The eldest son of Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt is making a big legal move. Maddox Jolie-Pitt, now 24 years old, has officially asked a court to remove his father’s famous last name.
According to court documents obtained by TMZ and confirmed by multiple news outlets including USA TODAY and People, Maddox filed the paperwork on April 17, 2026. He wants to change his full name from Maddox Chivan Jolie-Pitt to simply Maddox Chivan Jolie. On the legal forms, he listed the reason for this request as “personal.”
A representative for Brad Pitt told People magazine they would not comment on the filing. Representatives for Angelina Jolie have also stayed silent on the matter.
The Name Change Was Already Happening in Public
Fans saw this coming months before the legal papers were signed. Back in February 2026, Maddox worked as an assistant director on his mother’s French movie Couture. When the film played in theaters on February 18, 2026, the end credits listed his name as Maddox Jolie.
This was a clear break from his past work. In 2024, Maddox worked as a production assistant on the Netflix movie Maria, where he helped tell the story of opera singer Maria Callas. In those credits, he was still listed as Maddox Jolie-Pitt.
The switch did not go unnoticed by viewers. Social media users quickly shared screenshots of the new credit listing, and many saw it as a public signal of where he stands with his father.
Maddox Is the Fourth Sibling to Drop the Pitt Name
Maddox is not alone in this decision. He is now the fourth of Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie‘s six children to step away from the Pitt surname, either publicly or legally.
Shiloh Jolie-Pitt was the first to take legal action. On her 18th birthday in May 2024, she filed her own petition with a Los Angeles court to drop “Pitt” from her name. A judge approved her request three months later. Her legal name is now Shiloh Nouvel Jolie.
Zahara Jolie-Pitt also made the change in her daily life. When she joined the Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority at college in 2023, she was introduced as Zahara Marley Jolie. She has not used the Pitt name publicly since.
Vivienne Jolie-Pitt, one of the twins, dropped the Pitt name in her professional work as well. When she helped her mother produce the Broadway musical The Outsiders, the Playbill listed her as Vivienne Jolie.
Only the middle child, Pax, and twin Knox have continued to use Jolie-Pitt in public records, though Pax has kept a very low profile in recent years.
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A Long History Behind the Jolie-Pitt Name
The Jolie-Pitt name was created almost 20 years ago. Angelina Jolie adopted Maddox from Cambodia in 2002 as a single mother. She later adopted Zahara from Ethiopia in 2005.
Brad Pitt started dating Angelina in 2005, and by the end of that year, he began the legal process to adopt both Maddox and Zahara. In January 2006, a judge approved a name-change petition that officially turned their last names into Jolie-Pitt.
The couple married in 2014 but split in 2016 after a reported incident on a private plane. Their long and messy divorce was finally finished in December 2024 after years of fighting over their children and their French winery, Chateau Miraval.
The court has not yet approved Maddox’s request. A judge will need to sign off on the change before his name becomes legally Maddox Chivan Jolie.
The remaining legal battle between the parents continues over the winery, but the name changes among the children show where their loyalties lie nearly 10 years after the separation.
For more celebrity news and updates on Angelina Jolie, Brad Pitt, and their family, keep reading VvipTimes.
