Celebrity children who dropped their famous surnames

Hollywood’s next generation is making a statement with their last names.

Brad Pitt’s daughters Shiloh, Zahara and Vivienne are among the many celebrity children who have chosen to drop their parents’ famous surnames.

Shiloh filed the petition to legally implement the change in May 2024, while her sisters showed off their shorter nicknames at public events.

The siblings have particularly followed in the footsteps of their mother Angelina Jolie.

The “Maleficent” actress did the same when she changed her last name following her estrangement from her father, Jon Voight.

Read on to find out which celebrity offspring are making the important decision – and why.

Suri Cruise to Suri Noelle

When Suri, the daughter of Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes, graduated from high school in June 2024, her name was listed as Suri Noelle in the event’s program.

The last name is a tribute to her mother, as Noelle is the “Dawson’s Creek” alumnus’ middle name.

Tom, who divorced Holmes in 2012 and had not been in a relationship with Suri for years, made headlines for skipping his daughter’s graduation party in New York City and instead attending Taylor Swift’s Eras tour show in London the next day.

From Shiloh Jolie-Pitt to Shiloh Jolie

Shiloh immediately dropped her father’s last name and filed for a name change from Jolie-Pitt to simply Jolie on her 18th birthday.

The teenager “hired and paid for her own lawyer,” Entertainment Tonight reported in June 2024.

A source told People that Pitt was “aware and dismayed” by the news, which made headlines eight years after he and Angelina began contentious divorce proceedings.

Zahara Jolie-Pitt to Zahara Jolie

Pitt’s eldest daughter made headlines when she proudly shouted her nickname during an Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority induction ceremony in November 2023.

The Spelman College student screamed, “Zahara Marley Jolie.”

Social media users reacted to the apparent insult, with one writing: “Oh Zahara said her last name was Jolie, not Jolie-Pitt.”

Vivienne Jolie-Pitt to Vivienne Jolie

Vivienne worked with her mother on the Broadway adaptation of The Outsiders in 2024 – and appeared to insult her father when the play premiered in May of that year.

In the show’s theater program, the assistant was listed as Vivienne Jolie.

As with Zahara, it remains unclear whether the teenager’s last name is still legally Jolie-Pitt.

Angelina jolie voigt to Angelina Jolie

Angelina had an on-off relationship with her famous father for years before officially changing her name in 2002.

“I don’t want to make the reasons for my bad relationship with my father public,” the actress said at the time. “I’ve come to the conclusion that it’s not healthy for me to be around my father.”

Voight continued to talk about Angelina despite their separation, congratulating her and Vivienne in June 2024 when The Outsiders won a Tony Award.

Tanner Elle Schneider to Elle King

Elle King dropped her father’s surname Rob Schneider in favor of her mother’s surname London King before pursuing a career in the music industry.

“I wanted to be my own person,” she told People in February 2023. “I want to build a life for myself and I want to know that I’ve accomplished it.”

“My father and I have a beautiful and really wonderful, great love relationship with great boundaries,” Elle said at the time. “I love my father so much.”

From Malia Obama to Malia Ann

The eldest daughter of Barack Obama and Michelle Obama has dropped her parents’ surname in the course of her creative activities.

When the Harvard University graduate presented her short film “The Heart” at the Sundance Film Festival in January 2024, she was listed in the credits as Malia Ann.

Ann is specifically the middle name of the former First Daughter.

From Micheál Neeson to Micheál Richardson

Liam Neeson’s son Micheál changed his surname for a sentimental reason after his mother Natasha Richardson died in a skiing accident in 2009.

The eldest child of the “96 Hours” star is now called Micheál Richardson instead of Micheál Neeson.

Liam welcomed the decision in a 2020 “Radio Andy” interview, calling it a “wonderful tribute” that “touched” him.

From Nicolas Coppola to Nicolas Cage

After Nicolas Cage’s roles in “I Think I’m Standing in the Woods” and “Rumble Fish”, he changed his last name to distinguish himself from his uncle Francis Ford Coppola.

His new name was inspired by “a combination of Luke Cage from Marvel Comics … and John Cage, the avant-garde composer,” the “Wicker Man” star told Wired in 2022.

“Speaks volumes about what I’ve done since then,” Cage joked.

Xavier Alexander Musk to Vivian Jenna Wilson

In April 2022, shortly before her 18th birthday, Elon Musk’s daughter Vivian filed to officially change her name and gender.

The teenager, who chose her mother’s last name Justine Wilson, cited her motivation as “her gender identity and the fact that I no longer live with my biological father or want to be related to him in any way.”

Elon addressed the couple’s estrangement after Vivian’s name change was approved, with the father of 12 joking that he “can’t make everyone happy.”