Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt’s daughter Zahara becomes third child to legally drop father’s last name

Published: 11:03 EDT, 29 September 2026 | Updated: 11:03 EDT, 29 September 2026

Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt’s daughter Zahara Marley legally dropped her father’s surname in a Los Angeles Superior Court on Monday.

Court documents reviewed by The Daily Mail revealed that the name change was finalized by Judge Virginia Keeny.

A minute order in the case read, ‘After review of the case file, the court rules as follows: There being no objections, the petition for change of name is granted. The Decree is signed and filed. The Petitioner’s name is changed from Zahara Marley Jolie-Pitt to Zahara Marley Jolie.’

Cutting ties: Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt’s daughter Zahara Marley legally dropped her father’s surname on Monday

Zahara, 21, is the third of the children to legally have the surname Pitt removed, following Shiloh, 20, in 2024 and Maddox, 25, earlier this year.

The Daily Mail has reached out to representatives for Angelina and Brad for further comment on the story. A spokesperson for the actor declined to comment.

A source close to the actor told The Daily Mail: ‘It’s upsetting but it’s just the latest example of the incredibly effective campaign of alienation against the father; it’s sad and no one wins in this situation.’

An insider close to Angelina told Page Six that Monday’s hearing had been ‘required by law and scheduled months ago by the L.A. court system’.

The source said of Brad: ‘It’s a new low to have his camp to spin a conspiracy theory, disavow responsibility for his conduct, and attack his own child. Keep in mind, his daughter has had the grace not to discuss the details of his behavior in public.’

Family: Angelina and kids (L-R) Maddox, Vivienne, Zahara, Shiloh and Knox at the Eternals premiere in LA in October 18, 2021

Zahara and Maddox had published statements in the Los Angeles Daily Journal in June and July stating their intents to remove Pitt from their surnames, which provided time for anyone in opposition to turn in written materials on the issue.

Zahara did not use the name Pitt when she graduated from Spelman College in Atlanta this past May, going by the name Zahara Marley Jolie.

She had gone by the same name in November of 2023 as she was inducted into the Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority.

Zahara’s siblings have taken similar tacks: in May, Maddox ceased using his father’s surname, while Shiloh took a similar action in May of 2024 following her 18th birthday, both later making the name changes official in court.

Vivienne also posted multiple statements to the newspaper dropping Pitt from her surname, with a hearing slated for November 2. She went by the name Vivienne Jolie while working with Jolie on the Broadway musical The Outsiders two years ago.

Knox did not use the name Pitt during his graduation from the Fusion Academy in Los Angeles this past June.

Rift: Their daughter Vivienne, 18, is also in the process of dropping Pitt from her surname, with a hearing slated for November 2. Vivienne and her mother pictured in 2024

It’s over: Brand and Angelina split in September of 2016 and finalized their divorce in December 2024. They are parents to six children: Maddox, Zahara, Shiloh, Pax, 22, Knox, 18, and Vivienne, 18 (pictured: Brad and Angelina in 2011)

Brad and Angelina’s high-profile relationship began when they worked on the film Mr. & Mrs. Smith, leading to his 2005 divorce from ex-wife Jennifer Aniston.

The pair married in August 2014 during a secret ceremony in the South of France and welcomed three children together during their romance: Shiloh in 2006 and twins Vivienne and Knox in 2008.

They also adopted two more, Zahara and Pax, and Pitt legally adopted the son that Angelina had adopted before they got together, Maddox.

Angelina filed for divorce in 2016 after a volatile plane incident and abuse allegations, which Brad has adamantly denied.

He has also never been charged with a crime and the Los Angeles Department of Children and Family Services cleared Pitt of physical abuse allegations.

The former couple went on to battle it out in a grueling eight-year divorce battle that was finalized in 2024.

Moving on: Brad has since moved on and has been dating jewelry designer Ines de Ramon, 33, for the last few years. Pictured in June 2025

The family divide was again brought to the forefront when Brad’s mother, Jane Etta Pitt, died last year at the age of 84.

Sources revealed at the time that she had been cut off from her grandchildren for about nine years and they did not get a chance to speak before her death.

‘The most gut-wrenching part is that Angelina kept the kids away from his parents, from their own grandparents,’ one insider told the Daily Mail last August.