Four of Brad Pitt’s six children have now distanced themselves from his surname, and Maddox just made his move the most official

Maddox Jolie-Pitt, the eldest son of Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt, has filed legal paperwork to officially drop “Pitt” from his surname, opting to go by Maddox Chivan Jolie. As reported by TMZ, the filing marks the most formal step any of the children have taken to date in distancing themselves from their father’s name.

The move follows an earlier professional signal. In February, Maddox was credited as “Maddox Jolie” in the credits for Angelina’s film Couture, where he served as an assistant director. The legal petition takes that informal preference to a different level entirely.

He is not alone among his siblings. Shiloh legally changed her name after filing a petition on her 18th birthday in May 2024, a judge granted the request in August of that year. Zahara informally dropped the name when she introduced herself as Zahara Marley Jolie upon joining her sorority at Spelman College, and Vivienne removed “Pitt” from the playbill for a Broadway production she worked on. That makes four of the six children who have now taken some form of action to remove their father’s surname.

The estrangement has been playing out since the 2016 split

Jolie filed for divorce in 2016, and the proceedings took eight years to fully resolve, concluding with a settlement in December 2024. Amid the prolonged legal battle, reports emerged that Brad did not reach out to Zahara for her college graduation from Spelman, a detail that underlined how strained those relationships had become. The divorce finalization drew widespread attention online, with many noting the unusually long timeline of the proceedings, similar to what Daniel Radcliffe and his Harry Potter costars described when they called watching major life chapters close “surreal.”

In California, a legal name change requires filing a petition with the court, paying a filing fee, and publishing a public notice in a newspaper to allow for any objections. A hearing may or may not be required depending on the court. If the petition is approved, the petitioner receives a signed court decree, which is then used to update government-issued documents including a birth certificate, passport, and driver’s license. The full process typically takes up to three months.

Maddox is an adult, which makes approval straightforward under California law. The petition has been filed; a ruling is expected in the coming weeks. Hollywood family dynamics have increasingly played out in public legal filings, a pattern not limited to any one household, as seen in the deal Chris Hemsworth made with his daughter to get her back on the Avengers: Doomsday set after she refused to continue filming.