Why is Rob McElhenney changing his name to Rob Mac? It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia star’s name change explained

Rob McElhenney has legally filed in Los Angeles to change his name to Rob Mac. The news, initially reported by TMZ, was confirmed by Variety on June 27. According to the actor, as people already refer to him as Rob or Rob Mac, due to his role as Mac in the popular show It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, the legal change "just makes things so much easier," especially since he is expanding his business, More Better.

Rob McElhenney is an actor, producer, and screenwriter who has appeared in sitcoms such as It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, and Mythic Quest, besides essaying numerous guest roles. He also co-owns the Welsh football club Wrexham AFC. along with Ryan Reynolds.

Rob McElhenney had previously revealed his plans to change his last name in a Variety cover story published in May. According to the publication, McElhenney shared that,

“As our business [More Better Industries] and our storytelling is expanding into other regions of the world and other languages in which my name is even harder to pronounce, I’m just going by Rob Mac. People already call me ‘Rob Mac’ or ‘Mac,’ obviously from the TV show. It just makes things so much easier.”

According to the magazine, the actor's wife, actress Kaitlin Olson, previously shared that,

“The kids are really not happy about it, because they have that last name. And so do I, legally!”

Kaitlin Olson and Rob McElhenney have two sons, Axel Lee(14) and Leo Grey(13).

More about Rob McElhenney and his surname

Rob McElhenney was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to parents of Irish descent on April 14, 1977. McElhenney is married to Kaitlin Olson, who played Dee Reynolds on It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, and shares two sons with her. Kaitlin Olson recently starred in the popular series, High Potential.

Coming to his surname, McElhenney, having a unique surname often makes one the butt of many jokes, and the 48-year-old actor is no stranger to it. According to Us Weekly, Ryan Reynolds released a music video making fun of the pronunciation of his surname in 2023 for his birthday.

Although he was asked to change his surname to something easier at the beginning of his career, he did not because, as Variety reports, McElhenney was always proud of his surname and was worried about whether he would be disrespecting his ancestry by changing his surname. He shared,

“I did a deep dive into my ancestry, and so I was always very proud of the name, which is why I didn’t change it in the beginning, when everybody was begging me to.”

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He further stated that when he did his genealogy, he realized that he is not the first one to change his surname. According to him, in the late 1960s,

“There were an offshoot of the McElhenneys that changed our name.”

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