Does Suri Cruise Have A Middle Name?
It's no secret that Tom Cruise and his daughter Suri have had a strained relationship for years, with speculation about their rift being further fueled by the revelation that Suri dropped her father's last name. While it's unclear if the move was as official as Shiloh Jolie-Pitt's effort to legally change her last name, Suri did adopt a different surname in the programs for a school play and her high school graduation.
Unlike celebs Lea Michele and Selma Blair, the A-list offspring wasn't able to use a middle moniker in place of her true last name. Why? Well, Suri Cruise doesn't actually have a middle name. Instead, at the milestone ceremony Tom Cruise was notably absent from, Suri was listed by the name "Suri Noelle," taking the middle name of her mother, Katie Holmes.
While it was once uncommon for the average person to have a middle name, the tradition has become the norm in the modern era, with The Atlantic reporting that 75% of Americans were given a second name by the 1970s. In this way, it's a little surprising that Suri doesn't have a middle name, but there might be a reason behind the choice.
The meaning behind Suri's name
We don't know why Suri Cruise doesn't have a middle name, as neither Tom Cruise nor Katie Holmes have commented on the decision, but we do know a few things about the celeb's moniker. After Suri was born on April 18, 2006, a press release from Tom's representative revealed that the name Suri means "princess" in Hebrew and "red rose" in Persian.
This was seemingly why the couple was attracted to the name, but some fans speculated there was another factor behind the choice. The name "Suri Cruise" sounds strikingly similar to "Syracuse," the New York town that Tom Cruise is from. According to Movoto, this is a likeness that Syracuse natives are well aware of, despite the celebrity parents never commenting on it. It's even possible that this phonic similarity is the reason Suri doesn't have a middle name, as it would disrupt the geographical reference.
Either way, Suri has chosen to forgo her legal surname, instead adopting her mom's middle name Noelle, in its place. Defined as "Christmas," the name pairs with her first moniker to mean "red rose Christmas" or "princess Christmas." While pretty, it's also a significant tribute to Holmes and Suri's close relationship. "She is showing praise for her mother by using her middle name," a source told Page Six, adding that Suri was ready to define "her own identity."
Tom Cruise also had a notable name change
While Suri Cruise's name change indicates a growing distance between the young New Yorker and her dad, it actually connects the estranged father-daughter duo in an ironic way. As it turns out, Tom Cruise changed his name when he got to Hollywood, being born Thomas Cruise Mapother IV. The "Mission: Impossible" star dropped Mapother as a last name, instead legally adopting his middle name, Cruise, in its place.
This move alone is similar to what Suri has done, but the two Hollywood figures potentially have similar motivations behind their name changes. While Tom wouldn't be the first actor to adopt a more marketable moniker, many have speculated that the change was partially prompted by his negative relationship with his father, Thomas Cruise Mapother III. "He was a bully and a coward," Tom told Parade in 2006 (via Today). "He was the kind of person where, if something goes wrong, they kick you."
In this way, Suri's modern name change feels like a repeat of the past, one that we have to imagine is hard for a father to witness.