A resurfaced piece of trivia about Elle Fanning and Dakota Fanning recently sparked attention after fans noticed that the sisters do not use their given first names professionally.
While some outlets framed it as surprising, viewers across social media platforms focused less on the news itself and more on whether it was actually new to longtime fans.
Highlights
- Fans are pushing back against "breaking news" that Elle and Dakota Fanning use their middle names professionally.
- The sisters have long explained that using middle names is a common family and Southern tradition.
- The duo is set to star together for the first time in The Nightingale, an adaptation of Kristin Hannah’s novel.
“Technically, those are their real names, just not their first names. Smh,” wrote one user.
Elle and Dakota Fanning have always gone by their middle names because of their Southern tradition
Image credits: Getty/Kevin Mazur
Despite the dramatic framing, Elle and Dakota Fanning have always used their middle names, even before the two of them became famous.
They were born Mary Elle Fanning and Hannah Dakota Fanning, a fact both actresses have openly discussed over the years.
In a 2016 interview with Glamour, Elle explained that going by middle names was common in her family.
“My mom goes by her middle name, and my sister goes by her middle name. It’s possibly a Southern thing, I don’t know,” she said.
Image credits: ellefanning
She further noted that the choice occasionally caused confusion at school, especially during roll call, when teachers would call out “Mary” without realizing it referred to her.
Dakota echoed these sentiments in an interview with People in 2022, explaining that her father came up with her middle name.
“My first name is Hannah. So it is Hannah Dakota Fanning. But I have always been called Dakota.”
While the two have always been vocal about using their middle names, fans were quite surprised by the idea that the news is being treated as something new at all.
The internet pointed out that their “real name” reveal wasn’t new or surprising at all
Image credits: dakotafanning
As the information spread across the internet quickly, many fans were quick to shut down the idea that this was some jaw-dropping revelation.
“They’re Southern. Most people from the South go by their middle name,” one person commented.
Another added, “A lot of famous people go by their middle names. This isn’t news.”
Others also pointed out that the names were never hidden or altered. “It’s still their real names, it just happens to be their middle names,” one person wrote.
One user was even more blunt, quipping, “If that stunned you, you were born stunned.”
Elle and Dakota Fanning are preparing for a major milestone in their careers together
Image credits: Getty/Jon Kopaloff
The name discourse comes as the duo is all set to appear in their first movie together, The Nightingale.
The movie is a screen adaptation of Kristin Hannah’s 2015 novel of the same name. Also, the project marks a long-awaited collaboration, with both actresses producing the film as well.
"We’ve been looking for something for so long, and this story is completely a sister story. That’s the heart of it. What more could we ask for?” Elle told Entertainment Tonight in 2020.
Image credits: ellefanning
Before signing on for the film, the sisters made a vow to limit their siblings’ banter on the set.
“She promised me that she’s not gonna boss me around. I’m like, ‘You have to treat me like a fellow actor,’” Elle told E! News at the 2026 Golden Globes.
Surprisingly, Elle also went viral after fans fixated on her height during the 83rd Golden Globes, with clips showing her towering over fellow attendees.
As reported by Bored Panda, Elle is 5’9” and wore heels while posing next to her boyfriend, Gus Wenner.
Image credits: lewellenpictures
Despite growing up in Hollywood, Elle and Dakota have long emphasized carving out separate paths.
The All Her Fault star noted there was “zero competition” between them, adding, "So I don’t even see something that’s right for her as being right for me. I don’t feel competitive. But I know that people probably don’t believe that.”
Elle and Dakota Fanning are the direct descendants of British royalty
Image credits: dakotafanning
Interestingly, Elle and Dakota Fanning are actually the 22nd great-granddaughters of King Edward III, as revealed by Ancestry.com researchers in 2014.
“Generation after generation, the lines we looked at pieced back directly to King Edward III, proving that Elle is a direct descendant of royalty. You can consider her a long-lost princess. This connection is so unique and rare,” Michelle Ercanbrack told People.
Image credits: Getty/Dave Benett
Their ties to British royalty come through their mother, Heather Joy Arrington. This also means that the Fanning sisters are 21st cousins of Kate Middleton.
“A middle name still counts,” wrote one viewer
