Hollywood star Brad Pitt's family saga has returned to the spotlight after another of his children moved to remove "Pitt" from their surname. Zahara Marley Jolie, 21, recently became the third of Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie's six children to legally drop their father's famous surname. A California judge approved Zahara's request on September 28, officially changing her name from Zahara Marley Jolie-Pitt to Zahara Marley Jolie.
The development follows years of strained relations within the family after Jolie filed for divorce from Pitt in 2016. Their divorce was eventually finalised in December 2024 after a lengthy legal battle. The complicated family history and the impact of their prolonged divorce on their children have fuelled public discussion.
Shiloh was the first of their children to legally remove "Pitt" from her name after turning 18 in 2024. Maddox subsequently dropped the surname, while their younger sister Vivienne has also filed a petition seeking to become Vivienne Marcheline Jolie. Her court hearing is scheduled for November.
Pitt and Jolie share six children: Maddox, Pax, Zahara, Shiloh, Knox and Vivienne. As of the latest reports, Pax and Knox have not publicly completed the same legal process, although there have been reports of the children increasingly using their mother's surname.
The repeated removal of Pitt's name has once again placed the former "Brangelina" family under the celebrity spotlight, nearly a decade after their highly publicised split. While the name "Pitt" remains one of Hollywood's most recognisable surnames, several of the actor's children are now choosing to publicly identify with their mother's family name.
In Zahara's case, her court petition did not publicly state a reason for the name change. The reasons behind each child's decision are personal and should not automatically be attributed to either parent. The development has sparked interest in the family's dynamics and the children's future.
The name change by Zahara Marley Jolie brings to three the number of Brad Pitt's children who have dropped his surname. The family's complicated history continues to attract public attention, with many following the developments in the lives of the former Hollywood power couple.
Key points
- Zahara Marley Jolie, 21, is the third of Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie's six children to legally drop their father's surname.
- The development follows years of strained relations within the family after Jolie filed for divorce from Pitt in 2016.
- The reasons behind each child's decision to drop Pitt's surname are personal and should not automatically be attributed to either parent.
