Level 1 — Absolute Beginner
Vivienne is the daughter of actors Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt. She just turned 18 years old.
Vivienne asked a court to change her last name. She wants to drop 'Pitt' and use just 'Jolie.'
A judge will look at her request on November 2.
Vivienne's sister Shiloh already changed her name the same way in 2024. Two more siblings, Zahara and Maddox, have asked for the same change.
- petition
- a formal written request asking for something official to happen
- legally
- in a way that follows the law
- court
- a place where a judge decides legal questions
- judge
- a person who makes official decisions in a court
- hearing
- a meeting in court where a judge listens to a case
- sibling
- a brother or sister
- actor
- a person who performs in movies, TV shows, or plays
- request
- to ask for something
Level 2 — Elementary
Vivienne Marcheline Jolie-Pitt, the youngest daughter of Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt, has filed a legal petition in Los Angeles County Superior Court asking to change her name to Vivienne Marcheline Jolie, dropping 'Pitt' entirely.
Vivienne recently turned 18, meaning she can now file this kind of request on her own, without needing a parent's signature. The reason listed on her petition is simply 'personal.'
A judge is scheduled to review the case at a hearing on November 2. Until then, her legal name remains unchanged.
Vivienne is following a pattern already set by her older siblings. Her sister Shiloh's name change was granted in 2024, and both Zahara and Maddox have filed similar petitions of their own, seeking to become Zahara Marley Jolie and Maddox Chivan Jolie.
- file
- to formally submit a document, such as a legal petition, to a court
- superior court
- a court that handles a wide range of civil and criminal cases in a US county
- grant
- to officially approve or give something that was requested
- entirely
- completely; in every way
- pattern
- a way of doing something that is repeated by more than one person
- signature
- a person's name written by hand to show approval or agreement
- unchanged
- staying the same, not different
- seek
- to try to obtain or achieve something
Level 3 — Intermediate
Vivienne Marcheline Jolie-Pitt, the youngest daughter of Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt, has filed a petition in Los Angeles County Superior Court seeking to legally change her name to Vivienne Marcheline Jolie, formally dropping her father's surname.
Having recently turned 18, Vivienne was able to file the petition independently, without requiring parental consent or a co-signature. The petition cites 'personal' reasons, offering no further public explanation, and a hearing has been scheduled for November 2 to finalize the request.
The filing places Vivienne alongside a growing number of her siblings pursuing the same change. Her sister Shiloh's petition to drop 'Pitt' was granted in 2024, establishing something of a precedent within the family, and both Zahara and Maddox have since filed their own petitions, seeking to become Zahara Marley Jolie and Maddox Chivan Jolie respectively.
Vivienne has already been using the surname Jolie professionally in some contexts, including a program credit as 'Vivienne Jolie' for the Broadway production of 'The Outsiders,' which she helped produce alongside her mother, suggesting the legal filing formalizes a transition already underway in her public life.
- surname
- a person's family name, typically shared with relatives
- independently
- without needing help, permission, or involvement from someone else
- consent
- permission for something to happen or be done
- finalize
- to complete or make an agreement or decision official
- precedent
- an earlier action or decision that serves as an example for later similar cases
- professionally
- in a way connected to one's paid work or career
- credit
- public acknowledgment of a person's role in a creative production
- formalize
- to make something official by following an established process
Level 4 — Advanced
Vivienne Marcheline Jolie-Pitt, the youngest of Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt's six children, has filed a petition in Los Angeles County Superior Court seeking to legally shed her father's surname, requesting to be known henceforth as Vivienne Marcheline Jolie.
Having only recently reached the age of majority, Vivienne was entitled to file the petition unilaterally, bypassing the parental consent typically required of minors. The filing states 'personal' as its sole cited rationale, offering no elaboration for public consumption, and a hearing has been calendared for November 2 to adjudicate the request.
The petition situates Vivienne within an increasingly established family pattern. Her sister Shiloh's analogous petition was granted in 2024, effectively setting an internal precedent, while both Zahara and Maddox have separately filed comparable requests, seeking the styles Zahara Marley Jolie and Maddox Chivan Jolie respectively, suggesting a coordinated, if individually pursued, generational recalibration of the family's public identity.
Notably, Vivienne had already been operating under the Jolie surname in select professional capacities well before this filing, including a program credit as 'Vivienne Jolie' for the Broadway production of 'The Outsiders,' which she co-produced with her mother, implying the legal petition ratifies, rather than initiates, a transition already visible in her public-facing career.
- shed
- to get rid of or discard something, often figuratively
- henceforth
- from this point onward
- age of majority
- the legal age at which a person is considered an adult
- unilaterally
- done by one party alone, without needing agreement from others
- rationale
- the underlying reason or set of reasons for a decision
- adjudicate
- to make a formal judgment on a disputed matter
- recalibration
- an adjustment or reconsideration of something to better fit new circumstances
- ratify
- to give formal approval to something, often confirming an existing arrangement
.jpg%3Fwidth%3D800&w=3840&q=75)
Talk about this article with KatePractice this story's vocabulary in a real spoken conversation with your AI tutor