Margot Robbie's Ackerley name change sparks
Margot Robbie legally changed her surname to Ackerley after a decade of marriage, a move that has ignited a wider conversation about choice, tradition, and
Margot Robbie formally adopted her husband Tom Ackerley’s surname in UK corporate filings nearly ten years after their marriage, while maintaining her professional name. A Companies House filing submitted in September records the change from Margot Elise Robbie to Margot Elise Ackerley for her role at LuckyChap Entertainment. She had been registered under her maiden name since becoming a director of the production company in May 2015. The documents do not indicate whether she plans to use her married name professionally. She continues to be publicly credited as Margot Robbie on her recent projects.
How they met and built a life together
Margot Robbie and Tom Ackerley met while working on the film 'Suite Française', where she starred and he worked as an assistant director. They became friends and then roommates before their relationship turned romantic around 2014. The couple married in an intimate ceremony in Byron Bay, Australia, in December 2016.
In a 2016 interview, Robbie said she had not expected to fall in love with him, describing herself as 'the ultimate single gal' and saying the idea of relationships made her want to vomit. She later said, 'Of course we’re together. This makes so much sense, the way nothing has ever made sense before.' The couple, both 36, co-founded LuckyChap Entertainment with friends Josey McNamara and Sophia Kerr. Ackerley has said they do not make a conscious effort to separate work from personal lives. 'It’s seamless. We don’t have a toggle on, toggle off. It’s all become one thing,' he stated.
The company has produced films including 'I, Tonya', 'Birds of Prey', 'Barbie', and 'Saltburn'. Current projects in development include a live-action 'The Sims', an 'Ocean’s Eleven' prequel directed by Bradley Cooper, and a 'Sleepy Hollow' adaptation starring Sydney Sweeney. The couple welcomed their first child, a son, in October 2024. In a lighter marital detail, they have reportedly debated whether the Australian Tim Tam or the British Penguin is the superior chocolate biscuit.
The cultural conversation it ignited
The surname change has stirred discourse about tradition, patriarchy, and women's individual choice. Rebecca Shaw noted, 'We don’t know why she has done this, but it has nonetheless caused a stir.' The commentary suggests that in the overwhelming majority of straight marriages, the woman changes her name to the man’s, a pattern observed even within urban feminist circles.
The central critique is not of name changes themselves, but of when they become a foregone conclusion without discussion or active choice. One example cited is a colleague whose future husband made name-taking a dealbreaker, a stance viewed as unacceptable. The default assumption that children also take the father's surname is another point of contention, given women typically bear and birth children and often handle most childcare.
An alternative proposal is choosing a shared surname based on which sounds 'cooler' or offers more professional success, rather than automatic tradition. In this hypothetical scenario, surnames would be evaluated for their appeal. Shaw offered a blunt assessment of the specific names in question, remarking, 'Margot Ackerley, it simply rolls off the tongue,' while separately stating that 'Mr Ackerley sounds like a cat throwing up' and should become Mr Robbie.
Margot Robbie will continue to be publicly credited as Margot Robbie on her recent projects despite the legal name change.
