IKEA is a place of home furnishing wonder. It’s almost impossible to pay a visit to one of Sweden’s most famous exports without leaving with at least a serving of meatballs.

       But despite it being a cornerstone of life now in the UK, hoards of people are only just finding out what its name actually means

       The chain was formed back in 1951 and uses a well-known blue and yellow emblem with the name IKEA in a bold font.

       IKEA actually stands for a few things - as it’s an acronym, meaning each of its letters represents a different word.

       The letters ‘I’ and ‘K’ relate the founder’s name - Ingvar Kamprad. The ‘E’ represents Elmtaryd, the farm on which he grew up. And ‘A’? That letter represents Agunnaryd, the nearby village.

       Some were shocked to find out about the story behind the name, reports Hull Daily Mail.

       One Twitter user wrote: "Just learned that IKEA stands for 'Ingvar Kamprad Elmtaryd Agunnaryd.'

       “I'm never saying 'IKEA' again...I'm heading to Ingvar Kamprad Elmtaryd Agunnaryd to buy a shelf".

       Another said: "Just found out shops like END, LIDL, TESCO, ASDA, COSTCO, IKEA, ASOS etc all were abbreviations absolutely shocked etc IKEA stands for Ingvar Kamprad Elmtaryd Agunnaryd".

       “Did people know this already?! I only found out today," added another.

       Meanwhile other brand names are baffling people as to why they are so-named.

       This is the case with one of Britain’s favourite sweet treats, Maltesers.

       For some confusion has reigned due to the way that the brand name is spelled - missing and ‘a’ from tease - with many thinking it was to do with the country Malta and its people - the Maltese.

       People have also learned what the true meaning of M&M's is - another of the country’s go-to snacks.

       M&M's are made by Mars, Inc. - and so it’s perhaps quite obvious at least one of the 'Ms' should stand for Mars.

       The other ‘M’ stands for Murrie - meaning that the full name of M&Ms means Mars and Murrie.

       Murrie is the man who helped develop the iconic candy-coated chocolate pieces with Mars. In this case - the Mars was not Frank Mars, but his son Forrest Mars.