Angelina Jolie’s Daughter Zahara Graduates From College and Drops Father Brad Pitt’s Surname in Ceremony

The Gist

• Angelina Jolie’s daughter Zahara Jolie graduated from Spelman College.

• A video from the ceremony appeared to confirm that she’d dropped her father Brad Pitt’s surname.

• Zahara recently gave a tribute to her mother during a college speech.

Zahara Jolie is officially a college grad. The 21-year-old daughter of actress Angelina Jolie and actor Brad Pitt walked across the stage to receive her diploma from Spelman College. A video of the moment shared on Reddit, seemingly confirms that Zahara officially dropped her father’s surname and is now officially going by the name Zahara Marley Jolie.

Zahara and Angelina Jolie at the Golden Globes in 2025.
Credit: Getty

Zahara, who was born and adopted in 2005, is the second eldest child of the two actors, who also share son Maddox, born in 2001, Shiloh, born in 2007, Pax, who was adopted from an orphanage in Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam in 2007, and twins Knox and Vivienne, born in 2008.

Since their split in 2016, which was finally legally finalized in December 2024, several of Zahara’s siblings have also seemingly dropped the Pitt surname, including Vivienne and Maddox. Zahara has also previously gone by Jolie. In 2023, when she joined her sorority at Spelman College, she appeared in a video, saying, “My name is Zahara Marley Jolie.”

Zahara and Angelina Jolie at an event in 2025.
Credit: Getty

Zahara began at Spelman College in 2022. At the time, Angelina shared tribute to her on Instagram. “Zahara with her Spelman sisters!” she wrote alongside a photo of Zahara and her classmates. “Congratulations to all new students starting this year. A very special place and an honor to have a family member as a new Spelman girl.”

Just last month, Angelina visited Zahara to support her as she gave a speech at her sorority that included a touching tribute to her mom. “My mom and I have a unique, almost kindred relationship that can be hard to put into words,” said Zahara in the speech, in a clip shared on X. “I am grateful to have had a role model show me what it looks like to be a decent human being.”

“I was adopted at six months old,” she went on, “and given some of the most special and loving people as my siblings with a mom who raised us on the value of helping others, being kind and always striving for growth as people.”

Angelina once told Time that she has “learned so much” from her daughter, who was adopted from Ethiopia.

“She is my family, but she is an extraordinary African woman,” she said of Zahara, “and her connection to her country, her continent, is her own and it’s something I only stand back in awe of.”

Zahara and Angelina Jolie in New York City in 2023.
Credit: Getty

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