Katie Holmes and Tom Cruise's daughter has quietly taken a major legal step to distance herself from the Hollywood superstar.
Public records have confirmed that 20-year-old Suri has legally dropped "Cruise" from her name, in a move that remained under the radar for nearly two years.
The revelation has drawn comparisons between Suri's decision and the recent wave of Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie's children choosing to remove their father's surname.
Highlights
- Suri has officially dropped "Cruise" from her legal name, quietly replacing it with one that honors her mother.
- The legal move has reignited Suri's over-a-decade-long estrangement from her father, Tom Cruise, and their years-long lack of contact.
- Many online are comparing Suri's decision to that of several of Brad Pitt's children, who have removed his famous surname in recent years.
One netizen wrote, "We need a study on what Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt did to their families."
The now-20-year-old Suri quietly changed her legal name nearly two years ago, shortly after turning 18
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Suri's legal name change first came to light on Tuesday, July 28, after Page Six uncovered public voter registration records from Allegheny County, Pennsylvania.
It's the same county where she is currently studying musical theater at Carnegie Mellon University's prestigious School of Drama.
The records show that the 20-year-old is now legally registered as Suri Noelle, confirming she officially dropped her father’s surname.
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According to the outlet, Pennsylvania requires residents to register to vote using their exact government-recognized legal name, making the filing public confirmation that the name change had already been completed.
Reportedly, Suri did not file any name-change petitions in Pennsylvania, indicating she quietly finalized the legal process in New York before leaving for college.
The timeline also suggests the transition began shortly after she turned 18 in April 2024, when she became legally able to change her name without requiring parental consent.
Neither Tom nor Katie has publicly addressed the legal name change.
Suri had already begun distancing herself from the "Cruise" surname long before the legal filing surfaced
Long before the public records emerged, Suri had already hinted at the change in professional settings.
In May 2024, she was listed as Suri Noelle in the Playbill for her high school production of Head Over Heels, marking the first public sign that she had stopped using Tom’s famous last name.
The following month, the same name reportedly appeared in her LaGuardia High School graduation program, prompting speculation at the time.
However, it wasn't until this week's Page Six report that the change was confirmed to be legal rather than simply a professional preference.
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According to reports, Suri chose "Noelle" as a tribute to her mother, Katie Noelle Holmes, who has largely raised her in New York since her parents' split.
Sources also suggested that the new name offers her greater privacy as she pursues musical theater while allowing her to establish an identity separate from one of Hollywood's most recognizable surnames.
Addressing the decision, one source told the outlet, "She is showing praise for her mother by using her middle name," adding that she also "wants her own identity."
The legal move comes after more than a decade of estrangement between Tom and his daughter, who were last seen together in 2012
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The revelation has also renewed attention on Suri's long-reported estrangement from her father.
Katie filed for divorce from Cruise in June 2012 after nearly six years of marriage and was granted primary custody of their daughter.
During a 2013 legal deposition, the Mission: Impossible star acknowledged that Scientology was one of the reasons Holmes sought the divorce and admitted he had not seen Suri for more than 100 days at the time.
According to multiple reports, Tom was asked whether Holmes had left him "to protect Suri from Scientology," to which he replied, "That was one of the assertions, yes."
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Publicly, the father-daughter duo was last photographed together in July 2012 during a trip to Disney World.
Since then, there have been no confirmed public sightings of Tom and Suri together.
Meanwhile, Katie has continued to keep Suri largely out of the spotlight while supporting her artistic ambitions, including having her contribute vocals to two of her films.
Suri's legal move has also sparked comparisons to another famous Hollywood family.
Many online are comparing Suri's decision to the recent wave of Brad Pitt's children dropping his famous surname
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Many netizens pointed out the similarities between her decision and the recent actions of several of Brad and Angelina’s children, including Shiloh, Vivienne, Zahara, and Maddox, who have either legally or professionally dropped "Pitt" from their names after reaching adulthood.
One person wrote, "Why are so many of Hollywood's top actors such shi**y fathers?"
Another commented, "What happened to starkids, why are they hating their father's name?"
A third user added, "One thing I didn't understand is why they are dropping their father's last name. I have seen the same with Brad Pitt."
Others argued the decision was less about family conflict and more about privacy.
Image credits: Jean Catuffe/Getty Images
"What's the big deal? Can you imagine introducing yourself with the last name Cruise? People asking you every 10 seconds, 'Are you related to Tom Cruise?' I'd change my name too to have some anonymity and independence," one commenter wrote.
Another added, "Why would she keep his name? He hasn't been in her life her whole life. I would too!"
Under her new legal name, Suri is also building a stage career, having landed a role in the upcoming college production of Midsummer!, a modern adaptation of William Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream.
The production will premiere in Pittsburgh later this week, before heading to the 2026 Edinburgh Festival Fringe in Scotland.
“Turns out the one mission that was impossible was being a dad… says a lot about the kind of person he is,” wrote one netizen
