Five of Brad Pitt's six children move to drop his surname

Five of Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie's six children have initiated legal proceedings to remove the actor's surname, according to court filings and public notices published in California.

Zahara, 21, and Maddox, 24, filed their name-change petitions this month. Zahara published her legal notice in the Los Angeles Daily Journal on July 9, while Maddox did so on July 7. Both are required to publish their petitions publicly for four consecutive weeks as part of California's name-change process before the changes can be finalized.

The two join their siblings Shiloh, 20, who initiated the process in 2024, and twins Knox and Vivienne, 18, who reached adulthood this week and have indicated they do not publicly use their father's surname. Pax, 22, remains the only one of the six children who has not pursued removing the Pitt name.

All six children are biological or adopted offspring of Pitt and Jolie. Three were adopted—Maddox, Pax, and Zahara—while three are biological: Shiloh and the twins Knox and Vivienne. The family resides in the United States.

In California, the name-change process involves specific legal steps but is neither expensive nor heavily restricted. The mandatory publication requirement allows the public to be notified of the petition for four consecutive weeks before a legal name change can be granted.

Zahara was the first to publicly distance herself from her father's surname. In 2022, she presented herself without the Pitt name at an event for Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, a university organization in the United States for women.

The family's separation has been marked by what sources describe as painful events, and the estrangement appears to offer little prospect for reconciliation.