Zahara Marley Jolie-Pitt has officially transitioned to Zahara Marley Jolie after a Los Angeles Superior Court judge approved her petition to legally drop her father’s surname. The ruling, signed on September 28, 2026, marks the latest in a series of legal name changes by the adult children of Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt.
Judge Virginia Keeny granted the request during a hearing at the Stanley Mosk Courthouse, noting that no objections had been filed against the name change. Zahara was represented virtually at the proceeding by attorney Peter Kenneth Levine, the same legal representative who handled a similar filing for her sister, Shiloh, in 2024.
A Growing Trend Among the Siblings
Zahara’s legal victory follows closely behind her older brother, Maddox Chivan Jolie. His petition to change his name from Maddox Chivan Jolie-Pitt was approved by a judge on September 14, 2026, just two weeks prior to Zahara’s ruling. The two siblings join Shiloh Nouvel Jolie, who successfully dropped the surname in August 2024.
The movement toward the “Jolie” surname appears to be systematic among the couple’s adult children. Vivienne Marcheline Jolie filed her own petition to change her name on July 12, 2026, the day she celebrated her 18th birthday. A court hearing to finalize Vivienne’s request is currently scheduled for November 2, 2026.
The status of the remaining two children remains less clear. Pax, 22, and Knox, 18, have not yet been confirmed as having filed formal legal petitions to drop their father’s name.
Legal Context of the Name Changes
The wave of legal filings began shortly after the long-standing divorce between Pitt and Jolie was finalized on December 30, 2024. Under California law, adult petitioners are required to publish notice of their name change in a newspaper of general circulation, such as the Los Angeles Daily Journal, to satisfy public notice standards before a judge can approve the request.
While the children have not publicly detailed their motives for the name changes, the timing suggests a unified shift following the legal conclusion of their parents’ marriage. With four of the six children now having either completed or initiated the process, the “Jolie-Pitt” moniker—once a staple of Hollywood branding—is effectively being phased out by the next generation of the family.
