Children of Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt drop their father's surname

Background of the separation

The parents' separation had been foreshadowed for years. Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt met in 2005 on the set of the action film Mr. and Mrs. Smith and married in 2014. The marriage produced three biological children: Shiloh, born in 2006 in Namibia, as well as the twins Vivienne and Knox, who are now also of legal age. In addition, there were Jolie's three adopted sons Maddox, Pax, and Zahara, whom Pitt had also taken on as a father figure after the wedding.

The marriage broke down in 2016 when Jolie filed for divorce. In the divorce petition, Jolie had also accused her then-husband of having physically assaulted her and their children in an incident. The police opened an investigation but closed the case without bringing charges. This was followed by years of disputes over custody and financial arrangements, which were only gradually settled.

Family constellation and new partnership

While Angelina Jolie has, by her own account, focused on her family since the separation and has not entered into a new relationship, Brad Pitt has been in a relationship with Geneva-born jewelry designer Ines de Ramón since 2022. The 33-year-old is thus around 29 years younger than the actor. The two have been seen together in public repeatedly in recent years.

The name changes come at a time when the relationship between Pitt and his eldest children is described as strained. An insider attributed to the actor's circle told TMZ, Jolie betreibe eine andauernde Kampagne, um die Kinder gegen ihren Vater aufzubringen. Jolie herself has not publicly commented on the allegations to date.

Procedural course and possible dates

Legally, a name change in California is comparatively straightforward for adult applicants, provided there is no objection. Since the children are already of legal age, parental consent is not fundamentally required. The procedure generally takes place in court and not in public, which is why only few details about the specific course of events are currently known.

Observers interpret the name changes as a clear signal within the estranged family. While some commentators see the steps as an expression of the young adults' independence, others see them as a further escalation of the tensions that have persisted for years between the parents. The case is considered one of Hollywood's most widely followed family dramas.

For Brad Pitt, who turns 62 this year, the name changes mark another blow in a long series of private setbacks. Professionally, too, the actor most recently appeared in a series of major film productions, while Jolie has increasingly focused on her humanitarian work and directorial projects.

Reactions and assessments

The children, known in the media for years as the Jolie-Pitt siblings, are thus increasingly stepping into the public eye with independent public profiles. According to media reports, several of them are now pursuing studies or taking their first professional steps away from the Hollywood scene.

The September hearings are considered the next important date in the ongoing developments. Should the judges approve the name changes, the name Pitt would disappear from the family's official register – at least for three of the six children. No such step has yet been reported for the twins Vivienne and Knox or for Pax.

Regardless of the outcome of the proceedings, the public debate about the parents' relationship and the treatment of their shared children is likely to continue. Hollywood observers see the case as emblematic of the often complicated intermingling of private and public life in the US entertainment industry's star system.

The reports about the name changes were first picked up by US media and have since been taken up by international agencies, including the APA, on whose report this article is based. The original publication is dated July 14, 2026.

Overall, it is becoming apparent that the formal name changes mark the provisional endpoint of a long-standing separation dynamic. Whether and how the relationship between Pitt and his older children will develop in the future remains open.

The coming weeks leading up to the September hearings are likely to show whether objections to the name changes will be raised by the father or third parties. Should this not happen, the path would be clear for the new names to take legal effect.