Maddox, the eldest son of Hollywood icons Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt, has reportedly initiated the legal process to permanently remove his father's surname. The young filmmaker is seeking to officially adopt the name Maddox Chivan Jolie.
According to legal documents obtained by TMZ, the 24-year-old filed the formal paperwork to request the name change in court. The petition is currently pending and has not yet been officially approved by a presiding judge.
Representatives for Brad Pitt have declined to comment on the legal filing, while representatives for Angelina Jolie have not issued any public statements regarding their son's decision.
THE REASON BEHIND THE NAME CHANGE
The decision to legally alter his name follows a noticeable shift in how the young director credits himself professionally. Maddox was credited solely as Maddox Jolie in the credits for the film Couture, a production starring his mother that premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2025.
Maddox served as an assistant director on the project, which marked a significant departure from his previous cinematic work. On the 2024 biographical drama Maria, he was still officially listed in the credits under his full legal name of Maddox Jolie-Pitt.
The legal move by Maddox is not an isolated incident within the family structure. In recent years, several of the former couple's children have actively stopped using the Pitt surname in their public and professional lives.
A GROWING PATTERN AMONG THE JOLIE-PITT SIBLINGS
The generational shift away from the actor's surname has been visible across multiple industries. Vivienne Jolie-Pitt was credited simply as Vivienne Jolie for her production work on the Broadway musical The Outsiders, while her sister Zahara also introduced herself solely as Zahara Marley Jolie during her university activities and recent graduation ceremony.
The trend moved into the courtroom back in 2024 when Shiloh officially and legally changed her name from Shiloh Nouvel Jolie-Pitt to simply Shiloh Jolie. At the time of the filing, sources close to the actor confirmed that Brad Pitt was fully aware of the situation and found the ongoing estrangement from his children deeply painful.
These systemic name changes follow a decade of intense public speculation regarding the complicated family dynamics that followed the highly publicized separation of Jolie and Pitt in 2016. Although their complex divorce was not officially finalized until December 2024, reports of severe tension between the Oscar-winning actor and his children have persisted for years.
Maddox was originally adopted by Angelina Jolie from Cambodia in 2002. Brad Pitt subsequently entered the legal adoption process to become his legal father, resulting in the child's surname being officially changed to Jolie-Pitt in 2006. Now, two decades later, the eldest son is taking active steps to completely reverse that decision.
