Tom Cruise - New Born Baby Suri News

So, what do you think of Cruise's baby?

Jerusalem (Reuters) -- Suri, the name chosen by Hollywood couple Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes for their newborn daughter, is raising more than its share of interest in Israel.

It means "get out of here" in the local language, Hebrew.

News of the naming puzzled even those Israelis who thought they had seen it all after pop diva Madonna turned the ancient Jewish mystical tradition Kabbalah into a faith for the famous.

"I really don't know what they were thinking when they chose this name. It's a term that denotes expulsion, like 'Get out of here'," said Gideon Goldenberg, a linguistics professor at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. "It's pretty blunt."

Yaron London, a cultural commentator for Israel's Channel 10 television, had this rhetorical question for Suri's proud parents: "Why didn't you just go back to your ancestors' language, and call the kid 'Scram Cruise'?"

A Cruise family spokesman said last week that Suri has its origins in ancient Hebrew, as a variant on Sarah, the biblical matriarch. But that pronunciation is all but unknown in Israel.

There are exceptions. Jerusalem journalist Surie Ackerman said her name was a formalized version of a nickname given by fellow ultra-Orthodox Jews in her native United States.

"It sounds strange to me that a non-Jewish, Scientology baby should be called Suri," Ackerman said, referring to the alternative church which counts Cruise among its devotees.

"But there are plenty of strange names in the world."

And there are plenty of alternative meanings for Suri.

It's also a Nubian tribe, the word for "rose" in Persian, "sun" in Sanskrit and a term for a form of Alpaca's wool.

Cruise: Birth 'really very spiritual'

Rome, Italy (Reuters) -- Movie star Tom Cruise was in Rome to promote his latest blockbuster on Monday, but his main mission was to rush back home to his bride-to-be Katie Holmes and baby daughter and resume diaper duties.

The 43-year-old told a news conference in Rome ahead of the world premiere of "Mission: Impossible III" that he would cut short his European promotional tour, also scheduled for Paris -- the city in which he and Holmes were engaged 10 months ago.

"It was everything that we wanted it to be and more," Cruise said of the birth last week of Suri. "It was really very spiritual."

The Hollywood A-lister suggested that he wasn't afraid to get his hands dirty.

"I changed her first," he said.

"I change diapers all the time. I have to tell you I love it. We have a whole system worked out. It's the 'B and B' -- she does the breast feeding and I do the burping and changing the diapers. It's teamwork. It's fun."

Cruise has two older children that he adopted during his marriage to actress Nicole Kidman -- 13-year-old Isabella and 11-year-old Connor. Suri was his first biological child.

"My own 'Mission Impossible' was getting here. That was the Mission Impossible. Because it kept going back and forth," Cruise said.

"I wasn't going to come and then Kate said, you know, 'Go. Go.' ... So I'm here. And I'll be here for a few hours and then I'll get back on an airplane and go back home to Kate and Suri."

He was joined at the briefing by other stars from the film, including Oscar-winner Philip Seymour Hoffman who plays the arch-villain, a black-market arms dealer.

"Mission: Impossible III" is an adrenaline-packed two hours of death-dodging that sees the action star leaping from Shanghai skyscrapers and breaking into Vatican City.

Part of the film was shot in Rome, the city where Cruise and Holmes, known in tabloid shorthand as "TomKat," first made their romance public in late April 2005, smiling for photographers during the David di Donatello awards.

The following month, the twice-divorced Cruise made a manic, couch-hopping profession of love for Holmes on The Oprah Winfrey Show. The couple got engaged in Paris in June.

He was gushing again about Holmes in Rome, saying childbirth had deepened his love for her.

"I look at Kate and my admiration and love and respect for her, although I didn't think it could get any more, it became more," Cruise said. "It was very beautiful."

His whirlwind romance and recent public discussions of his belief in Scientology, the church founded by science fiction writer L. Ron Hubbard, have also made Cruise the butt of jokes.

He did not say whether the couple adhered to the Church of Scientology's practice of "silent birth" emphasizing a calm, quiet atmosphere in the delivery room.

A journalist asked whether Cruise had sent one of the publicists for his film to a Scientology center for two days.

"People are really interested in Scientology and every day ask me about it. So I say, yeah, if you want to know about Scientology, go find out about Scientology," Cruise responded. "That's the best way to find out about something, for yourself."

Cruise: Holmes now a Scientologist

Tom Cruise says his Catholic-born fiancee, actress Katie Holmes, has joined him as a follower of the Church of Scientology. Cruise, 43, addressed questions about the religious faith of his pregnant bride-to-be, the child they are expecting and Scientology's practice of "silent birth" in an ABC News television interview broadcast Friday.

Excerpts from the interview, conducted by Diane Sawyer, were released by the Walt Disney Co.-owned network as part of a publicity blitz linking the impending birth of Cruise's first biological child with his upcoming film, "Mission: Impossible: III."

Asked whether their baby would be given a Catholic baptism, Cruise said, "No," then added: "I mean you can be Catholic and be a Scientologist. You can be Jewish and be a Scientologist. But we're just Scientologists." "Katie, too?" Sawyer asked. "Katie, too," he replied. (AP)

Tom Cruise swaps diapers changing for UK premiere

Tom Cruise put off seeing his newborn daughter to attend the British premiere of his new action film, "Mission: Impossible III," on Tuesday.

The Hollywood actor had been due to return to the United States to see his bride-to-be Katie Holmes and baby Suri, but decided instead to stay in Europe for a publicity tour.

Wearing a black suit and shirt and dark glasses, he made one of his customary extended walkabouts in London's Leicester Square. He posed for pictures, chatted to fans and signed autographs for four hours.

"I talked with Katie and she said 'go'," he told Reuters Television. "I realized that there would be people who'd be disappointed if I wasn't going to come."

It is Cruise's third outing as the American agent Ethan Hunt in the spy thriller based on the 1960s television series. The film takes him from Shanghai to the Vatican City.

Part of the film was shot in Rome, the city where Cruise and Holmes, known in tabloid shorthand as "TomKat," first made their romance public.

At his last premiere in London, Cruise was squirted with a water pistol by a bogus TV reporter working for a comedy show.

The man used a fake microphone to spray the actor as he chatted to journalists before the UK premiere of "War of the Worlds." A flustered Cruise grabbed the man and repeatedly called him a "jerk."

On Tuesday, Cruise laughed off the incident, saying he had no fears of being doused again. "I love it here, it didn't change anything," he said.

Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes Welcomes Baby Girl

Los Angeles, CA (April 18, 2006) - Tom Cruise, 43, and his fiancée Katie Holmes, 27, joyously welcomed the arrival of a baby girl, Suri, today. The child weighed 7 pounds, 7 ounces and was 20 inches in length. Both mother and daughter are doing well. This is the first child for Mr. Cruise and Ms. Holmes. Mr. Cruise also has a daughter, Isabella, 13, and a son, Connor, 11. The name Suri has its origins in Hebrew meaning “princess,” or in Persian meaning “red rose.”

It's Baby Suri for Cruise & Holmes

Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes are celebrating after becoming parents to a healthy baby girl in Los Angeles yesterday. The couple plans to call their daughter Suri, according to a statement from publicist Arnold Robinson, who insists "mother and baby are doing well." Suri, which is Hebrew for Princess, is Cruise's first natural child - the actor has two adopted children, Connor and Isabella. It's the first child for Batman Begins star Holmes.

Cruise recently revealed he and his fiancee arrived at a name for their child after coming across it in a book. He said, "Friends of ours gave us a book and we just opened it and instantly came up with the name." The couple now plans to wed later this year after Cruise has delivered another baby - his latest Mission: Impossible III adventure in May. Holmes and Cruise started dating a year ago and first announced the news of their baby plans last October.

Ironically, baby Suri was born on the same day as Brooke Shields' new daughter Grier. Cruise and Shields launched a war of words last year when the Scientologist actor criticized the Suddenly Susan star for publicly championing medication that helped her overcome post-natal depression following the birth of her first child.