Angelina Jolie and her daughter Vivienne at a public event
Angelina Jolie smiling warmly next to her daughter Vivienne
Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie’s daughter Vivienne is officially severing legal ties to her father’s last name. The 18-year-old has filed a petition in Los Angeles County Superior Court to change her name from Vivienne Marcheline Jolie-Pitt to Vivienne Marcheline Jolie.
The legal request was signed on July 12, the exact day Vivienne turned 18, and formally filed on Monday. Under California law, reaching adulthood allows her to petition for a name change entirely on her own, without requiring parental consent.
Court documents list the reason for the surname change simply as “personal.”
A Family Pattern
Angelina Jolie and Vivienne posing closely together
Vivienne’s decision is not an isolated incident. She is the fourth of the former A-list couple’s six children to seek legal distance from the Pitt surname.
In 2024, her older sister Shiloh, 20, successfully dropped Pitt from her name. Zahara, 21, and Maddox, 24, filed similar paperwork earlier this year.
Vivienne herself foreshadowed the legal move months ago. She was credited solely as Vivienne Jolie while working on the 2024 Broadway production of The Outsiders, which her mother produced. Maddox also used the shortened “Maddox Jolie” moniker in the credits for his mother’s film Couture, where he worked as an assistant director.
The Fallout of 2016
Brad Pitt standing formally on a red carpet
The string of name changes follows years of estrangement stemming from the couple’s explosive 2016 separation. Their lengthy, highly publicized legal battle revealed deep fractures within the family dynamic.
During court proceedings, Jolie alleged that Pitt grabbed her by the head and shook her during a private flight. She also claimed he choked one of their children and struck another when they attempted to defend her.
A representative for Pitt vehemently denied the abuse allegations at the time. The FBI conducted a review of the airplane incident but ultimately declined to pursue any further investigation. After over a decade together and two years of marriage, their protracted divorce was officially finalized in 2024.
Distance and Sobriety
Pitt has spoken openly about his struggles with alcohol, which he says peaked around the time of the 2016 split. He credits Alcoholics Anonymous for helping him maintain nearly a decade of sobriety.
Despite his lifestyle changes, the actor remains visibly disconnected from his six children: Maddox, Pax, 22, Zahara, Shiloh, Knox, 18, and Vivienne. Pitt has not been photographed with any of them in years.
In stark contrast, Jolie is frequently seen with her children on red carpets and regularly highlights their creative collaborations in interviews.
A court hearing to finalize Vivienne’s name change is currently scheduled for Nov. 2, pushed back from an original Oct. 30 date. Pitt’s representatives have not responded to requests for comment regarding the filing.
