• News
  • Film and TV
  • Music
  • Tech
  • Features
  • Celebrity
  • Politics
  • Weird
  • Community
  • Advertise
  • Terms
  • Privacy & Cookies
  • LADbible Group
  • LADbible
  • SPORTbible
  • GAMINGbible
  • Tyla
  • UNILAD Tech
  • FOODbible
  • License Our Content
  • About Us & Contact
  • Jobs
  • Latest
  • Topics A-Z
  • Authors
Facebook
Instagram
X
Threads
TikTok
YouTube
Submit Your Content
Rob McElhenney announces major name change and his wife and kids are extremely 'unhappy' about it

Home> Film & TV> News

Published 17:36 2 Jul 2025 GMT+1

Rob McElhenney announces major name change and his wife and kids are extremely 'unhappy' about it

Rob McElhenney has got fed up of the world butchering his surname

Callum Jones

Callum Jones

Featured Image Credit: Rodin Eckenroth/Getty Images

Topics: Film and TV, Celebrity

Callum Jones
Callum Jones

Advert

Advert

Advert

Rob McElhenney has announced a major name change, and a recent interview suggests his wife and children are 'unhappy' about it.

The 48-year-old actor is best known for his role in It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia. He's also made quite the impression in the world of soccer in recent years after becoming the co-owner of Wrexham FC alongside Ryan Reynolds.

McElhenney has been a frequent figure in Hollywood since the 1990s, so it's a rather peculiar move to see the actor change his name after already establishing himself.

Nonetheless, that's exactly what he's done, and it's seemingly a nod to bring him a little closer to his It's Always Sunny counterpart.

Advert

According to a report from Entertainment Weekly, McElhenney has legally filed to change his name to 'Rob Mac' - which the actor has already become known by over the years.

Rob McElhenney has changed his name (Earl Gibson III/Deadline via Getty Images)
Rob McElhenney has changed his name (Earl Gibson III/Deadline via Getty Images)

In a May interview with Variety, McElhenney explained that he'd been going by the shortened name for a while, as pronunciation of his birth name had become a problem with international audiences.

"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," the actor explained.

Advert

While McElhenney is seemingly happy with his new name, the actor's wife and children are seemingly not best pleased.

Kaitlin Olson told Variety: "The kids are really not happy about it, because they have that last name. And so do I, legally!"

For the record, Rob’s surname is pronounced 'MACK-el-hen-ee', though the actor is seemingly so fed up with everyone butchering his surname that he's decided to simplify it.

Rob McElhenney pictured with his wife Kaitlin Olson in 2023 (Kym Illman/Getty Images)
Rob McElhenney pictured with his wife Kaitlin Olson in 2023 (Kym Illman/Getty Images)

Advert

In a video posted to Instagram, 'Rob Mac' said: "Hi! Okay, I’m going to dedicate exactly one minute to this. Start the clock. Yes, I’m shortening my name to Rob Mac.

“Mostly a stage name, but I digress. Is it kind of douchey? Sure. But the amount of time that I have wasted trying to get people to either say or spell my name correctly is literally days of my life.”

Speaking further, the actor added: "Trust me, I added it up. Most importantly, it means thousands of you have had minutes of your life stolen by me because of my last name, including this one.

"There’s heritage. Except, it’s not even really our f**king name. Not only have many generations changed the spelling, the current one was just given to my ancestor by a government official who decided that this was now the spelling."

Choose your content:

an hour ago
10 hours ago
21 hours ago
  • an hour ago

    Marvel fans outraged as fan-favorite villain is 'wasted' after finally being revealed in new MCU show

    Not all viewers were upset, however

    Film & TV
  • 10 hours ago

    Modern Family star recalls thinking she was 'going to die' after being told she needed a pacemaker at 29 years old

    A Modern Family star revealed how her sister helped discover that she had a health condition

    Film & TV
  • 10 hours ago

    Amazon Prime Video drops all six movies of classic movie franchise deemed 'the best ever'

    The first of the films has an impressive 93 percent score on Rotten Tomatoes

    Film & TV
  • 21 hours ago

    Netflix adds ‘must-see’ $411 million action movie labeled ‘irresistible fun’

    'Epic in every proportion'

    Film & TV
  • Rob Schneider's daughter gets candid about 'toxic' relationship with her dad
  • Rob Schneider's daughter says his 'anti-gay' apology 'means nothing' because of how he did it
  • Hulk Hogan's ex-wife Linda breaks down in tears as she makes major accusations about him and their marriage
  • Ariana Grande breaks down in tears describing her dad's reaction to decision to change her name