Okay, a quick show of hands: How many of you know how to properly pronounce Rob McElhenney’s last name? I admit that I struggled with it for a while, until I heard the song Ryan Reynolds did to teach fans how to say it. It’s “mac-el-hen-ee” (“hen-ee” like the nickname for “hennessy”). After that, I felt kind of smug, (slowly) reading it in full to myself. If I want to read it fast, however, I do totally abbreviate it to just “Mac.” I’m not the only person doing this, and Rob knows it! In fact, because his name is so hard for so many people, he’s decided to pull the cord and legally change his name to “Rob Mac.” He’s filed and signed legal paperwork already, too.
It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia star Rob McElhenney has filed to legally change his name to Rob Mac, which is how he will be credited in projects moving forward, his representative confirmed to Entertainment Weekly on Friday. The actor has cited global confusion over the pronunciation of his last name as his reason for the change.
“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 said in an interview with Variety last month.
The actor and producer’s docuseries Welcome to Wrexham follows the ups and downs of the Wrexham AFC footie club — that’s soccer, if you’re from the U.S. — that Mac and actor Ryan Reynolds purchased in November 2020.
His involvement with the team led his company, More Better Productions, to invest in South American soccer clubs, where his surname, McElhenney, proved to be a conversational challenge.
The struggle was so real that Reynolds unveiled a special musical production for McElhenney’s birthday devoted to teaching fans the pronunciation of his costar’s last name, enlisting the help of some of his famous friends as well as members of the club’s hometown.
“Pronouncing all those Ns and Es and Hs can perplex ’em,” Reynolds sang in the 2023 video. “So here’s a little birthday gift from all your mates in Wrexham.”
Kaitlin Olson, McElhenney’s wife and his Sunny costar, told Variety that her husband’s new moniker will require some adjustments. “The kids are really not happy about it, because they have that last name,” she said. “And so do I, legally!”
McElhenney struggled with the decision himself, but his concerns about disrespecting his ancestors receded when he learned that some of his family members had already tweaked the spelling of their surname, or had at least considered it, he told Variety.
The powers that be should have plenty of time to update the title cards on his shows — FX’s Welcome to Wrexham wrapped its fourth season this week and has been renewed for a fifth season, while season 18 of FX’s Sunny is still in the works.
Obviously, Rob can do whatever he wants. He’s an adult, and if he feels more comfortable going by “Rob Mac,” then power to him. I totally get it. My last name is also difficult to pronounce. Mr. Rosie and I used to keep a list of the funny mispronunciations we’d get from people. My maiden name is common, so one of my biggest reasons for changing it was because my married name is unique. I guess the grass is always greener, ha. But yeah, I totally get it. My only technical question here is why did Rob decide to legally change it instead of just changing his stage name? Kaitlin’s legal name is “Kaitlin McElhenney,” but she goes by “Olson.” If he’s using that for credits moving forward, I presume that he’s somehow the first Rob Mac to register the name in SAG? I also do have to point out how that this name-change move totally sounds like something that Ian Grimm, his character on Mythic Quest, would do.
Photos credit: Xavier Collin/Image Press Agency/Avalon, IMAGO/Dennis Goodwin/Avalon