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Brad Pitt remains hopeful about reconnecting with his kids.

“After years of legal battles, Brad still isn’t ready to give up on his children,” a source exclusively tells Us Weekly. “But knowing his children are dropping his last name is upsetting.”

The update comes on the heels of several of Pitt, 60, and Angelina Jolie’s children dropping his last name, opting to just use her surname instead. (Pitt and Jolie, 49, share kids Maddox, 22, Pax, 19, Zahara, 18, Shiloh, 18, and twins Vivienne and Knox, 15.)

Back in November, Zahara introduced herself as “Zahara Marley Jolie” while joining the Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority at Spelman College. “Coming all the way from the Golden State in the city that is full of angels, Los Angeles, California,” Zahara said in a clip shared by Essence at the time. “I am this line’s number seven.”

Months later, Vivienne followed in her older sister’s footsteps. Us confirmed in May that the Playbill for The Outsiders: A New Musical — which Jolie is producing — credited Vivienne with her mom’s maiden name rather than the hyphenated “Jolie-Pitt.” It’s unclear whether Vivienne legally changed her name.

Us confirmed on Tuesday, June 4, that Shiloh hired her own lawyer in the case to drop Pitt’s last name. The court docs were filed on May 27 — which also marked her 18th birthday, making her a legal adult — and the request has yet to be approved.

Jason LaVeris/FilmMagicThe name changes come after Pitt’s security guard, Tony Webb, claimed that Jolie encouraged their children to ice out the actor during custody visits. Per court docs obtained by Us earlier this month, Webb alleged that a former employee, Ross Foster, told him “about statements he overheard that Ms. Jolie made to the children, encouraging them to avoid spending time with Mr. Pitt during custody visits.”

Pitt and Jolie were together for a decade before they exchanged vows in August 2014. Two years later, the pair called it quits and have been in a long-standing legal battle ever since. In 2019, Pitt and Jolie were declared legally single. They have yet to come to an agreement regarding their divorce or the custody of their minor children and ownership over their French winery, Chateau Miraval.

However, in March, an insider told Us that their legal battle could reach its end soon — with Jolie receiving primary custody of her and Pitt’s twins, their only underage children. Pitt, for his part, “isn’t thrilled” with the arrangement but agreed to it.

“He wishes their relationship was stronger and wants to work on that,” the source said, adding that Pitt is disappointed he “doesn’t see the kids” as often as he’d like to.