Brad Pitt Faces Family Rift as Five of Six Children Drop His Surname

Five of Brad Pitt’s six children have legally removed the "Pitt" surname, a development seen as a stark symbol of the long‑running estrangement that followed his 2016 divorce from Angelina Jolie. Shiloh Jolie was the first to change her name after turning 18 in 2024, followed by Zahara Marley Jolie, Maddox Chivan Jolie, Vivienne Jolie and most recently Knox Jolie, who used the name on his high‑school diploma. Their brother Pax Thiên remains the only child still using the combined Jolie‑Pitt surname publicly. The surname changes occur against a backdrop of the couple’s highly publicized split, allegations of domestic abuse on a private jet in 2016, a federal investigation that yielded no charges, and a protracted custody battle that concluded with the divorce finalised in December 2024. Pitt, now reportedly in a long‑term relationship with jewellery executive Inés de Ramón, has expressed hurt over the decisions but hopes for eventual reconciliation.