Cruz is a surname of Iberian origin, first found in Castile, Spain, but later spread throughout the territories of the former Spanish and Portuguese Empires. In Spanish and Portuguese, the word means "cross", either the Christian cross or the figure of transecting lines or ways. For example, in the Philippines, the adopted Tagalog word is rendered to "krus" in plain usage, but the Spanish spelling survives as a surname. The word "Cruz" (Spanish for "Cross"), as well as "Vera Cruz" ("True Cross") and "Santa Cruz" ("Holy Cross") are used as surnames and toponyms. Its origin as a surname particularly flourished after the Alhambra Decree of 1492 and the increasing activities of the Spanish Inquisition, when New Christian families with Crypto-Jewish, Moorish, and/or mixed religious heritage converted to the state-enforced religion of Catholicism and subsequently fashioned and adopted surnames with unambiguous religious affiliation. People with the surname General Alberto Cruz (disambiguation), multiple people Alejandro Cruz (disambiguation), multiple people Alex Cruz (disambiguation), multiple people Arturo Cruz (1923–2013), Nicaraguan rebel leader Carlos Cruz (disambiguation), multiple people Isagani Cruz (c. 1924 – 2013), Filipino judge Juan-Carlos Cruz (born 1962), Dominican American celebrity chef Maria Silva Cruz (1915-1936), Spanish anarchist Maximiano Tuazon Cruz (1923–2013), Filipino Roman Catholic bishop Nicky Cruz (born 1938), Puerto Rican-American ex-gang leader and religious minister Nikolas Cruz (born 1998), American criminal suspect in the Stoneman Douglas High School shooting Oswaldo Cruz (1872–1917), Brazilian physician, bacteriologist, and epidemiologist Richard Cruz (disambiguation), multiple people Arts General Amina Cruz, American photographer Claudia Cruz (born 1986), Dominican Miss World contestant 2004 Gaspar da Cruz (ca. 1520–1570), Portuguese Dominican friar, author of the first European book on China Gemma Cruz, Filipino crowned Miss International Nilo Cruz (born 1962), Cuban-American playwright and Pulitzer prize winner Actors and Actresses General Ernesto Gómez Cruz (born 1933), Mexican actor Ileana D'Cruz, Indian actress from Goa Mónica Cruz (born 1977), Spanish dancer and actress; sister of Penélope Cruz Penélope Cruz (born 1974), Spanish actress American Raphael Cruz, American acrobat, Cirque du Soleil performer and actor Wilson Cruz (born 1973), Puerto Rican-American actor Alexis Cruz (born 1974), Puerto Rican-American actor Brandon Cruz (born 1962), American actor and musician Filipino Donna Cruz (born 1977), Filipina actress and singer Ella Cruz (born 1996), Filipino Actress Geneva Cruz (born 1976), Filipino actress and singer Jesse Cruz, birth name of Ricky Belmonte (1947-2001), Filipino actor John Lloyd Cruz (born 1983), Filipino actor Rayver Cruz (born 1989),