Meryl Streep's real name revealed and what she would have liked to be called as actress turns 77

Meryl Streep turns 77 on Monday (June 22) and there's doubt the Mamma Mia star remains one of the biggest names in Hollywood to this day.

While many actors Streep's age would be retired and be sipping on a cocktail in the Caribbean right now, the Sophie’s Choice star is still at the top of her game.

The actor reprised her role of the notorious Miranda Priestly for The Devil Wears Prada 2 earlier this year, in what was a massive success as the movie became one of the highest grossing movies of the year.

With Streep's name back in the limelight, many on the internet are just realizing what her real name actually is.

There's also a name Streep wished she was called, which she disclosed on The Graham Norton Show in 2015.

Streep also spoke about her birth name, Mary Louise.

The actor is not called Meryl Streep by birth (Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images)

"At birth I had to be named Mary because my mother’s name was Mary and her mother’s name was Mary and [so on],” Streep said.

"I named my first daughter Mary because I [wanted] to make everybody happy in the family, basically. So I was born Mary and Louise was my mother’s best friend. . . Louise Buckman.

"So I was named after her. But I was always called Meryl. My father made that name up and he liked that name.”

Streep wasn't a fan though, saying she 'hated it'.

Discussing what she'd rather be called, Streep added: "I wanted to be named Patty or Cathy. But I had glasses, and my name was Meryl, and [surname] had a ‘p’ on the end. It should have been ‘Street.’ [I always thought], ‘Why didn’t they just put a ‘t’ on the end instead of ‘p’?’”

It comes after Streep made a joke about her relationship with her six grandchildren.

Meryl Streep turns 77 on Monday (Michael Buckner/Variety via Getty Images)

Streep told Vogue in April: "It’s just grabbing seconds, just grabbing everything you can of them, with the knowledge of how completely fleeting it all is and how rapidly time goes. "This is what my mother said to me, and I said, 'Yeah, yeah.' It’s the longest, shortest time. And you can’t get anything back. So take as much as you can…. I find it divine."

Streep continued: "I have six grandchildren, six under six. They’re six, five, four, three, two, and one. I hope we’re not done, but we’ll see. I can’t even talk about how much it means to me that my kids give me as much time as they do with their kids.

"The only thing is that they’re on two coasts, so I’m in the airplane a lot."