Oprah Winfrey has explained why the name on her birth certificate is different from the one the public has known for decades.
Speaking on the “Baby, This Is Keke Palmer” podcast, Winfrey said her legal name is Orpah, a biblical name chosen by her aunt from the Book of Ruth.
“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. So once they started with Oprah, that’s it.”
Winfrey said she was about 20 years old when she realised her legal name differed from the name everyone used.
The conversation arose after she and podcast host Keke Palmer compared their names. Palmer noted that her birth certificate lists her as Lauren Keyana Palmer, although she is widely known as Keke Palmer.
Winfrey also pointed out that the name of her production company, Harpo Productions, is “Oprah” spelled backwards.
