Hebrew question: Suri Cruise

Factual Questions
1

I’m talking, of course, about the daughter of Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes.

The claim is being made (as I understand it, by him) that the name “Suri” means “Princess” in Hebrew.

It has also been claimed by others that “Suri” means “Pickpocket” in Japanese (which I thought was funny, given that Tom’s a Scientologist).

I collect various things, including foreign-language dictionaries, so the other night I thought I’d look this up.

First, the funny part: according to my Random House Japanese-English/English-Japanese dictionary (copyright 1997 by Random House, Inc., 2003 printing), “Suri” DOES mean pickpocket, and vice versa. If I look up “suri” in the Japanese section, the English given is “pickpocket”; and if I look up “pickpocket” in the English section, “suri” is given as the Japanese equivalent.

Second, the unfunny part: I pulled out my Hebrew dictionary (Webster’s New World Hebrew Dictionary–copyright 1992 by Simon and Schuster), and I cannot find a connection between “suri” and “princess”.

If I look up “princess” in the English-Hebrew section, I get this: Noon-Samekh-Yod-Kaf-Heh, which is transliterated as “neseekh/ah”.

On the other hand, if I try to find words that sound like “suri” in the Hebrew-English section, all I can find are words that refer to people from Syria.

So, the GQ: is my Hebrew dictionary incomplete, or is TomKat full of organic fertilizer?

2

“Sarah” is Hebrew for…well not “princess” per se, but something similar. The masculine word “Sar” means lord or chief. While it’s true that “Nasi” means prince (these days, the word is used for president) and therefore “Nasiyah” would be princess, I doubt that “Sar” is so far off the “prince” definition that princess would be an inaccurate translation of Sarah.

And Suri is a frequently-used nickname, at least in Jewish circles, for Sarah. A cousin of mine is called Suri, genuine name Sarah.

3

Apologies in advance for a GQ WAG, but maybe there is/was some kind of Hebrew princess named Suri? I’ve read a few baby name books in my day, and I’m pretty sure sometimes the “origins” are a little confused.

4

A chance to use my enormous Alcalay dictionary, schlepped from The Land in the mid-'80’s.

Nope for English --> Hebrew.

In Hebrew, under samech, I find the same word for “Syrian.” There’s an angel named “Suriel,” which presumably doesn’t mean “My God is a Syrian.” “Sur” means rebellious, banished; twig; gate of the Temple.

Under shin, I find nothing.

5

This site says that Sarah means “princess.”

Here’s an amusing article about the name.

6

Nobody who speaks modern Hebrew will think of a princess when they hear the name Suri.
Maybe, as cmkeller says, there is a minor link from Biblical hebrew between the feminine of the word “sar” (= “chief” in biblical Hebrew, or “cabinet minister” in modern Hebrew).
In Hebrew, unlike English, most first names of people are actual words–for example, types of flowers are popular names for girls, types of animals are popular for boys. But Suri isn’t a word in the dictionary (other than the adjective meaning Syrian).

So saying that that Suri “means” something in Hebrew, is like saying that the English name Theodore means “lover of god” (‘theo’ as in theology, ‘dore’ from ‘adore’. )
It may seem true for a historian of linguistics, but no modern American would think of that when he hears the name Theodore.

7

I hate to disagree with you there, but I know what many “American” names mean, and think of those meanings when I meet a new person. Susan, Lily. Arlene, (–>Charles), a man. Similarly, in Israel people know what their names mean. Dvora, bee, and also a Judge. Ayelit, Morning Star (<–Ayelit ha-Shahar). As a group, Israelis are better at this than Americans because many of those name words are also in common use, like a lot of our last names (“Miller,” miller).

8

…I don’t disagree with you about “Suri,” however.

9

“We seem to have learned a new Hebrew word and from Tom Cruise, no less.”
–anchorman on Channel 2 TV, Israel.
quoted in Time Magazine

10

http://abclocal.go.com/kabc/story?section=entertainment&id=4100933