Brad Pitt's children Zahara and Maddox have officially filed petitions to drop their father's surname, publishing newspaper advertisements in the Los Angeles Daily Journal as required by California law. The notices, obtained by the Daily Mail, confirm that Zahara Marley Jolie-Pitt seeks to become Zahara Marley Jolie, while Maddox Chivan Jolie-Pitt wants to be known as Maddox Chivan Jolie. Both petitions were published in June and July 2026, respectively, with final hearings scheduled for September 24 and September 14.
Background of the Jolie-Pitt family
Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt, once Hollywood's most famous couple, met in 2003 on the set of Mr. & Mrs. Smith and married in 2014 at Château Miraval in France. They raised six children together: Maddox (adopted from Cambodia in 2002), Pax (adopted from Vietnam in 2007), Zahara (adopted from Ethiopia in 2005), Shiloh (biological), and twins Vivienne and Knox (biological). After their separation in 2016, the children have gradually distanced themselves from Brad.
Other children who changed their name
Shiloh, now 20, legally petitioned to remove Pitt from her name on her 18th birthday in 2024, hiring her own lawyer and paying for the process herself, according to Entertainment Tonight. Pax, 22, has not filed a legal name change but has been publicly critical of his father, calling him a 'world-class a******' in a Father's Day post. Vivienne, 18, has informally dropped Pitt, credited as Vivienne Jolie in her work as a production assistant on the Broadway musical The Outsiders. Knox, 17, also appears to have informally dropped Pitt, though no legal filing is evident.
Reason for the name changes
The distancing stems from Angelina Jolie's 2016 divorce filing, which cited irreconcilable differences and alleged physical abuse by Brad Pitt toward her and the children. According to reports, Angelina claimed Brad choked one child and struck another in the face during a private jet incident. The FBI and Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services investigated, finding injuries on Angelina's back, neck, and hand. Brad denied the allegations, and no criminal charges were filed.
