Brad Pitt's children are dropping their dad's surname - here's why I did the same

What the report says

BBC World News reported on the personal and legal reasons some adults choose to stop using a parent’s surname, using the recent actions of Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie’s children as a prominent example. According to media reports cited by the BBC, Zahara Marley Jolie-Pitt, 21, and Maddox Chivan Jolie-Pitt, 24, filed paperwork in April to remove Pitt’s surname. In June and July, they fulfilled a California legal requirement to publish notice of the intended change in a local newspaper for four weeks, with court hearings expected in September.

The BBC placed those developments alongside the story of Hannah Leonard-Ripley, a 25-year-old in California who said she had long used her mother’s maiden name informally before legally changing her surname last month after marriage. Hannah told the BBC she had little relationship with her father after her parents divorced when she was young, and chose a name combining her mother’s maiden name with her husband’s surname. She said the process took about three months and cost several hundred dollars.

The article noted that other Jolie-Pitt children have also used or sought names without Pitt’s surname, including Shiloh, who changed her surname to Jolie in 2024. Jolie and Pitt married in 2014 and Jolie filed for divorce in 2016. A source close to Pitt told the BBC he was saddened by how family matters had developed but respected his children’s choices.

Experts quoted by the BBC said surnames can be closely tied to identity, family connection and estrangement. The report also outlined name-change procedures in the UK, noting that costs, consent rules for minors and administrative updates can make the process burdensome.