Brad Pitt’s Daughter Zahara Reportedly Plans to Drop His Surname

Here’s one for the 'Hollywood family drama' files: Zahara, daughter to Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, is apparently looking to clear ‘Pitt’ out of her surname – the second daughter in the family to do a surname spring-clean in the past twelve months. It’s all playing out in the legal system over in Los Angeles, and frankly, the timing isn’t exactly subtle.

Dropping the ‘Pitt’

Court docs filed in LA show Zahara (full name: Zahara Marley Jolie-Pitt—though not for long, if she gets her way) has formally put in a request to be known simply as Zahara Marley Jolie. She’s 21 and just finished at Spelman College, by the way – and maybe it’s telling that at her recent graduation ceremony, the announcer went with 'Zahara Marley Jolie', without the ‘Pitt’. So unofficially, she’s not been using it for a while.

This Isn’t a One-Off

Zahara isn’t the only one in the household making changes. Only last month, her younger sister, Shiloh, filed similar paperwork to slice ‘Pitt’ right off her last name as well. Two kids in as many months down to just ‘Jolie’ — if you’re Brad Pitt, frankly, you’d notice.

A source allegedly close to Pitt reckons he blames Angelina Jolie for driving a wedge between him and the kids. (Take that with as many grains of salt as you fancy — no public comment from Pitt himself, and Jolie’s camp usually keeps tight-lipped on family stuff.)

The Jolie-Pitts: Family Snapshot

• Maddox Chivan Jolie (24)
• Pax Thien Jolie-Pitt (22)
• Zahara Marley Jolie(-Pitt) (21)
• Shiloh Nouvel Jolie(-Pitt) (20)
• Knox Léon Jolie-Pitt (17, twin)
• Vivienne Marcheline Jolie-Pitt (17, twin)

The backstory is proper modern Hollywood: Angelina adopted Maddox (2002) and Zahara (2005) as a single parent, then Brad joined in, legally adopting both and adding to their numbers as a couple. Shiloh arrived (biologically) in 2006, Pax was adopted in 2007, and the twins followed in 2008.

The Divorce Rollercoaster

Pitt and Jolie married in 2014, but it only lasted two years before things spectacularly came undone. The legal wrangle dragged out for eight years, only reaching a conclusion in 2024. Along the way, the court filings got extremely grim. Jolie made allegations in 2022, accusing Pitt of assaulting both her and two of their children during a private flight – claims that have remained fiercely disputed, but certainly didn’t help family relations.

For now, Zahara (at least in official records, and definitely in public) seems intent on aligning with her mother — and not her famous dad — in both name and, perhaps, loyalty as well.