Plenty of celebrity kids are forging their own path by deciding to change their names.
Nicole Richie’s 18-year-old daughter, born Harlow Winter Kate Madden, made headlines in January 2026 when she seemingly began going by one of her middle names on Instagram.
Meanwhile, AJ McLean and estranged wife Rochelle McLean revealed in 2022 that their child changed her name from Ava to Elliott.
Other kids, including Brad Pitt’s and Angelina Jolie’s daughters Shiloh, Zahara and Vivienne, opted to drop their father’s last name.
Keep scrolling for more celebrity kids’ name changes:
Kate Madden
Nicole Richie hinted at her daughter’s name change in a birthday tribute shared via Instagram. She tagged Harlow’s Instagram account, which used the handle @katemaddenn, hinting that her eldest child with husband Joel Madden is now going by her middle name Kate.
Elliot McLean
At 9 years old, AJ McLean’s daughter, born Ava, opted to change her 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 later told People that he would “support” Elliott and revealed the reason behind 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 is not, but it is a personal choice,” he said. “And it is 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 reasoning it is, that’s hers, and I’m going to support it a million percent, my wife will [too].”
AJ said that Elliott told him, “Dad, I just feel like my name is not that unique and not that original, and there’s a lot of Avas at dance and a lot of Avas at school.”
Shi Jolie
Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie’s second-eldest daughter, Shiloh, filed paperwork to drop her father’s last name and legally become Shiloh Jolie in May 2024. A few months later, in August 2024, Us Weekly confirmed that her name request was granted.
The teen seemingly changed her name further in June 2025 when a press release for Isabel Marant’s capsule collection with Net-A-Porter listed her name as Shi Jolie. (Shi was credited as a choreographer for an original dance number at the event.)
Zahara Jolie
Zahara, the eldest daughter of Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, appeared to drop “Pitt” from her name when she joined the Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority at Spelman College in November 2023. Video footage at the time showed her introducing herself as “Zahara Marley Jolie.”
Vivienne Jolie
Like her sisters, Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie’s youngest daughter, Vivienne, was credited as “Vivienne Jolie” in a playbill for Broadway’s The Outsiders in May 2024, Us confirmed at the time.
Elle King
The daughter of Rob Schneider and London King was born Tanner Elle Schneider. She began going by her stage name, Elle King, when she was 18 years old, hoping to create an identity that was separate from her famous dad.
“I wanted to be myself,” she told ABC News in 2015. “I am 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 … is my mother’s name … I took that name because I wanted to be myself.”
Malia Ann
Barack and Michelle Obama’s daughter Malia dropped the famous Obama name and used her middle name, Ann, for her 2024 short film, The Heart.
“You’re trying to distinguish yourself,” Michelle said on Kate and Oliver Hudson‘s “Sibling Revelry” podcast. “It is very important for my kids to feel like they’ve earned what they are getting in the world, and they don’t want people to assume that they don’t work hard, that they’re just naturally handed things. They’re very sensitive to that. They want to be their own people.”
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