Inside Tom Cruise’s complicated relationship with his children, as daughter Suri drops his name

Tom Cruise’s family life is back in the spotlight after reports that one of his children, Suri, has officially dropped his surname.

According to Entertainment Weekly, the 20-year-old, who is about to start her third year at university, has legally changed her last name from Cruise to Noelle, her mum Katie Holmes’ middle name, according to voter registration records.

It’s not actually the first sign that Suri had distanced herself from the Cruise name. Back in 2024, when she graduated from LaGuardia High School in Manhattan, the graduation programme reportedly listed her as “Suri Noelle.”

The move has once again drawn attention to Tom Cruise’s long-reported estrangement from his youngest child. The Mission: Impossible actor has not been publicly photographed with Suri since he and Katie Holmes split in 2012.

Tom and Katie’s relationship moved pretty quickly. They got together in 2005, welcomed Suri the following year, and married in an Italian ceremony in 2006. Holmes filed for divorce in June 2012 after five years of marriage, and the pair have largely kept details of their family life private ever since.

While things appear distant with Suri, Tom’s relationships with his other children tell a very different story.

The actor, who turned 64 earlier this month, has three children across two marriages. Before Katie Holmes, he was married to Nicole Kidman, and during their relationship the pair adopted two children after experiencing fertility struggles.

Their daughter, Isabella “Bella” Cruise, joined the family in 1992, followed by son Connor Cruise three years later. Although Tom has generally kept both of them away from the public eye, the occasional appearance together over the years has suggested they remain close.

Unlike Suri, both Bella and Connor are practising Scientologists and have stayed involved with the Church, something that has often been noted as a key difference between Tom’s relationships with his older children and his youngest daughter.

Meanwhile, Suri has built a life largely out of the spotlight with Holmes and now appears to have taken another step in distancing herself from her father by officially adopting the surname Noelle.

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