Portia de Rossi to Become Portia DeGeneres

Actress Portia de Rossi has reportedly filed a legal petition with Los Angeles Superior Court to take her wife’s last name and become Portia Lee James DeGeneres, the New York Daily News reports.

Mrs. de Rossi married her long-time partner, comedian and talk show host Ellen DeGeneres, in Los Angeles in 2008, after the California Supreme Court ruled that gay marriage was legal. The ruling was struck down five months later by a public referendum, Proposition 8, which banned gay marriage from the state.

The referendum was recently ruled unconstitutional by a federal judge. Religious groups immediately appealed the decision, and the case is likely to appear before the U.S. Supreme Court.

The name-change will not be the first for de Rossi. The Australian actress was born Amanda Lee Rogers, but had it changed when she was 15. The soon-to-be Mrs. DeGeneres is best known for her television roles on ABC’s Ally McBeal and Fox’s Arrested Development.