Suri Cruise, 20, legally changed her last name from Cruise to Noelle, her mother's middle name, in July 2026 through Pennsylvania voter registration records [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9]. The change was confirmed by her listing as Suri Noelle on official voter rolls by mid-2026 [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9].

Suri has not had significant contact with her father, actor Tom Cruise, for many years and lives estranged from him [1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 9]. Her parents divorced in 2012 when she was 6. Since then, Suri was raised by her mother, actress Katie Holmes [6, 8, 9]. Holmes has had sole legal custody, allowing her to make legal decisions for Suri until she turned 18 [8]. Family law expert Monica Mazzei explained Holmes could have legally consented to the name change on Suri's behalf before age 18 if desired [8].

Suri began planning the name change around age 18 to honor her mother and escape the constant paparazzi attention linked to Cruise's celebrity name [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9]. She officially graduated high school in 2024 using the surname Noelle [5, 6, 8].

Currently a musical theater student at Carnegie Mellon University, Suri has performed in stage plays since high school, including a lead role in "The Addams Family" musical [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7]. She is scheduled to perform in a modern adaptation of Shakespeare's "A Midsummer Night's Dream" in Pittsburgh at the end of July 2026 and at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in Scotland in August 2026 [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7].

Katie Holmes expressed pride and support for her daughter's new phase of life, saying, "I’m proud of my daughter. Of course, I will miss the close proximity, but I’m really proud of her, and I’m happy. I remember being this age, this time of beginnings. It’s exciting to learn about yourself, and I loved that time, so it makes me happy to think about it like that" [8].

Suri's name change is widely seen as a symbolic break from her father, severing family ties [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9]. Around the same time, Brad Pitt’s daughter Vivienne also applied to remove the Pitt surname near her 18th birthday in July 2026 [5, 9].