Michelle Obama Addresses Her Daughter Malia’s Name Change

The former First Lady spoke about her daughter’s name change during an interview published on Wednesday. The 26-year-old is pursuing a career in Hollywood, and her decision became apparent last year.

Michelle Obama’s eldest daughter, Malia Obama, dropped her last name last year, choosing to go by Malia Ann (her second name) when her short film, "The Heart," premiered at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival in October.

Ahead of its screening, Malia shared some stills from the film, which she wrote and directed, and spoke about what went into creating the project.

Her mother addressed her name change during an appearance on the "Sibling Revelry" podcast, hosted by Oliver and Kate Hudson, alongside her brother, Craig Robinson.

"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, just handed things," Michelle said.

The mom of two, who also shares University of Southern California alum Sasha Obama with her husband, Barack Obama, acknowledged how her girls wanted to distinguish themselves as children of well-known parents.

At the same time, however, she saw how they began to embrace her and Barack’s parenting principles as young adults.