Maddox Choses to Drop the Pitt Last Name, Requests to Be Known by Jolie Name
Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt’s son, Maddox Jolie-Pitt, is seeking to legally remove Pitt from his last name.
Maddox, now 24, has filed paperwork to eliminate his father’s surname, as reported by Us Weekly on Thursday, May 28.
If approved, Maddox will officially go by Maddox Chivan Jolie, with Chivan being his middle name.
Us has reached out to representatives for Pitt for a statement.
Just hours before the news broke, it was reported that Pitt, 62, achieved a significant win in his ongoing legal dispute with Jolie, 50, over their Château Miraval winery. A judge partly granted Pitt’s motion to “compel” former Stoli general counsel Todd Culyba for additional deposition.
“It’s not a surprise this news was released shortly after Brad had a significant evidentiary victory in the Miraval case,” a source informed Us regarding Maddox’s petition.
In February, Maddox omitted Pitt from his name in the credits of the film Couture, a project he collaborated on with his mother. In the credits, he was simply identified as Maddox Jolie.
Jolie and Pitt were married from 2014 until 2019 and have faced ongoing legal disputes since their separation in 2016.
During their relationship, the couple welcomed children Pax, 22, Zahara, 21, Shiloh, 20, and twins Vivienne and Knox, 17. Jolie adopted Maddox prior to her relationship with Pitt, but the Fight Club star later became his legal father.
While the children initially shared the surname Jolie-Pitt, several of Maddox’s siblings have chosen to drop the Pitt surname following their parents’ split.
In June 2024, Zahara went by Zahara Marley Jolie when she joined the Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority.
The previous month, sister Vivienne was credited as Vivienne Jolie in the Playbill for The Outsiders.
Similarly, Shiloh legally filed to drop Pitt’s surname on her 18th birthday, with the request granted in 2024.
“[Shiloh] hired her own lawyer and funded it independently,” a source exclusively told Us Weekly in June 2024.
A second insider revealed to Us that Pitt was “devastated by this choice.” The source added, “For him, it signifies more than just a name change—it’s a reflection of a deeper estrangement that has been developing for years.”
Pitt has previously reflected on his parenting shortcomings during a 2017 interview with GQ.
“I grew up with a father-knows-best/war mentality … instead of understanding the man and his own self-doubt and challenges. This reality hit me hard during our divorce: I need to be more. I need to demonstrate more for them. And I haven’t excelled in that regard,” he expressed.
Pitt further shared his commitment to prioritizing family, noting, “People on their deathbeds don’t reminisce about their achievements or awards. They reflect on their loved ones or their regrets.”
