Fluffing the Shadows: When Celeb Offspring Chase Individuality
- ⏱ 2 Min read
Celebrity offspring opt for single names in showbiz circles - Young and promising individuals, forgoing their family surnames
Stepping out from the glare of legendary parents or seeking personal distance, some celebrity kids ditch the family name label. While the "Nepo Babies" thrive on famous lineage, others tread the path less traveled and shed their last names.
From Jolie-Pitt to Joli
When Hollywood's power couple, Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt, called it quits in 2016, debates over custody raged on. After a decades-long separation, their divorce was officially divorced in December 2023. Sheroes Zahara and Maddox publicly sided with their mother. Shiloh, now 24, dropped Jolie-Pitt altogether.
Post turning 18, Shiloh officially changed her name to Shiloh Nouvel Jolie. At choreographer events, she prefers the stage alias, Shi Joli.
Jolie Divests From Voight
Angelina's take? Dropping the Voight surname. Born Angelina Jolie Voight in 1975, her father is famed actor Jon Voight, with whom she separated in '76. In 2002, she ditched Voight as her surname, swapping it for her middle name Jolie.
Angelina is tight-lipped about the friction with Daddy. "I avoid seeing my father," she remars. Jon, Trump's Hollywood envoy, lashes out at his estranged daughter often.
Tom Cruise's daughter Suri, 29, seems to share a similar standpoint. Her mom and Cruise split in '12, and she's with her mother, Holmes. At her high school graduation in 2023, she was listed as Suri Noelle, borrowing Holmes' middle name.
Malia Obama's Name Game
Malia Obama, 30, might have a different reason. Married to the former president, her parents are still sailing smoothly. Yet, Malia used "Malia Ann" at the Sundance Film Festival in early '23, combining her first two names.
Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith's children, Jaden and Willow, aged 35 and 33 respectively, go with just their first names in their music careers to rock the stage.
This "name game" isn't new. Back in the '80s, Nicholas Coppola (notably associated with "The Godfather" director) picked the pseudonym Nicolas Cage to avoid his uncle's success shadow.
In the realm of entertainment and pop-culture, some celebrity offspring choose to differentiate themselves from their famous parents by changing their last names. For instance, Shiloh Jolie-Pitt, daughter of Hollywood power couple Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt, dropped the "Jolie-Pitt" part of her name and adopted the alias "Shi Joli" after turning 18. Similarly, Tom Cruise's daughter Suri Cruise used her mother's maiden name, Suri Noelle, at her high school graduation. This trend of shedding family names is not uncommon among celebrities, with Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith's children, Jaden and Willow, using only their first names in their music careers.
