The petition

Vivienne Marcheline Jolie-Pitt, the youngest child of actors Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, filed a request in Los Angeles County Superior Court to legally change her name to Vivienne Marcheline Jolie. She signed the paperwork on 12 July 2026, her 18th birthday, the earliest date she could file without parental consent. The court documents, obtained by People and Entertainment Weekly, list the reason for the change simply as "personal". A hearing has been scheduled for 2 November 2026. Vivienne had already used "Vivienne Jolie" professionally in 2024, when she co-produced the Broadway musical The Outsiders alongside her mother.

Siblings' precedent

Vivienne is the fourth of the six Jolie-Pitt children to take formal steps to drop their father's surname. Shiloh, now 20, filed a similar petition on her 18th birthday in May 2024 and was granted the change that August. Zahara, 21, and Maddox, 24, have pending requests, with hearings set for 28 September and 14 September 2026 respectively. As part of the legal process, Zahara and Maddox published full-page notices in the Los Angeles Daily Journal, a requirement that drew public attention and, according to sources, caused Pitt considerable pain.

A fractured family

The name changes are the latest chapter in a long and acrimonious separation. Jolie filed for divorce in 2016, alleging physical and emotional abuse; Pitt denied the claims and was investigated and cleared by authorities. The divorce was finalised in December 2024 after eight years of custody and financial disputes, and the former couple still has not resolved the ownership of their French vineyard. The six children (Maddox, Pax, Zahara, Shiloh, and twins Knox and Vivienne) have largely sided with their mother. Knox has not filed a formal petition but used "Knox Jolie" on his graduation certificate from Fusion Academy in Los Angeles. Pax, 22, reportedly maintains some contact with his father's relatives, though his relationship with Pitt is described as strained.

Reactions

Pitt has not commented publicly on the filings. People close to the actor, however, have expressed dismay. A source told TMZ that the sequence of name changes amounts to "a sad and endless campaign to distance the children from their father." Another insider, speaking to Page Six, described a "complete estrangement" and called the moves "deliberate and unnecessary." A counter-view from a different source suggested that any distance stems from harm the children suffered and that, as adults, they are making their own choices.

“It's a sad and endless campaign to distance the children from their father.”

What comes next

The court will hear Vivienne's petition on 2 November. If approved, she will legally become Vivienne Marcheline Jolie, a name that honours her maternal grandmother, Marcheline Bertrand, who died in 2007. The hearings for Maddox and Zahara in September could bring the total of completed name changes to four by the end of the year. For now, the legal filings are the latest sign of the deep rift between Pitt and the children he raised.