Rob McElhenney has filed legal documents to change his name.
The actor reportedly signed the docs Thursday requesting that his surname be changed to Mac — so his new name will be Rob Mac, according to multiple outlets.
The It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia star has previously discussed his intention to make the change due to the difficulty some people have pronouncing it.
“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,” he recently said in an interview with Variety.
McElhenney is also co-owner of Wrexham AFC football (soccer, for U.S. readers) club with Ryan Reynolds. The duo, which purchased the team in 2020, also serve as executive producers on the FX docuseries Welcome to Wrexham, which follows the team. The network recently renewed the Emmy-winning series for a fifth season and revealed details about a spinoff series, Necaxa.
In 2023, Reynolds created a musical video for McElhenney’s birthday in which he taught people how to pronounce the name with the help of some famous faces, including Kaitlin Olson, McElhenney’s wife and Sunny co-star.
“Sure, he’s got a pretty face that people know they know,” Reynolds sang. “They think they recognize him from his big-time TV show. But despite the accolades, despite the load of fame, one thing that they do not know is how to say his name.”
The lyrics go on to explains that the name rhymes with “tackle penny.”
“It’s McElhenney, it’s McElhenney, while ways to massacre and mispronounce it there are many. It’s McElhenney, it’s McElhenney, if there was doubt, now there won’t be any. It’s McElhenney!” the song continued.
For her part, Olson previously said the couple’s two young sons were still getting used the idea: “The kids are really not happy about it, because they have that last name,. And so do I, legally!”
The Hollywood Reporter has reached out to McElhenney’s reps for comment.
