Ray Romano Says He Hated the Title“ Everybody Loves Raymond”, Spent Years Trying to Change It

Victoria Edel, Kristen O'BrienMon, June 1, 2026 at 8:53 PM UTC

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Ray Romano on 'Everybody Loves Raymond'
Credit: Hbo/Worldwide Pants Inc/Kobal/Shutterstock -

Ray Romano opened up about how Everybody Loves Raymond got its title and why he hated the name so much

Romano starred on the show as Ray Barone, a sportswriter living on Long Island, and the series was inspired by his comedy

Romano shared some of his ideas for alternate titles

Ray Romano really wanted Everybody Loves Raymond to have a different title.

Romano, 68, who starred and executive-produced the sitcom that bore his name, reunited with Raymond creator Phil Rosenthal and some of the show's writers on Saturday, May 30, at the Paramount Theatre in Austin, Texas, during the 2026 ATX TV Festival.

Romano and Rosenthal, 66, were joined by former writers Tom Caltabiano, Tucker Cawley, Mike Royce, Lew Schneider, Steve Skrovan and Aaron Shure and the conversation was moderated by journalist Damian Holbrook.

During the panel, Romano opened up about how Everybody Loves Raymond got that title and why he really wanted the network to change it.

From left: Doris Roberts, Peter Boyle, Ray Romano, Brad Garrett and Patricia Heaton on 'Everybody Loves Raymond'
Credit: CBS via Getty

"When the show was starting, I was a comedian, and all I did was self-deprecating humor,” he explained. “And where do you think the title came from? My brother, who in real life is a New York City policeman, came home one day, saw that I got an award for some stand-up comedy that I did, and he said sarcastically, 'Raymond goes to work and they give him awards. I go to work, and people spit on me. Everybody loves Raymond.' ”

Romano told Rosenthal that story, and Rosenthal admitted, “I put it in the script.”

Romano immediately wanted the show to be called something else. “When I complained, you told me that it's a working title,” he remembered. “Then CBS fell in love with it, and I complained to the President of CBS.” He told Romano, “Ray, if you don't love it, come up with something better. You have to keep Raymond in it, though. You have to keep the name in it. Because that's important.”

Romano had three ideas: That Raymond Guy, Raymond's Tree and Um, Raymond (which was his favorite). CBS told him Everybody Loves Raymond was keeping its title.

“And I go, 'Don't you understand? This show is going to be a hit, it's going to be top 10 and I'm going to have to live with this for the rest of my life,' ” the Ice Age star remembered. “And he said, 'Ray, if it's in the top 10, you can change it to whatever you want.' ”

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That promise wasn't kept. During the show's second season, the series did climb into the top 10. “I go, 'So now I can change it?' And he goes, 'Well, you can't change it now!' ”

Ray Romano in April 2026
Credit: Patrick T. Fallon / AFP via Getty

Everybody Loves Raymond starred Romano as Ray Barone, a sportswriter for Long Island's Newsday. Patricia Heaton played his wife Debra, with Madylin, Sawyer and Sullivan Sweeten as their kids. Brad Garrett played Robert, who, like Ray's real brother, was a New York City police officer. Ray's parents, Marie and Frank, were played by the scene-stealing pair of Doris Roberts and Peter Boyle. Monica Horan, Rosenthal's wife, played Robert's eventual wife, Amy.

Everybody Loves Raymond ran from 1996 to 2005 for nine seasons. It was nominated for 69 Emmy Awards, winning 15 of them (with 10 awards for the acting performances).

The surviving cast of the series reunited in November 2025 to celebrate 30 years of the series. The show's cast was all in agreement that they "didn't want to do a reboot," Romano told PEOPLE at the time, but they were happy to do a reunion special.

"We never wanted to do the reboot. I don't even think we approached the cast until we got the greenlight because we had just assumed they would be on board," Romano said.

Garrett told PEOPLE in 2025 that one reason why the show will never return is the loss of Roberts and Boyle.

"There is no show without the parents," he said. "They were the catalyst, and to do anything that would resemble that wouldn't be right to the audiences or to the loyal fan base. And it was about those two families, and you can't get around that."

Boyle died on December 12, 2006, at age 71. Roberts died on April 17, 2016, at age 90. Sawyer, who played Ray and Debra's son Geoffrey, also died in 2015 at age 19.

on People

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