ANI | Updated:Jul 23, 2026 21:59IST
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Los Angeles [US], July 23 (ANI): Entertainment mogul Oprah Winfrey recently surprised actor Keke Palmer by revealing that her real name is “Orpah”, explaining that the name was inspired by a Biblical story and was later changed through a spelling mix-up, according to E! News.
During the recent episode of ‘Baby, This is Keke Palmer’, Winfrey told Palmer that her original name was taken from the Book of Ruth in the Bible.
“It was Orpah from the Bible,” Winfrey explained. “Ruth, first chapter, 14th verse. It’s that whole Ruth and Naomi story. And you know, Ruth said, ‘Wherever thy goest, I will go.’ And then Orpah said, ‘I’m going back. I’m sorry. I can’t. Too long. The road’s too long,” according to E! News.
Palmer, who appeared shocked by the revelation, asked why the iconic talk show host had changed her original name.
Winfrey, 72, explained that the change was not necessarily her choice.
“Nobody knew how to spell it,” she said. “So, it turned out on my birth certificate, it’s Orpah. And then people started calling me Oprah. And so it’s just the difference between the P being before the R or the R being after the P. So once they started with Oprah, that’s it.”
Winfrey said she did not realise that people had been pronouncing her name incorrectly until she was 20 years old. Her birth certificate, she noted, still carries the name “Orpah”.
During the conversation, Winfrey also pointed out that Palmer herself is known publicly by a name different from her given name.
“‘Lauren Keyana,’ that’s your real name,” Winfrey told Palmer, according to E! News.
The revelation may have surprised the ‘Nope’ star, but Winfrey has spoken about the origins of her name for decades. In an audition tape from 1983, she explained the story behind the name and its Biblical connection.
“My name is Oprah Winfrey, Oprah, spelled O-P-R-A-H, and if you notice, it’s Harpo spelled backwards,” she said at the time. “My folks did not really like Harpo Marx. We did not even have a television set for a number of years. Originally, I was named from the Bible by Aunt Ida, who named me from Ruth, the first chapter at the 14th verse, Orpah, but no one knew how to spell in my home, and that’s why I ended up being Oprah,” according to E! News. (ANI)
