Zahara Jolie has officially dropped “Pitt” from her legal name, formalizing a change that had already become noticeable in the way Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt’s daughter identified herself publicly.

A Los Angeles judge granted the 21-year-old’s name-change petition on Monday, September 28, legally changing her name from Zahara Marley Jolie-Pitt to Zahara Marley Jolie.

The court approval makes Zahara another of Jolie and Pitt’s children to formally remove Pitt from their surname, extending a pattern that has unfolded alongside years of highly publicized conflict surrounding the former couple and their family.

Zahara’s decision is particularly notable because she had already publicly introduced herself without “Pitt” years before the legal change was finalized.

Zahara Marley Jolie Is Now Her Legal Name

The September 28 ruling means “Zahara Marley Jolie” isn’t simply a stage name, social-media preference or informal way of identifying herself.

It is now her legal name.

Zahara filed the necessary petition in Los Angeles County and received judicial approval Monday, completing the process required to formally change her surname.

The development follows years in which several of Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt’s children have either stopped publicly using “Pitt” or taken legal steps to remove it.

For Zahara, the legal ruling catches up with a change the public first noticed much earlier.

Zahara Publicly Introduced Herself Without “Pitt” in 2023

One of the clearest signs came when Zahara joined Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. while attending Spelman College.

During a November 2023 probate event for the Mu Pi chapter of the historically Black sorority, Zahara introduced herself to the crowd as “Zahara Marley Jolie.”

The moment quickly spread online.

She did not say “Jolie-Pitt.”

Instead, she emphatically identified herself using Jolie alone.

At the time, the introduction generated headlines because no legal name change had yet been announced. It wasn’t clear whether Zahara had formally changed her surname or simply preferred not to use Pitt publicly.

Nearly three years later, the distinction has been resolved.

The court has now made Zahara Marley Jolie her legal name.

She Is the Latest Jolie-Pitt Child to Make the Change Official

Zahara isn’t the first of Angelina and Brad’s children to move away from the Jolie-Pitt surname.

Maddox has long been publicly known as Maddox Jolie rather than Jolie-Pitt, while Shiloh took formal legal action after turning 18 to remove Pitt from her surname.

Shiloh filed her petition in May 2024, shortly after her 18th birthday, seeking to change her legal name from Shiloh Nouvel Jolie-Pitt to Shiloh Nouvel Jolie.

A Los Angeles judge granted that request in August 2024.

Shiloh’s case attracted significant attention because she pursued the legal process herself after becoming an adult.

Zahara’s newly approved petition now places her alongside siblings who have taken steps to identify themselves legally without their father’s surname.

Vivienne Has Also Been Using “Jolie”

Another Jolie-Pitt child, Vivienne, has also publicly used Jolie without Pitt.

When Vivienne worked alongside Angelina Jolie on the Broadway production of The Outsiders, she was credited in the Playbill as “Vivienne Jolie.”

That generated renewed attention around the surnames used by Jolie and Pitt’s children.

Vivienne’s situation has not yet reached the same final legal stage as Zahara’s, however. Her name-change proceedings remain separate, with a hearing still upcoming.

That distinction matters because using a different surname professionally or publicly isn’t the same thing as legally changing it.

Zahara has now completed the latter.

The Children Have Made Individual Decisions

The surname changes have inevitably been viewed through the lens of Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt’s long and contentious separation.

But the children’s decisions shouldn’t automatically be treated as interchangeable.

Each child has their own relationship with both parents and their own reasons for how they choose to identify themselves.

Neither Zahara’s newly approved name change nor Shiloh’s earlier petition requires the court to make a broader judgment about Brad Pitt as a parent.

A legal name-change proceeding primarily determines whether the requested change meets the applicable legal requirements.

Still, the number of children choosing not to use “Pitt” has made the development difficult to separate from the family’s history.

Angelina and Brad’s Split Became One of Hollywood’s Longest Family Disputes

Angelina Jolie filed for divorce from Brad Pitt in September 2016 after approximately two years of marriage and more than a decade together.

Their separation quickly became one of Hollywood’s most closely watched divorces.

The former couple spent years fighting over custody, finances and their jointly owned French winery, Château Miraval.

Their divorce was eventually finalized in December 2024, ending the marriage legally after more than eight years of proceedings.

But the legal battles and public allegations surrounding the relationship had already affected the family’s public image long before the divorce became final.

The former couple share six children: Maddox, Pax, Zahara, Shiloh, Knox and Vivienne.

As those children have reached adulthood, they have increasingly been able to make their own independent legal decisions — including decisions about their names.

Zahara Was Adopted by Angelina Jolie in 2005

Zahara was born in Ethiopia in January 2005.

Angelina Jolie adopted her as an infant, and Brad Pitt later adopted Zahara as well after he and Jolie became a family.

She grew up largely in the public eye alongside her siblings as Jolie and Pitt became one of the most famous celebrity couples in the world.

Despite that visibility, Zahara has increasingly established an identity separate from her parents’ Hollywood careers.

Her enrollment at Spelman College became an especially important part of that transition.

Angelina publicly celebrated Zahara beginning school at the historically Black women’s college in Atlanta in 2022, and Zahara later joined Alpha Kappa Alpha, the oldest historically Black sorority founded by African American college-educated women.

It was during that process that the public first heard her loudly introduce herself as Zahara Marley Jolie.

The 2023 Sorority Moment Looks Different Now

At the time, Zahara’s introduction could have been interpreted several ways.

Perhaps she simply preferred the shorter name socially.

Perhaps she didn’t want to use a double surname.

Or perhaps it represented a more deliberate decision to distance her identity from “Pitt.”

Without Zahara explaining her reasoning, those possibilities remained speculation.

The September 28 court ruling doesn’t reveal her private motivation either.

But it does establish that the change eventually became important enough for Zahara to formalize it legally.

That makes the 2023 moment look less like an isolated introduction and more like an early public indication of the name she wanted to use.

Shiloh’s Case Established a Similar Precedent

Shiloh’s legal change was particularly high-profile because of the timing.

She filed to drop “Pitt” almost immediately after becoming legally eligible to handle the petition herself at 18.

Her request was later approved, making her Shiloh Nouvel Jolie.

Reporting surrounding that case indicated that Shiloh independently hired an attorney to handle the process rather than having Angelina file it on her behalf.

That became an important detail because the surname changes were frequently discussed as part of the Jolie-Pitt divorce.

The legal filings instead underscored that the children who had reached adulthood were capable of making those decisions themselves.

Zahara, now 21, likewise has the ability to petition the court independently.

Maddox Had Stopped Using Pitt Much Earlier

Maddox, Angelina’s oldest child, had been publicly associated with the Jolie surname alone long before the more recent name-change stories involving his sisters.

His relationship with Brad became a major subject during the aftermath of the 2016 incident aboard a private plane that preceded Jolie’s divorce filing.

Over the years, reports indicated that Maddox was no longer using Pitt as part of his surname in various settings.

The exact legal history of Maddox’s surname has been reported differently than Shiloh’s court-approved name change, so it is important not to treat every sibling’s situation as procedurally identical.

What is clear is that Zahara’s September 28 ruling now gives her a court-approved legal name without Pitt.

What Happens With Vivienne Will Be Watched Closely

Attention will now likely turn to Vivienne.

Her use of “Vivienne Jolie” in connection with The Outsiders had already fueled questions about whether she intended to formally remove Pitt from her name.

An upcoming hearing could provide a clearer answer.

Until a court acts, however, there is an important difference between being credited as Vivienne Jolie and having Jolie established as her legal surname.

Zahara has crossed that line.

She is legally Zahara Marley Jolie.

The Name Changes Have Become Part of the Family’s Post-Divorce Story

Celebrity divorces routinely produce years of headlines about property, money and custody.

The Jolie-Pitt separation has been unusual partly because its effects have continued becoming visible as the children grow older.

When Angelina filed for divorce in 2016, several of the children were still young.

A decade later, most are adults or approaching adulthood.

They now have greater control over how they are publicly identified, what careers they pursue and how much of their relationships with either parent they choose to discuss.

The surname decisions are one visible example of that independence.

At the same time, a surname alone can’t fully explain the private relationships inside the Jolie-Pitt family.

Zahara has not publicly provided a detailed explanation for why she wanted “Pitt” removed from her legal name.

Unless she chooses to do so, assigning a motive would go beyond what the court action itself establishes.

The Court Ruling Makes the Change Official

What had been visible socially is now established legally.

Zahara introduced herself as Zahara Marley Jolie at Spelman in 2023.

Years later, she has made that name official.

A Los Angeles judge granted her petition Monday, September 28, changing her legal name from Zahara Marley Jolie-Pitt to Zahara Marley Jolie.

It marks another significant development for the Jolie-Pitt family as the former couple’s children increasingly establish identities of their own.

For Zahara, however, the immediate story is considerably simpler.

The name she has already been using publicly is now the name recognized by the court.

Zahara Marley Jolie.