UPDATE: The actor formerly known as Rob McElhenney responded Tuesday evening to those questioning his decision to legally shorten his name to Rob Mac, explaining his thinking in a one-minute video on social media. He admits the new moniker is primarily a stage name and says it's already how most people address him. "But the amount of time I've wasted trying to get people to either say or spell my name correctly is literally days of my life. Trust me, I added it up," Mac says in the video posted to his Instagram, which was still using the handle with his complete last name as of an hour after the video was posted. The "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia" star, who's from South Philly, acknowledges his long family history and his connections to all his relatives via the McElhenney name. "Except, it's not even really our f****** name," he says. "Not only have many generations changed the spelling, the current (spelling) was just given to my ancestors by a government official who decided that this was now the spelling. Mac, who is seated during the video with his hands neatly folded on a table in front of him, says his family loves him regardless of "how many syllables I have," that's all that matters. The video concludes with pictures of other actors who are not known by their given names. "Honestly call me whatever you want," Mac says. View this post on Instagram Continue reading the earlier version of this story below. Rob McElhenney is seeking to legally change his name to Rob Mac, a development that feels like a bit from his show "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia." McElhenney confirmed the news to Variety after TMZ reported last week that the South Philly native had filed documents in Los Angeles. The actor had floated the idea during an interview for Variety's cover story on McElhenney and his wife, Kaitlin Olson, saying the pronunciation of his last name had become a consistent point of contention during his business ventures. "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 in May. In January, McElhenney and actor Ryan Reynolds, who co-own the Wrexham A.F.C. soccer club, were part of an investment group that acquired Colombian soccer club La Equidad. Last year, they purchased a minority stake in the Mexican soccer club Necaxa. McElhenney told Variety that he was concerned that changing his name would be disrespectful to his ancestry, especially because he is the third Robert McElhenney in his family tree. But in doing some digging, he discovered some of his distant relatives had tweaked the "McElhenney" name over the years, including as recently as the 1960s. Some of his close family members also brought up similar wishes to change the name, he said. Olson, on the other hand, was not as enthused by the idea as of last month, and neither were the couple's two sons. "The kids are really not happy about it, because they have that last name," Olson told Variety. "And so do I, legally!" The news comes less than a week since Mac's Tavern, the Old City bar partially owned by the actor, announced its imminent closure, and just over a week until "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia" begins its 17th season. As of Tuesday, McElhenney's social media handles remain unchanged, but that hasn't stopped the masses from simultaneously poking fun at the actor's newfound identity and mourning the loss of the old Rob McElhenney. Managing Editor Jon Tuleya contributed to this article.