Ellen DeGeneres’ wife of almost two years, Portia de Rossi, 37, has filed paperwork to legally take on DeGeneres as her last name. I’m reporting this because I want to say how happy I am for these two, but also that I’m relieved to no longer have to look up the exact capitalization and spacing of their last names. This couple has/had the hardest last names. It’s hard to remember that the “de” in de Rossi is lower case with a space before Rossi, especially when DeGeneres is all one word. I get why celebrities take on stage names, because some names can be hard to accurately spell and pronounce. (Not that they need to be homogenized! It can just be tricky sometimes.) Here’s more:
Portia de Rossi’s second anniversary gift for Ellen DeGeneres? A name change.
The actress, who tied the knot with the talk show host, 52, on Aug. 17, 2008, has asked the court to legally change her name to Portia Lee James DeGeneres, according to a petition filed Friday in L.A. County Superior Court.
As for the reason, the papers, which were initially signed by Rossi, 37, in March, say, “Petitioner is taking the last name of her spouse.”
But de Rossi isn’t a DeGeneres just yet. The name change won’t be official until a hearing, scheduled for Sept. 23, takes place.
A rep for the talk show host had no comment.
TMZ.com was first to report on the filing.
[From People]
Now Portia will be Portia DeGeneres! I took on my husband’s last name, and it’s phonetically similar to my maiden name like Portia’s is to Ellen’s. I think it’s kind of cute that his name isn’t that different from my original one, and I was proud to take my husband’s last name. (To each their own, though, and I understand why people keep their maiden names or use hyphenations.) Congratulations to Ellen and Portia on their second anniversary and Portia’s name change! That’s a nice gesture, and one Ellen surely appreciates.
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