Brad Pitt’s eldest son, Maddox Chivan Jolie-Pitt, filed court paperwork on May 28, 2026, to remove “Pitt” from his legal name, becoming the latest of his children with Angelina Jolie to publicly distance himself from the famous surname. The 24-year-old is seeking to change his name to Maddox Chivan Jolie, with the request still awaiting judicial approval.
A source close to the actor revealed that the latest development has left the “F1” star devastated. Despite the mounting rejections, the insider noted that Pitt “still does hope and keeps the door open to eventual reconciliation, hopefully with all of them, but it is their decision. He has no power and he can’t force them.”
The same source added that Pitt’s “biggest fear is to be permanently disconnected from the kids because he does want to find a way to make things right.”
Maddox’s Quiet Professional Shift
The legal filing formalizes what Maddox had already been doing in his professional life. He removed his father’s last name in the credits for his work on the Jolie-led film “Couture,” in which he served as an assistant director. His updated name was featured in the film’s production notes, distributed to journalists at the drama’s premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival in September 2025.
Born on Aug. 5, 2001, Maddox was adopted by Jolie from an orphanage in Battambang, Cambodia, when she was 26 and still married to Billy Bob Thornton, though she raised Maddox as a single mother after their divorce later that year. Pitt later adopted Maddox after he and Jolie began their relationship. Maddox went on to serve as executive producer on Jolie’s 2017 film “First They Killed My Father,” the adaptation of Cambodian-American activist and author Loung Ung’s memoir about the Cambodian genocide. He later studied biochemistry at South Korea’s Yonsei University.
A Pattern Years in the Making
Given the recent precedent set by his sister Shiloh, it’s likely only a matter of time before a judge signs off. At least five of Pitt’s children have now publicly stepped away from their father’s surname in either legal filings, professional credits, or personal introductions — a striking pattern that has emerged in the years since Pitt and Jolie split in 2016.
Shiloh, born Shiloh Nouvel Jolie-Pitt, filed to legally drop “Pitt” from her surname days after her 18th birthday in May 2024. Her request was granted that August, and she has gone by Shiloh Jolie ever since.
That same month, her sister Vivienne was credited as “Vivienne Jolie” in the Playbill for the Tony Award-winning Broadway musical “The Outsiders,” on which she worked alongside her mother as a producer’s assistant.
Zahara, meanwhile, has been quietly using the name Zahara Marley Jolie since 2023, when she introduced herself that way after joining the Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority at Spelman College. When she walked across the stage in May to accept her diploma, she was announced with the shortened name. Pitt was not present at the ceremony and did not reach out to Zahara beforehand or attempt to secure a ticket to attend.
The pattern has since extended to Knox, the younger of the twins. He was listed as “Knox Jolie” — dropping “Pitt” — on his diploma at his high school graduation from Fusion Academy in Los Angeles earlier this month, with Jolie and siblings Pax, Zahara, and Vivienne present. Pitt did not attend. Knox turns 18 on July 12, at which point he will be eligible under California law to file a legal name-change petition without parental consent, should he choose to do so.
Pitt and Jolie share six children in total: Maddox, 24, Pax, 22, Zahara, 21, Shiloh, 20, and 17-year-old twins Knox and Vivienne.
Pitt Holds Out Hope for Reconciliation
Pitt has openly reflected on his shortcomings as a father before. In a May 2017 interview, the actor confessed that his approach to parenting had been shaped by an outdated model he was still unlearning. “I grew up with a Father-knows-best/war mentality — the father is all-powerful, super strong — instead of really knowing the man and his own self-doubt and struggles,” he said at the time. “And it’s hit me smack in the face with our divorce: I gotta be more. I gotta be more for them. I have to show them. And I haven’t been great at it.”
Interestingly, name changes are nothing new in this family. Jolie herself — born Angelina Jolie Voight — dropped her father Jon Voight’s surname early in her career amid their own well-publicized estrangement. Pitt, whose legal name is William Bradley Pitt, ditched his first name when he arrived in Hollywood.
For now, the divide between Pitt and his children appears to be widening rather than healing — a saga that began nearly a decade ago