See the celebrity kids who dropped their parents’ last names

Suri Cruise: Suri Noelle

Although it seems impossible, Suri, the daughter of Katie Holmes and Tom Cruise, has now graduated from high school.

On the big day, Suri’s name appeared on the program for her New York high school graduation as “Suri Noelle” instead of “Suri Cruise.”

Malia Obama: Malia Ann

To avoid any stereotypes that come with being the president’s daughter (her parents are Barack Obama and Michelle Obama), 25-year-old Malia Obama dropped her well-known last name and instead went by Malia Ann—her middle name—when presenting her short film at the Sundance Film Festival in January.

she showed The heartwhich is about a grieving son whose mother left him an unusual request in her will when she died, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Tanner Elle Schneider: Elle King

Elle King, the daughter of comedian Rob Schneider and model London King, changed her name from Tanner Elle Schneider when she decided to turn to music because she wanted to follow her own path.

“I wanted to be my own person. I never wanted to borrow money from anyone and I worked hard for my family and for myself,” she told PEOPLE in February 2023. “I want to build a life for myself and I want to know that I accomplished it.”

Mamie Gummer: Natalie Stern

Actress Mamie Gummer did not really have a say in the matter when she starred alongside her mother Meryl Streep in heartburn At 20 months old, Streep decided to change her daughter’s name to Natalie Stern to protect her identity. When she was older, Gummer decided to keep her real name. (Streep’s youngest daughter, actress Louisa Jacobson, also doesn’t use her real last name, but that’s because of Screen Actors Guild restrictions, not to distance herself from her famous family.)

Michael Neeson: Michael Richardson

Liam Neeson’s son Micheál gave up his surname for a touching reason: to honor his mother Natasha Richardson, who died in 2009 from blunt force trauma following a skiing accident.

“I think he did the right thing. It was a beautiful tribute… Natasha’s family, mother and sisters were very touched by it, as was I,” Liam Neeson told Andy Cohen on Radio Andy in 2020.

Emilio Estevez

Emilio Estevez uses his famous father’s real surname and forgoes the stage name Martin Sheen, which his father used throughout his career.

Sheen, born Ramon Estevez, said Weekly closer that he regrets being persuaded to change his last name for Hollywood and is glad his son Emilio kept it. (One of his other sons, Charlie, goes by the name Sheen professionally.)

“The only influence I had on Emilio was to keep his name,” Sheen said. “When he first started, his agent advised him to change his name to Sheen, and he didn’t want to do it. And I thank God he didn’t.”

Nicolas Coppola: Nicolas Cage

You might think that having an Oscar-nominated director for an uncle would be a welcome advantage in the industry, but as a young actor in the ’80s, Nicolas Cage (pictured with his uncle Francis Ford Coppola and cousin Sofia Coppola) was desperate to distance himself from his famous family.

“People wouldn’t stop saying things like, ‘I love the smell of Nicolas in the morning,'” he recalled to Wired the reference to his uncle’s film Apocalypse now. “I decided I didn’t need that, so I changed it to Cage. It’s a combination of Luke Cage from Marvel Comics… and John Cage, the avant-garde composer. That says a lot about what I’ve done since then.”