Anne Hathaway likes to prank her friends with made up baby names.

Anne Hathaway

Anne Hathaway

The 36-year-old actress is currently expecting her second child with husband Adam Shulman - with whom she already has three-year-old son Jonathan - and has said she and her spouse have come up with a "cruel" trick to play on those who ask if they've settled on a name for their unborn tot.

Anne is sick of people asking her about baby names, and so has begun compiling a list of complicated and "uncomfortable" monikers to prank her pals with.

She said: "It's really cruel, but I enjoy it so much. Everyone's so sincere about it and happy for you and being nice to you and all those things, so I like to twist that.

"[Adam and I] try to come up with names that are beautiful-sounding but will make other people intensely uncomfortable."

The 'Hustle' star has been playing her prank for years, as she says she even came up with a fake name to tell people when she was pregnant with Jonathan.

She added: "With Jonathan, we came up with the name 'Quandré'. And then you correct them, and they never get it right."

This time, Anne and Adam have come with the name 'Africa', with an emphasis on the first syllable.

She explained: "Again, beautiful name ... They say, 'Do you know the name?' And we go, 'Africa'. And you make really intense, sincere eye contact and you don't look away and you don't blink. And you have to watch them just squirm."

But whilst the trick works on friends and kind strangers, family members are able to see right through her wicked sense of humour.

Speaking to Ryan Seacrest and guest host Liza Koshy during an appearance on 'Live with Kelly and Ryan' on Friday (11.10.19), she said: "Family goes ... 'No.' "