Oprah Winfrey's name was changed when she was a child because "nobody knew how to spell it".
The 72-year-old TV titan was born Oprah Gail Winfrey but it was changed to Oprah when she was young because the spelling created a lot of confusion. She opened up about her real name during an appearance on Keke Palmer's Baby, This Is Keke Palmer video podcast and she shocked the host when she confessed the truth and explained the name's religious origins.
Oprah said: "It was Orpah from the Bible ... 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' ... "
The TV star explained her name was changed when she young and she didn't find out until she was 20, adding: "It's not what made me. I was a kid. Nobody knew how to spell it.
"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 after the R. So once they started with Oprah, that’s it."
Oprah went on to point out Keke also has a different name on her birth certificate as she was born Lauren Keyana Palmer, with the host declaring: "I’m so happy that you knew that!"
It comes after Oprah opened up about her childhood crush and confessed she tried to manifest getting married to Beatles legend Sir Paul McCartney.
Oprah explained the only dream she never fulfilled was marrying the Long and Winding Road singer, even believing she could make him think about her when she was a teenager listening to The Beatles' songs.
Speaking on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, she said: “Everything I ever wanted or dreamed came true. Except, I did not marry Paul McCartney. I used to try and make him think of me."
Oprah was a devoted fan of The Beatles growing up and like many teen girls she liked Paul the best over John Lennon, George Harrison and Ringo Starr.
She said: “Of course Paul was my favourite Beatle ... I used to wake in the morning and I’d stand on the stairs and say, ‘Think of me, think of me, think of me.'”
Oprah finally got the chance to meet McCartney, 83, and interview him many decades later and she took the chance to ask him directly if she'd ever popped into his head in the 1960s.
She said: “My first question to him was, ‘All those years, I was 14, and I was thinking of you. Did you ever once think of me?’”
McCartney replied: “Every day, babe, every day.”
