Rob McElhenney has petitioned a Los Angeles court to shorten his surname and be known legally as “Rob Mac,” saying global partners still stumble over the four-syllable original despite 20 years of public reminders. Documents signed on June 27 list the actor’s birth name, Robert McElhenney III, and ask that all future identification—on passports, contracts and screen credits—reflect the streamlined moniker.
The move follows a May profile in Variety in which the It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia creator confessed he was “already going by Rob Mac” while negotiating deals for his holding company, More Better Industries, across Latin America and Asia. FX press releases for both Sunny and the docuseries Welcome to Wrexham have quietly adopted the new billing over the past month.
Mispronunciation of “McElhenney”—satirised in Ryan Reynolds’ viral 2024 birthday song—has been a running gag among fans and even the actor’s own cast-mates, a frustration he now calls “operational” rather than comedic. “As our business and storytelling expand into languages where my name is even harder to pronounce, I’m just going by Rob Mac,” he told Variety earlier this year.
Reaction inside the household is mixed. Wife and co-star Kaitlin Olson joked that their sons Axel and Leo are “really not happy” because they still carry the original surname, while relatives reassured McElhenney that earlier generations had made similar spelling tweaks after emigrating from Ireland.
The 48-year-old’s portfolio now ranges from television to sport: More Better Industries has minority stakes in clubs in Colombia and Mexico, and McElhenney’s Welsh side Wrexham A.F.C.—co-owned with Reynolds—has climbed two divisions and fuelled a tourism boom in North Wales since 2021. Associates say clearer branding abroad could aid those ventures just as Wrexham eyes further international sponsorships.
On the entertainment front, Season 17 of Always Sunny bows 9 July, while Welcome to Wrexham was renewed for a fifth season after winning eight Emmys; both series will credit their star as Rob Mac for the first time. A hearing to finalise the name change is expected later this summer, though the actor told fans “everyone already calls me Mac anyway,” suggesting the legal finish line may be mostly procedural.