NEWSKatie Holmes' Daughter Suri Subtly Paid Homage to Famous Mom Before Legally Dropping Dad Tom Cruise’s Last Name
Suri Cruise legally dropped Tom Cruise's last name.
July 31 2026, Published 8:28 a.m. ET
Suri Cruise has legally changed her name, dropping the surname of her estranged father, Tom Cruise.
The 20-year-old daughter of Cruise and Katie Holmes is now legally using the name Suri Noelle, according to her October 2024 voter registration in Pennsylvania’s Allegheny County, where she attends Carnegie Mellon University.
Pennsylvania courts confirmed to Page Six that residents must register to vote under their legal name.
She used Katie Holmes' middle name as her surname.
Noelle is also Holmes’ middle name.
A Name Already Used Publicly
She first publicly used the name Noelle at her 2024 high school graduation.
It is not clear exactly when Suri completed the legal change, but it was not done in Allegheny County, suggesting the filing may have happened in New York before she moved for college.
Depending on the county, New York name change filings may be sealed automatically or sealed upon request.
Suri had already been using Noelle publicly. She first drew attention for using the name in the ceremony pamphlet for her June 2024 graduation from LaGuardia High School.
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What a Name Change Does — and Doesn’t — Say
Legal experts said adult name changes often reflected personal choices.
“A legal name change, especially for an adult, is often much more personal than people realize,” said Hannah Hembree Bell, founder and CEO of Hembree Bell Law Firm.
“It can reflect a desire for privacy, a stronger connection to one side of the family, professional reasons, or simply wanting a name that better reflects who they are,” she added. “From a legal standpoint, it doesn't necessarily tell us anything about the quality of a parent-child relationship.”
Hembree Bell said adult name changes are usually “straightforward.”
“Courts are primarily looking to make sure the request isn't being made to commit fraud or avoid legal obligations,” she explained. “They're not making judgments about family dynamics or taking sides in personal relationships.”
Suri Builds Her Own Path
Suri Noelle continued building her career while studying musical theater.
Suri is studying musical theater in Carnegie Mellon’s School of Drama. She recently appeared in a one-night-only staged reading of Cosmic Microwave Background at Pittsburgh’s New Hazlett Theater and is starring this summer in Midsummer!, a modern take on A Midsummer Night’s Dream, alongside other CMU students.
Holmes and Cruise, a committed Scientologist, welcomed Suri in April 2006 and married later that year. Holmes filed for divorce in 2012, citing a need to “protect Suri from Scientology.”
“With celebrity families, these filings often become public conversations because people naturally want to assign meaning to them,” Hembree Bell said. “But a legal filing only tells us that someone changed their name — it doesn't explain the years of personal experiences, conversations, or reasons that led to that decision.”
