PORTIA TO ADOPT ELLEN’S NAME

Actress Portia de Rossi has applied to change her surname to that of her wife’s.

De Rossi and Ellen DeGeneres married in August 2008, just months before California banned gay marriage in the state through Proposition 8, but their marriage (and that of those that married before the ban) remains legal.

E! Online published a copy of the Petition for Change of Name filed with the Superior Court of California in Los Angeles in which de Rossi applies to change her name to Portia Lee James DeGeneres.

The stated reason for the name change is: “Petitioner is taking the last name of her spouse.”

De Rossi, who is best known for her roles in Ally McBeal and Arrested Development, previously changed her name from her birth name, Amanda Lee Rogers, when she was 15.

“When I was 15, I changed my name legally. In retrospect, I think it was largely due to my struggle about being gay. Everything just didn’t fit, and I was trying to find things I could identify myself with, and it started with my name,” the Australian-born star told the Advocate in 2005.

The name-change application was filed just two days after a judge ruled that Proposition 8 is unconstitutional.