Maddox Jolie-Pitt has reportedly taken a major step toward legally removing Brad Pitt’s surname from his name. On Thursday, May 28, The Daily Mail reported that the 24-year-old son of Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt filed official paperwork to change his legal name to Maddox Chivan Jolie. In the filing, he reportedly listed the reason for the change as “personal.”
The move follows a pattern that has been developing for some time. Earlier this year, Maddox was already using Jolie professionally, including in the credits for Angelina Jolie’s film Couture, where he was listed simply as Maddox Jolie. The new legal filing makes that change official and suggests a more permanent break from the Pitt surname.
Maddox is not the only one of the former couple’s children to distance themselves from Brad Pitt’s last name. Shiloh was the first to seek a legal name change, filing on her 18th birthday. Zahara has also publicly introduced herself as Zahara Marley Jolie, including during her involvement with her Spelman College sorority in 2024. Pax, meanwhile, has also dropped the Pitt name informally. So far, the only children of Jolie and Pitt who still appear to retain “Pitt” in their names are the twins Knox and Vivienne, both of whom are currently 17.
Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt’s separation has been one of Hollywood’s most closely watched legal and personal disputes. Jolie filed for divorce in 2016, and the process stretched on for years before being finalized in 2024. Reports surrounding the split included allegations of violence during a private flight, claims that Jolie took seriously and that appear to have had a lasting impact on the family. Maddox even testified against his father, adding to the sense that the relationship between Pitt and at least some of his children has remained deeply strained.
For Maddox, the name change is more than a symbolic gesture. It reflects a family dynamic in which he has already been identifying publicly with his mother’s surname and no longer appears interested in being associated with Pitt’s. While some people keep a parent’s last name for convenience or to stay aligned with siblings, Maddox’s situation appears different, given the history between him and his father and the broader shift among the Jolie children.
The filing marks another chapter in the slow but unmistakable separation of Angelina Jolie’s children from Brad Pitt’s surname. For Maddox, the decision seems to represent a personal choice and, perhaps, a final step in defining his identity on his own terms.
