Suri Cruise's new name is a subtle nod to her mum, Katie Holmes.

Suri Cruise was once considered the most famous baby in America — or possibly, the world. 

As the only child of actors Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes, Suri was thrust into the spotlight. 

This was a time when celebrity babies were big business. We're talking about the days when the likes of Brooklyn Beckham, Apple Martin and Shiloh Jolie-Pitt would occupy the coveted front pages of magazines.

And arguably, Suri was the golden baby of that era. But she's not a golden baby anymore. 

Image: Vanity Fair. 

Suri Cruise recently turned 18 and life looks very different for her, compared to the days when she appeared on the cover of Vanity Fair alongside her parents in a photo spread shot by Annie Leibovitz.

She's now a high school graduate and has appeared in a number of plays throughout her schooling years.

Has Suri Cruise changed her name?

It was reported in 2023 that Suri had changed her last name, going by ‘Suri Noelle’. Hello! reports that Suri Cruise debuted her name for the first time on the audience pamphlet for her performance of Head Over Heels in New York in May.

The 18-year-old graduated in 2024, listing her name on the graduation sheet at New York's prestigious LaGuardia High School, which specialises in performing arts, as 'Suri Noelle'. 

The young actress wore a white summer dress and strappy low heels, posing alongside mum Katie Holmes who was dressed in butter-yellow. There was no sign of father Tom Cruise at the celebration.

Suri is rumoured to be attending Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh when the year starts in September. The graduation comes just days after her senior prom, which she was seen attending in a 90s-style dress alongside a brunette date. 

While we cannot be sure if the 18-year-old has officially changed her name, it’s clear that she intends to distance herself from her father’s last name, Cruise.

For those unaware, the choice of last name, Noelle, is a subtle nod to her mother, Katie Holmes, as it is her middle name.

Suri's 18th birthday came at an awkward time, as Cruise's former co-star, Dakota Fanning, simultaneously revealed, in an interview with Harper's Bazaar, that she has received a birthday gift from Tom every year since they starred in War of the Worlds together. 

Tom Cruise and Dakota Fanning during the 2005 MTV Movie Awards. Image: Getty.

"Tom sends me a birthday gift every year, and has since that birthday," she said. "So thoughtful, yeah really, really nice."

Fans thought it strange that Cruise had kept up such a close friendship with Fanning, while the relationship with his own daughter appears so icy.

When did Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes divorce?

Cruise first declared his love for Holmes while jumping on Oprah's couch in 2005, the couple then got engaged after just two months of dating before they welcomed Suri on April 18, 2006.

Cruise and Holmes got hitched in an Italian wedding in 2006, before splitting after five years of marriage in 2012.

Holmes was granted full custody and, as part of their divorce settlement, the Mission Impossible actor agreed to pay $400,000 per year (roughly $620,000AUD) in child support. 

Page Six reported that Suri’s relationship with her father soured when Holmes "blindsided" him by filing for divorce in 2012. In the following trial in 2013, Cruise claimed Holmes filed for divorce "to protect Suri from Scientology," court documents revealed.

In the years since their divorce was finalised, Cruise hasn't been photographed with Suri, a stark contrast to how often he was spotted carrying Suri in the early years of their marriage.

While he has been estranged from Suri since the divorce, Cruise is still reportedly close with his two older children — Isabella and Connor Cruise — the two kids he adopted with ex-wife, Nicole Kidman.

Now that Suri has come of age, some expect her to speak out about what it was like being raised by a prominent member of the Church of Scientology.

Cruise’s three ex-wives — Mimi Rogers, Kidman and Holmes — have remained tight-lipped about their marriages, and some have speculated this is due to them signing non-disclosure agreements. 

In the case of Suri, she would have been too young to sign any contract preventing her from speaking transparently about what it was like growing up in the spotlight. 

Katie Holmes and Suri Cruise in 2017. Image: Getty. 

While Holmes has never spoken out about Cruise, she speaks lovingly about raising her daughter.

"I didn't know how much love I had in me. It's overwhelming," she told Glamour in 2014. "Every day I discover more about this spectacular human being I get to be the mother of."

The Dawson's Creek star is known for being notoriously private about her personal life and now prides herself on bringing Suri up away from the public eye. 

"This business is so unstable, and you never really know where you're going to be… My child is the most important person to me, and her upbringing is paramount to my work right now," she told Town & Country in 2017.

"It's very important that I'm present and she has a stable, innocent childhood." 

Feature image: Getty.

This article was originally published in April 2024, and has been updated since with new information.

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