Maddox Jolie-Pitt, the 24-year-old eldest son of Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt, has filed court papers requesting a legal name change, dropping “Pitt” from his surname to become Maddox Chivan Jolie, as reported by TMZ.
He is not the first of his siblings to move away from the Pitt name. His sister Shiloh completed a legal name change the previous year, Zahara has informally stopped using the surname, and Vivienne had it removed from her credit in the Broadway production she worked on as a producer’s assistant.
The picture that is emerging is one of a family quietly, and collectively, drawing a line.
Why Maddox Jolie-Pitt is dropping the Pitt name
The reason listed in the court filing is simply “personal.” No further explanation was provided, and Maddox has not made a public statement.
The court petition has not yet been granted, though name-change requests of this nature are rarely contested.
Maddox has been operating under his mother’s surname professionally for some time. He served as an assistant director on Angelina’s recent film Couture, where he is credited as “Maddox Jolie.”
The legal filing formalises what has already been his working identity for at least the past year.
He is 24, which means Brad Pitt has no parental authority over the petition and no legal standing to challenge it. The process requires no consent from his father.
Whether Pitt will publicly acknowledge or respond to the filing has not been confirmed.
How the Jolie-Pitt family name has changed
The Jolie-Pitt children have been, one by one, stepping away from the shared surname their parents gave them.
Of the six children Angelina and Brad share, more than half have now either legally dropped or informally distanced themselves from “Pitt.”
The couple’s separation in 2016 launched one of Hollywood’s most protracted custody battles, and their ongoing legal dispute over the Chateau Miraval winery in France has kept the relationship volatile and public, with no resolution yet in sight.
Maddox, who was born in Cambodia in 2001 and adopted by Angelina in 2002 when he was seven months old, has previously given testimony in the custody proceedings and is understood to have had a strained relationship with his father for several years.
Becoming Maddox Chivan Jolie would mean his name reflects only the parent he has remained close to.
His middle name, Chivan, is Cambodian in origin, a nod to the country of his birth and the heritage Angelina has long been openly vocal about celebrating.
What happens next for Maddox
A court date for the hearing has not been announced. Once the petition is granted, the name change is legally final and cannot be reversed without a further court order.
Given Maddox’s age and the uncomplicated nature of the filing, the process is expected to move without issue.
If approved, Maddox will become the third of the Jolie-Pitt children to formally and legally shed the surname, cementing a slow but very public estrangement from Brad Pitt that has unfolded across several years and across several of his children’s lives.
