Grey's Anatomy fans stunned after discovering real meaning behind the title of the show

Grey's Anatomy fans are just discovering what the show was named after, with one viewer hailing it as 'very clever'.

Now, while we know that the 'Grey' part of course refers to Dr Meredith Grey, there's actually another reason why the name was chosen.

Grey's Anatomy first hit screens in 2005 and gave viewers an insight into some of the most stomach-churning, heartbreaking and head-spinning incidents taking place at Seattle Grace Hospital.

Did you know there's another meaning behind the title? (ABC)

As well as the likes of Ellen Pompeo (who plays Meredith Grey), Chandra Wilson (Miranda Bailey M.D.) and James Pickens Jr (Richard Webber M.D.), the series also featured countless huge-name Hollywood actors who've sadly since departed the cast - including Patrick Dempsey and Katherine Heigl.

The show has always been considered a huge success, receiving 39 Emmy nominations and recording a whopping 37.88 million viewers for a single episode.

Turns out that while Grey's Anatomy is a nod to Dr Meredith Grey, there's another reason why creators chose that specific name.

According to Mental Floss, both the character of Meredith and the name of the show are in reference to Gray's Anatomy - spelt with an 'a' - which is a medical textbook by Henry Gray, published in 1858.

People have been pretty blown away by the discovery, with one person writing on X: "I just realized that Gray's Anatomy is a real book by Henry Gray. Very clever naming the show Grey's Anatomy."

While another said: "Fun fact Grey's Anatomy is based on Henry Gray's 'Anatomy of the Human Body' textbook."

The show was released in 2005 and was hugely successful (ABC)

In other Grey's Anatomy trivia, fans will know that in 20 seasons of the show, all of its episodes are named after a reference to a song.

However, there is one episode out of the entire series which breaks this tradition.

The one and only exception to date took place in the 14th season which came out back in 2017.

The ninth episode in this season was not named after a song but instead titled '1-800-799-7233' which is actually the phone number for the National Domestic Violence Hotline.

Originally titled 'Four Seasons in One Day', the episode in question - which centres around a general surgeon named Paul Stadler (Matthew Morrison), who also happened to be Jo's (Camilla Luddington) abusive ex-husband - shines a much-needed light on the extremely serious impact of domestic violence and abuse.

Showrunner Krista Vernoff tweeted back in 2018 that the 'brilliant' idea to rename the episode to the hotline number was suggested to her by actor Giacomo Gianniotti, who plays Dr. Andrew DeLuca.

She wrote at the time: "Giving credit where it's due: this title change was pitched to me by @GiacomoKG.

"Brilliant idea. Important. Thank you!"

If you are experiencing domestic violence, please know that you are not alone. You can talk in confidence to the national domestic violence helpline Refuge on 0808 2000 247, available 24/7, or via live chat, available 3pm-10pm, Monday to Friday.