Rob McElhenney Files to Legally Change His Name

“It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” star Rob McElhenney has filed to legally change his name to Rob Mac. TMZ reported that the actor, whose given name is Robert McElhenney III, signed the official documents on Thursday, June 26. 

McElhenney, who has branched out into various successful business ventures over the years, has been considering the name change for a while, and he has a very practical reason for it.

McElhenney’s Growing Businesses

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Simply put, McElhenney wanted to make his name easier to pronounce. “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,” he told Variety. “I’m just going by Rob Mac.”

In 2021, McElhenney and his pal Ryan Reynolds bought the Welsh soccer team Wrexham A.F.C. which was chronicled in the FX docuseries “Welcome to Wrexham.” McElhenney told NPR that he and Reynolds purchased the soccer club to “bring hope to a town that had fallen on hard times.”

The actor is also an investor in Mac’s Tavern, a pub in Philadelphia inspired by his character, Mac, on “It’s Always Sunny.” He also runs a business called More Better Industries, a multimedia company. More Better Industries has expanded to include the whiskey brand Four Walls, which McElhenney launched with co-stars Charlie Day and Glenn Howerton.

Is McElhenney’s Family Happy About the Name Change?

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In 2005 McElhenney met his wife, Kaitlin Olson, his “It’s Always Sunny” co-star of 20 years. The pair tied the knot in 2008 and expanded their family soon after, welcoming sons Axel in 2010 and Leo in 2012. 

Olson, who currently stars on the hit HBO series “Hacks,” told Variety that her sons were not thrilled about their dad’s name change. “The kids are really not happy about it, because they have that last name,” the actor explained, adding, “And so do I, legally!”

As for McElhenney’s other family members, they do seem to be on board. Not wanting to disrespect his family’s heritage, the actor did a little research and found that some of his relatives had also changed the McElhenney name over the years. 

In April, the actor ran the idea of changing his name by some relatives who had come to celebrate his 48th birthday, and it turned out they had been thinking about changing the hard-to-pronounce name themselves. 

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