes nicely with Zahara and Shiloh. I quite like Knox, strong, handsome, and unique. They sure do have a thing for X names!

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  4. Erica

    That “boy’s names all end in x” thing is going to cause them so trouble if they keep having/adopting boys. I mean, how many “ends in x” names can there be?

    Vivienne makes me think of the YaYa Siterhood. I like Vivi for a nickname.

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  5. K in the Mirror

    Pax, Maddox, and Knox!

    Snap, Krackle, and Pop!

    It’s a little too cute and matchy for me. Especially since I think the girls’ names don’t go with each other very well. I think it’s fine to have a certain style, or no style at all in naming, but when some seem to go together and some don’t, it looks weird.

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  6. Susan

    I’m not at all fond of “Knox.” It brings to mind “school of hard knocks” and “Fort Knox” and “Knox Gelatin.” It also seems almost a tongue twister with the other boys’ names, especially Pax (which is a name I DO like). I can see introducing my sons as “Pax and Knax … I mean Pox and Knox!”

    I think “Vivienne” is great, and I wonder why it hasn’t been on my personal list of favorites.

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  7. Clarabella

    I’m just going to be an echo here and say I too think the “ending in x” thing is unfortunate. Although I (sort of) like all the boys’ names separately, I don’t like them together at all. I don’t know how I feel about the name Knox. On paper, I think it looks lovely, but out loud, it sounds harsh and too abrasive for a baby.
    However, I am in love with the name Vivienne and will echo again the love for Vivi, which I hope they call her. Vivi is so good for a child and close friends-nickname. And Vivienne is so sophisticated and classy for use as an adult.
    I did just consider that if the Jolie-Pitts are referring to their kids in birth order, the exes will be broken up a bit: Maddox, Pax, Zahara, Shiloh, Knox, and Vivienne.

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  8. Nowheymama

    Oh, I like the idea of “Vivi” for a nickname! Then her name won’t stand out as being so ultra-feminine next to the other girls’ names. Like the Jolie-Pitts give a high flying what I think.

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  9. Amy

    I heard Vivienne and I thought it fit quite nicely actually, they all have a nice sound together and maybe it’s a bit more traditional than Zahara but that also distinguishes the name a bit more rather than having it fade with the rest. All the names give cute nicknames: Z, Shi, Vi (Vivi maybe).

    As for Knox, it also fits so well with Maddox and Pax but I’m afraid Maddox and Knox sound too similar… But they call Maddox Mad so maybe it’s not a big deal.

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  10. jerseygirl89

    I have to admit that I don’t like Knox and I’m not a huge fan of Vivienne, especially since they don’t seem to go together (I love matchy matchy twin names) and Vivienne doesn’t go with Zahara (which I like) and Shiloh (which is okay). But compared to some celebrity baby names, they’re not bad.

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  11. Mairzy

    I love Knox, mostly because my best friend married a man named Knox and he’s a great guy. It is possible to overdo a letter, though.

    Help me out here. Is Vivienne pronounced much the same way as Vivian? My reaction is the opposite from what I thought of Knox: I don’t like Vivienne much on its own, but I like it with the other girls’ names.

    Angelina is such a naming whiz.

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  12. shoeaddict

    Vivienne is not pronounced the exact same way as Vivian. Well, to me it isn’t. I am not sure how they are pronouncing it. Vivienne is on my favorite girl names list but hubby doesn’t like it.

    I thought of Fort Knox, too when I saw Knox. I don’t hate the name but I have never heard of it for one before. Leon should not be pronounced the American LEE-on way, in my opinion. I have not heard how they pronounce it.

    I agree that more boys names that end in -x will be hard. But why nothing to tie the girls together? Zahara and Vivi (LOVE this nickname) have “M” middle names- Marley and Marcheline but I am doubting that is on purpose.

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  13. susie

    “Knox in socks in box on fox!”

    Yes, I have a 2-year-old and I read Fox in Socks at least once a day.

    They could still have more boys and name them Alex and Max. Not that I would recommend it.

    The girl’s name is pretty, but I do not care for Vivi as a nickname. It brings to mind vivisection (sorry).

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  14. Sara

    I forget/never paid much attention, but did they choose the names for their adopted children, or did they use the names the kids already had?

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  15. ZestyJenny

    OH MY GAAAAHHHHHD!

    I hadn’t heard about this until I just clicked over here.

    There goes our #1 girl name. F*ck.

    Vivian has been my favorite girl name since about 10 yrs ago when I read the Ya Ya Sisterhood. G*D D*AMMIT! FRICKIN FRACKIN BRANGELINA!

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  16. brooke

    zestyjenny – I am not pregnant, so I can not know how you feel, but I had to respond because your frustration is so apparent.

    I HONESTLY think, and if you knew me IRL, brutal honesty is a character flaw, that Vivienne is a name that is still up for grabs for the general public. Unlike Shiloh, a name that was virtually unheard of before Brangelina, Vivienne, is an underused classic that people will not automatically associate with celebrities. I TRUELY think that you are safe using Vivienne. It’s kind of like Violet, sure everyone knows Ben and Jenn named there little one this, but when I see children name Violet, I NEVER think of Violet Afleck. All I think is that Violet is a pretty flora name that is a hip alternative to Lily.

    Your emotions are raw right now, but I hope this helps.

    Best wishes!

    Reply
  17. Laura

    I am glad to hear that Knox is named after Brad’s grandfather. My first assumption was that they made up that name for the x factor. On another note, I thought these babies were both supposed to be girls?

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  18. Anonymous

    shoeaddict

    I’ve seen Leon spelled Léon which would make it lay-AWN. That would fit better with Marcheline, but who knows, it might take a while until we can be sure :-)

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  19. Swistle

    ZestyJenny- I agree with everyone who says the name is still up for grabs. The Baby Name Wizard says that celebrity baby names don’t have much effect on the population’s naming practices: people name after the CELEBRITIES (the names Charlize and Scarlett, for example), but not for their babies (Homer and Apple). Unfortunately, I guess for the sake of truthiness I have to say that The Baby Name Wizards lists Angelina Jolie as a trendsetting exception. STILL: the name Vivian/Vivienne is not distinctive enough to “belong” to Angelina Jolie the way the name Maddox does. And if it comes to that: Rosie O’Donnell used it before Angelina anyway.

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  20. Frema

    Good question, Sara! I assumed Angelina “let” the children keep the names they already had. I never considered that she renamed them. Does anybody know the answer?

    To comment on the names, I think Knox is pretty bad, but Vivienne is nice. Though I do pronounce it differently than Vivian.

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  21. Swistle

    Sara- I can’t remember what she did about the middle names, but she renamed all the adopted kids for their first names. So she chose the name Maddox and the name Pax and the name Zahara.

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  22. Anonymous

    Overall I’m disappointed, frankly. I expected more from Angelina. The names are okay but totally don’t go together (which is vital with twins, IMHO), neither do they mesh well with the other kids names, despite the X in Knox. So, meh. Don’t hate them, don’t love them, don’t find them that interesting as names.

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  23. Joceline

    The girls’ names are all great, but Maddox, Pax, and Knox make me think “Fox in socks, Knox and Pax, fox in socks on box with Knox!” Just silly and Seuss-like.

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  24. ZestyJenny

    Thank you, Brooke and Swistle, for your calming messages. I am much more sane about it today. Sorry about all the swearing! Jeez. Pregnant lady craziness.

    As I have stated on this blog before, I have a bit of a chip on my shoulder about the commonness of my own name. So while I don’t plan to name my kid anything too wacky, I wanted it’s name to be different. I don’t think Brangelina ruins it just because they picked it, it’s more like I worry that my Viv would end up not original anymore because of all the people who WOULD pick it because they did.

    I’ll keep it as a candidate, but I am officially on the look out for a new fave. That’s fun anyway, right? :)

    (Now I just have to watch out for any other more pregnant than me celebs who might steel my next one!)

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  25. Meegan

    Knox, on its own, is ok. But “Knox Pitt” is rough. And is Leon “LEE-on” or “Lee-OHN”? Huh. Don’t love it, but I guess it works with the other “X” boys.

    Love Vivienne. It’s beautiful. And somehow it works ok with Shiloh, although Zahara is hard to “match”.

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  26. TinaNZ

    Seconding meegan, I thought Knox was a bit ‘meh’ but ok, until I thought of ‘Knox Pitt’. Which led me to… ‘Pax Pitt’, omg.

    I read today that Vivienne is to be pronounced with the stress on the last syllable. Which is fine, and very pretty, but awfully hard to enforce.

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  27. Heather

    Haha well the kids aren’t “just” Pitt, they’re Jolie-Pitt, so Pax Jolie-Pitt sounds a bit better than Pax Pitt lol. I like Vivienne Marcheline (with the French pronounciation of Vih-vee-EN) and like the nod to Brad’s grandpa with Knox…but yeah, it makes me think gelatin too ;-) I like Léon better than Leee-on too.

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  28. Anonymous

    Late comment… Their kids all seem to have a name that reflects their country of origin or where they were born. Which is nice. But makes it hard for all the kids’ names to go together.

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  29. Sassy

    I pray ‘Vivi’ doesn’t become a trend! Our daughter is Vivianne (pronounced Vivi-Anne). She was named for ‘Viviane’ from the ‘Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya sisterhood’. The name Viviane is French from Arthurian times. Granted we added an extra ‘ne’ so people would pronounce it correctly (didn’t work). We thought it was a nice twist from Vivien, Vivian and Vivienne. All pronounced the same (unless you have a French accent). Anyhow she is 6 and we call her Vivi.
    I would hate to see the name become nothing more than “Classic Fad” like Isabella, Olivia, Emily, Sophia….the list goes on. We are afraid if it does then when we call our kid on the playground we might cause a stampede!!!

    Reply

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