Oprah Winfrey left Keke Palmer speechless after revealing that her real name is Orpah.
âIt was Orpah from the Bible,â the talk show icon divulged to the stunned âNopeâ actress during Tuesdayâs episode of âBaby, This Is Keke Palmer.â
The TV star then explained the scriptural background and context of the name.
âRuth, first chapter, 14th verse. Itâs that whole Ruth and Naomi story,â she shared.
âAnd you know, Ruth said, âWherever thy goest, I will go.â And then Orpah said, âIâm going back. Iâm sorry. I canât. Too long. The roadâs too long.ââ
Palmer questioned why Winfrey felt the need to change her name to Oprah, to which she replied that she âwas a kid.â
âNobody knew how to spell it,â she recalled.
âSo, it turned out on my birth certificate, itâs Orpah,â she explained. âAnd then people started calling me Oprah. And so itâs just the difference between the P being before the R or after the R. So once they started with Oprah, thatâs it.â
The TV personality, 72, revealed that she was roughly 20 years old when she finally learned that the name on her birth certificate was different from what friends and family had been calling her.
Oprah pointed out that the âAkeelah and the Beeâ star, 32, also has a different name on her birth certificate â Lauren Keyana Palmer.
âIâm so happy that you knew that!â Palmer exclaimed.
Winfrey has also playfully named her media empire Harpo productions, which is simply Oprah spelled backwards.
A 1983 audition tape â which Winfrey resurfaced during a 2005 episode of âThe Oprah Winfrey Showâ âgave more details on the background of her name.
 âMy folks did not really like Harpo Marx,â she said, referring to the Marx Brothers comedian.
âWe 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 thatâs why I ended up being Oprah.â
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