Many famous children are making their own way by choosing to change their names.
Nicole Richiethe 18-year-old daughter is born Harlow Winter Kate Maddenmade headlines in January 2026 when she apparently started using one of her middle names on Instagram.
Meanwhile, AJ McLean and divorced woman Rochelle McLean revealed in 2022 that her son changed his name from Ava to Elliott.
Other children included brad pittyes Angelina Joliethe daughters of Shiloh, Zahara and Vivienne, chose to leave their father’s surname.
Keep scrolling to see more famous baby name changes:
Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie’s daughter Shiloh’s request to drop her father’s last name has officially been granted, Us Weekly can confirm. TMZ was the first to report the news on Monday, August 19, revealing that there was no “formal” court hearing and that the 18-year-old’s plea was accepted. Her last name is officially just Jolie. (Shiloh is full (…)
Kate Madden
hinted Nicole Richie change of name of his daughter in a birthday tribute shared via Instagram. She tagged Harlow’s Instagram account, which uses the handle @katemaddenn, hinting that her eldest child with husband Joel Madden now goes by her middle name Kate.
Elliot McLean
At age 9, AJ McLean’s daughter, born Ava, opted for it change his name to Elliott. AJ’s now-estranged wife Rochelle first revealed the decision via Instagram by sharing a photo of the pre-teen holding a balloon that read: “Elliott’s first day of 4th grade!”
AJ said later people that he would “support” Elliott and revealed the reason for the name change.
“When my daughter asked to change her name to Elliott, initially, I didn’t know if it was a transgender thing, which it isn’t, but it’s a personal choice,” she said. “And it’s her body, it’s her name, it’s her everything. And she’s still Ava. She’ll always be Ava to me. But at the same time, whatever the reasoning is, this is hers, and I’ll give it a million percent, my wife will too.”
AJ said Elliott told him, “Dad, I don’t think my name is that unique or that original, and there are a lot of Avas at the dance and a lot of Avas at school.”
Shi Jolie
The second eldest daughter of Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, Shiloh, filed paperwork to drop his father’s surname and legally become Shiloh Jolie in May 2024. A few months later, in August 2024, Us Weekly confirmed that his name request was accepted.
The teenager apparently changed his name further in June 2025 when a press release was released Isabel MarantNet-A-Porter’s capsule collection featured her name as Shi Jolie. (Shi was credited as choreographing an original dance number at the event.)
Zahara Jolie
Zahara, the eldest daughter of brad pitt and Angelina Jolie, seemed to drop the “Pitt” from his name when she joined the Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority at Spelman College in November 2023. Video footage from the time showed her introducing herself as “Zahara Marley Jolie.”
Vivienne Jolie
Like her sisters, the youngest daughter of Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, Vivienne, was credited as “Vivienne Jolie” on a Broadway poster The Outsiders in May 2024, we confirmed in due course.
Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt’s children have grown up in the spotlight. The former couple began dating in 2005, three years after the actress adopted her son, Maddox, from Cambodia. Pitt then accompanied Jolie to Ethiopia in 2005 to adopt Zahara, and legally adopted both children in 2006. The Oscar winners went on to (…)
Elle King
The daughter of Rob Schneider i king of london Tanner Elle Schneider was born. He started using his stage name, Elle Kingwhen she was 18, hoping to create an identity that was separate from her famous father.
“I wanted to be myself,” she said ABC News in 2015. “I’m my own person. It’s not that I wanted to be a famous person. I wanted to be a performer. But I worked really hard and I did everything myself and I took a name that… it’s my mother’s name… I took that name because I wanted to be myself.”
Malia Ann
Barack i Michelle Obamathe daughter of Malia dropped Obama’s famous name and used her middle name, Ann, for her 2024 short film, The Heart.
“You’re trying to set yourself apart,” Michelle said Kate i Oliver Hudson“Sister of brothers” podcast. “It’s really important for my kids to feel like they’ve earned what they’re getting in the world, and they don’t want people to assume that they don’t work hard, that things just come naturally to them. They’re very sensitive to that. They want to be their own people.”