Zahara Jolie-Pitt Legally Drops Father's Last Name

Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt’s daughter Zahara has officially dropped her famous father’s last name. A Los Angeles judge granted the 21-year-old’s petition to legally change her name from Zahara Marley Jolie-Pitt to Zahara Marley Jolie.

“There being no objections, the petition for change of name is granted,” the Sept. 28 minute order states. The order continues, “The Petitioner’s name is changed from Zahara Marley Jolie-Pitt to Zahara Marley Jolie.” Zahara’s attorney, Peter Kenneth Levine, appeared remotely for Monday morning’s hearing, and Judge Virginia Keeny presided over the hearing at Los Angeles Superior Court’s Stanley Mosk Courthouse.

The ruling comes more than two months after Zahara and her brother Maddox had taken out newspaper advertisements announcing their respective petitions to legally drop “Pitt” from their surnames. The Spelman College graduate published notices of her proposed name change in the Los Angeles Daily Journal on June 16, June 23, June 30, and July 7. These notices provided an opportunity for anyone opposing the change to submit a written objection ahead of Monday’s hearing.

Zahara had already stopped publicly using her father’s last name prior to making the change official. In May, she was introduced as Zahara Marley Jolie while accepting her diploma at Spelman College. Previously, in November 2023, she introduced herself by the same name during her Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority induction ceremony.

Zahara is not the only one of Jolie and Pitt’s six children to distance themselves from their father’s surname. Her older brother Maddox, 25, officially dropped “Pitt” from his last name earlier this month, citing personal reasons. Their younger sister Shiloh, 20, legally changed her name to Shiloh Jolie after filing a petition on her 18th birthday in May 2024. Their sister Vivienne, 18, has also taken steps to legally remove “Pitt” from her name. Their twin brother, Knox, also dropped his father’s surname from his high school diploma earlier this year.

Despite the family’s complicated dynamics, it was reported in June that their son Pax, 22, remains close to Pitt’s side of the family, although a separate source indicated he has limited contact with his father.

Jolie filed for divorce from Pitt in September 2016 after two years of marriage. The former couple were declared legally single in 2019 and finalized their divorce in December 2024 after an eight-year legal battle.