Celebrity Bad Baby Names: Tom Cruise & Katie Holmes' Baby Arrives!

After what seems like a nearly endless gestation....Katie Holmes has given birth to a daughter, Suri. Purportedly, Cruise (one of the country's most famous Scientologists) and Holmes (who was raised Catholic) claim the name is Hebrew.

Which is news to Israelis. You know, the people who actually speak Hebrew.

According to the website TV Shark, the name is causing a bit of a stir in Israel:

"Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes' choice of a Hebrew-flavored name for their newborn daughter has speakers of the language scratching their heads. Baby Suri's name can be traced to a Hebrew word meaning "princess" or "noblewoman," but by such a circuitous route that the connection is lost on most Israelis. Since the birth Tuesday in Los Angeles, bemused Israeli TV and radio presenters have debated the word's origins. "Nobody here has ever really heard of it," an announcer on Israel's Army Radio said during a discussion Thursday. The Yediot Ahronot newspaper agreed in its half-page splash on the celebrity birth. "We seem to have learned a new Hebrew word and from Tom Cruise, no less," said a Channel 2 TV anchorman."

Endless speculation as to the actual origins of Baby Suri's name can be found on the website Tom Cruise is Nuts, where the contributors have found everything from an alpaca breed known as Suri, to a theory concerning the name of L. Ron Hubbard's pet cockatoo.

Whether the name comes from the furry, the feathered or the Chosen People...Baby Suri is destined to garner a lot of press. And by a strange twist of irony...Brooke Shields also gave birth to a daughter on the exact same day. No news yet as to the name of Shields' newest little girl (daughter Rowan is almost three), but if it's bad, controversial or as in the case of Suri, just plain confusing....we'll keep you posted!