Do dreams have a deeper meaning? A surprising number of people believe that the answer to this question is yes. According to a poll conducted by Newsweek, a whopping 43% of Americans believe that dreams reveal unconscious desires and wishes.

Verywell / Jessica Olah

Famed psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud described dreams as the royal road to the unconscious and suggested that by studying the obvious content of dreams, we could then bring to light the hidden and unconscious desires that lead to neurosis.﻿﻿

Analyzing dream symbols and ascribing meaning has become a popular source of both entertainment and self-reflection in popular culture. Do dreams really have hidden meanings? Can you learn your unconscious wishes and desires by interpreting your dreams?

While most modern theories of dreams would suggest that the answer is no, this hasn't stopped interpreters and analysts from publishing a whole host of dream dictionaries that purport to identify what these common dream themes and symbols really mean.

Let's take a closer look at some of the most common dreams and what some of the most popular dream interpretation books have to say about them.