Actor Rob McElhenney has filed to legally change his name to Rob Mac after concerns those he’s doing business with in “other regions of the world” won’t be able to pronounce his original moniker.
The 48-year-old It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia creator and star filed documents in Los Angeles to officially make the change, despite going by Mac during business negotiations for multiple weeks prior.
McElhenney’s company, More Better Productions, which was behind Welcome to Wrexham – a docuseries following his and actor Ryan Reynolds acquisition of the football club Wrexham AFC – has been investing in teams in South America, where he’s concerned there’ll be struggles with his multi-syllabic name.
Speaking to Variety last month, McElhenney explained: “As our business 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.”
The actor admitted he’d been concerned that altering his name would be disrespectful to his ancestry. However, he discovered that some of his relatives had already altered the spelling of their surname across generations to make it easier to spell and pronounce.
When celebrating his birthday, close family members revealed they were also keen to edit the name’s spelling. However, McElhenney’s wife, It’s Always Sunny co-star Kaitlin Olson, said their two sons were less enthused.
“The kids are really not happy about it, because they have that last name,’ she said of the decision. “And so do I, legally,” she added, despite keeping Olson as her on-screen moniker.
The shortened version of McElhenney’s surname brings him closer to his Always Sunny character – whose name is Mac – which he has played since the comedy series’ launch in 2005.
Olson and McElhenney met on the set of It’s Always Sunny in 2005 and began secretly dating during the show’s second season. They married in Malibu in September 2008 and welcomed their sons, Axel, 14, and Leo, 12, in 2010 and 2012 respectively.
