Rob McElhenney defends name change in cheeky video

NBC News

2 days ago

Rob McElhenney isn't making any apologies over his decision to change his name, but he is making a few jokes about it.
The 'It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia' star addressed the move amid reports he has filed paperwork to change his name.
'Yes, I'm shortening my name to Rob Mac,' he said in the July 1 clip he posted on X, confirming the news himself. 'Mostly a stage name, but I digress.'
He then used his trademark humor to explain just what has gone into his decision.
'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,' he said, as quick clips of others saying his name wrong played in the middle of him speaking, 'Trust me, I added it up.
'More importantly, it means thousands of you have had minutes of your life stolen by me because of my last name.'
McElhenney playfully pointed out the false connection the family has to the moniker.
'Still, it's a family name,' he said. 'My grandparents, parents, siblings, aunts, uncles, cousins and I all share it, and I love them and I want to stay connected. There's heritage. Except, it's not even really our f------ name."
He then explained how different generations have changed the spelling of it.
'The current one was just given to my ancestor by a government official who decided that this was now the spelling,' he said, while also revealing his great-great-grandmother went by Bridget McIllhenny.
McElhenney then dove into how ridiculous the whole matter is.
'Times have changed and most people already call me Rob Mac anyway,' he said. '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. There are so many things going on in the world, and this is a silly one to continue to waste your time with.'
McElhenney also said he's OK with whatever name people want to give him, using the actual first names of celebrities as their pictures appeared on the screen.
'Honestly, call me whatever you want: Marion, Jerome, Archibald, Eric, Maurice, Stephanie, Frances, Marvin, Gordon or Sam. But maybe we just keep it simple and try Rob Mac. Let's see how it goes,' he said.
In May, McElhenney opened up about how he was mulling over a name change in the wake of his multimedia company, More Better Industries, adding to its global portfolio.
'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 told Variety.
The level of difficulty in pronouncing 'McElhenney' is old hat. In 2023, his friend and fellow co-owner of Wrexham A.F.C. soccer club, Ryan Reynolds, released a humorous video about how to say it.
'It's Mackle-Henney, it's Mackle-Henney,' Reynolds sang with a roster of guest stars, including McElhenney's wife, Kaitlin Olson, and Philadelphia Eagles legend Jason Kelce.