# Unknown language: Suri, Tom Cruise's "Red Rose"



## Bienvenidos

Hello

I've seen in the news that Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes' daughter's name is "Suri". He (Tom Cruise) says that it means "princess" in Hebrew (I'm not sure of this, maybe our Hebrew-speaking members could help us out here)but he said "suri" means red rose in Persian....I don't know about you guys, but I've never heard of this before! *Surh* is *red....*but *Suri?* Especially with the *u *pronounced as *ú *. In Pashto, *Sur* (pronounced súr) means red....but I don't know if he's referring to Pashto....actually I have no idea. Somebody please provide some clarification; I feel as if I don't even know my own language now! 

*Bien*


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## SofiaB

Not Hebrew and not Farsi
http://www.usatoday.com/life/people/2006-04-20-suri-israel_x.htm
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/gossip/story/410680p-347450c.html
 
These sites say it is Farsi
http://www.farhangsara.com/names.htm http://tehran.stanford.edu/Information/girls.html
http://www.babynames.com/iboards/lofiversion/index.php/t431280.html


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## Josh_

Yeah, I really don't understand movie stars and how they choose names, tattoos, and whatever else. You would think they would verify things in advance before doing something like naming a child or getting permanent ink. This reminds me of the Britany Spears debacle in which she got a tattoo of Hebrew letters on her neck that she thought said "new era" but actually turned out to be gibberish.

Anyway, I don't know Tom's intended pronunciation of the name, but suri, pronounced with a long 'oo' sound like in 'moon', means Syrian in Hebrew.


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## Tisia

hello everyone

This is what I know. 'Sur' in Kurdish and old Persian means 'red' like in Chaharshanbeh Suri "Red Wednesday", the last Wednesday before our new year. Sur is a noun and Suri is an adjective. Suri as well means rose and more especifically 'red rose' in old Persian. 

Regards
Tisia


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## amikama

Josh Adkins said:
			
		

> Anyway, I don't know Tom's intended pronunciation of the name, but suri, pronounced with a long 'oo' sound like in 'moon', means Syrian in Hebrew.


And also "move away!" (feminine imperative). But it doesn't mean "princess" or something alike.


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## elroy

"Suri" means "Syrian" in Arabic too, as well as "my fence."


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## Tisia

I think 'Sur' means great wall as well in Arabic like China's great wall.

Tisia


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## heidita

I have posted this on "extraordinary names" and I heard that the name meant: little princess, which was stated on a nationwide newspaper in Spain like this, they also insist that it is a Jewish name...

I also said, where else but in Hollywood can you get a catholic mother and a cientologist father give a Jewish name to their child?

Well, now it's not Jewish at all .....


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## elroy

Tisia said:
			
		

> I think 'Sur' means great wall as well in Arabic like China's great wall.


 
I would use جدار to describe a great wall.  I think سور is used to describe the Great Wall of China because it kind of looks like a big fence.


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## cherine

Tisia and Elroy,
China's Great Wall in Arabic is : سور الصين العظيم 
I think it's because it was meant to be more than just a wall, but a (de)fence. Like the old wall surrounding Cairo : أسوار القاهرة 
So, like Elroy said, the word *Sur* (with a long "u" like in m*oo*n) means *fence*. 

The word *Suri* in Arabic means : *Syrian *(male adj., the female is suriya) and *my fence*.  (and I don't think Cruise/Holmes meant either  )


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## Bienvenidos

I'm still a little confused as to what their intention in naming their child was. Any other ideas? It seems like we can't pinpoint their desired target language. Would Tom Cruise or Mrs. Cruise care to answer our question?  Come visit us at WR!

*Bien*


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## Flaminius

Could this Suri be a mis-heard Sara (שׂרה)? As the root שׂרר means to rule, claiming that Sarah originally meant princess does not sound far-fetched to me.

Modern Hebrew has several derivatives from the שׂרר. One of them is השתרר (hiśtarer), to prevail.


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## maxl

Flaminius said:
			
		

> Could this Suri be a mis-heard Sara (???)? As the root ??? means to rule, claiming that Sarah originally meant princess does not sound far-fetched to me.
> 
> Modern Hebrew has several derivatives from the ???. One of them is ????? (hi?tarer), to prevail.



It could, if one assumes an Ashkenazi (more precisely Central Yiddish - Polish) pronuciation. Sureh for Sarah.


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## kachalo

hello about the name suri ,im a persian(iranian),in persian suri only means happiness and it is girl name of iranian .

suri isnt arabic girl name !!!!!!!!!!!


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## Flaminius

In Bahasa Indonesia, _permaisuri_ means queen or empress.  Could there be any connection?  I mention this because the word looks like a borrowing from an Indic language.


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