‘Is it kinda douchey? Sure’: Rob McElhenney speaks out on reaction to his name change

The It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia star revealed in a May joint interview with his co-star and wife Kaitlin Olson in Variety that he was considering changing his name to “Rob Mac”, shortening his surname.
Rob McElhenney is officially changing his name. (X/@RMcElhenney)
He began the process of making the change official on Thursday last week, filing to legally change his real name in LA, TMZ reported days ago.

But the decision has since caused uproar from fans, with the 48-year-old taking to X, formerly Twitter to “dedicate exactly one minute” to his explanation, even using a timer to be more exact.

“Yes, I’m shortening my name to Rob Mac,” he shared, “Mostly a stage name, but I digress.

“Is it kinda douchey? Sure. But the amount of time that I have wasted trying to get people to either spell or say my name correctly, is literally days of my life. Trust me, I added it up.”

He shared numerous examples of people mispronouncing his name, explaining that he just wants to make it easier for everyone. “More importantly, it means thousands of you have had minutes of your life stolen by me, because of my last name, including this one,” he said.

For those worried about his family legacy, he reassured them, “It’s a family name, my grandparents, parents, siblings, aunts, uncles, cousins and I all share it, and I love them and I want to stay connected.
His It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia character is also named Mac. (FX)
“Except, it’s not even really our f—–g name. Not only have many generations changed its spelling, the current one was just given to my ancestor by a government official who decided that this was now the spelling.”

The Wrexham football club co-owner (alongside his friend and actor Ryan Reynolds) also pointed out that “Most people already call me Rob Mac anyway,” with “Mac” being the name of his character in the acclaimed show.

“My family knows me and loves me regardless of how many syllables I have, and that’s the only thing that I really care about.”

He ended by saying fans can call him whatever he wants, giving famous examples.

“But maybe we just keep it simple and try Rob Mac. Let’s see how it goes.”

The dad-of-two explained in the Variety feature that the decision is also business related.
Following Wrexham’s success, McElhenney is looking for business opportunities elsewhere. (AP)
Following his and Reynold’s success at revamping the Welsh football club Wrexham, his company More Better Industries is exploring investment opportunities in Colombia and Mexico, where he finds his name is a source of confusion.

“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.

He told the publication that he was worried about disrespecting his ancestry, but found that his family were in support of the change, with some even tweaking the surname themselves.

However, his own family seems to be on the fence, with Olson interjecting, “The kids are really not happy about it, because they have that last name… And so do I, legally!”