People only just realising Elle and Dakota Fanning’s real names

Dakota and Elle fanning are arguably two of the most famous sisters in Hollywood - but did you know they haven't been going by their real names?

The American actresses, who are 27 and 31 respectively, have become household names for their work in a number of blockbuster movies.

Elle is best known for her role as Aurora in the film Maleficent, as well as starring in A Complete Unknown, The Roads Not Taken and Sentimental Value, to name a few films on her roster.

While her older sister Dakota has recently appeared in the horror movies Vicious and Watchers, as well as her previous roles in blockbusters like War of the Worlds (2005) and The Twilight Saga (2009-2012).

Both women began their careers as child actors, following in each others footsteps, and have since become prominent stars in the world of acting.

But as we say, people are just now realising they haven't been going by their first names this entire time.

Dakota and Elle Fanning aren't actually called Dakota and Elle Fanning (Stefanie Keenan/Oscars/Getty Images)

The sisters have actually been going by their middle names. They were born Hannah Dakota Fanning and Mary Elle Fanning.

So really, if they did it the traditional way, they'd be known as Hannah Fanning and Mary Fanning. Mind-blown.

Elle subtly dropped this bombshell in an interview with Glamour in 2016, where she explained that their mother also went by her middle name so they decided to follow suit.

She told the publication: "My mom goes by her middle name, and my sister goes by her middle name. Her first name is Hannah. It’s possibly a Southern thing, I don’t know.

"But since my mom goes by her middle name, we go by our middle names too."

However, as you can imagine, it did cause some confusion during her childhood, especially at school.

The actress recalled: "It was awkward in school when they were calling roll call, because they’d go, ‘Mary? Mary?’ Kids would be like, ‘There’s no Mary here.’

"I’d awkwardly raise my hand, like, ‘Uh, it’s me.’”

The famous sisters are actually called Hannah and Mary (Jerritt Clark/Getty Images)

Meanwhile, Dakota told PEOPLE Magazine all the way back in 2004, when she was aged just 10: "My first name is Hannah. So it is Hannah Dakota Fanning. But I have always been called Dakota."

When asked where the name Dakota came from, she explained: "My dad thought of it."

Although this information has actually been out in the public for decades, every now and then a new generation of people learn it and it goes viral on social media - so, here we are again.

One Twitter user pointed out: "elle and dakota fanning really seem like they were named by different people until you remember that inexplicably their names are actually mary elle and hannah dakota."

While a second penned: "finding out dakota and elle fanning go by their middle names uhmm hello."

A third wrote: "dakota and elle fanning’s real names being hannah and mary is killing me."

And a fourth chimed in with: "i still can’t believe elle and dakota fannings names aren’t actually elle and dakota...."

You learn something new every day!