OPRAH WINFREY REVEALS HER BIRTH NAME WAS ORPAH AND EXPLAINS HOW SHE BECAME KNOWN AS OPRAH. (PHOTO).

 Oprah Winfrey reveals her birth name was Orpah and explains how she became known as Oprah

Oprah Winfrey has revealed that the name the world knows her by was not the name she was given at birth.

During an appearance on Keke Palmer’s “Baby, This Is Keke Palmer” podcast, the media mogul explained that her birth certificate carries the name Orpah, a name taken from the Bible.

“It was Orpah from the Bible,” Winfrey told Palmer, explaining that the name comes from the story of Ruth and Naomi in the Book of Ruth.

She said the name was chosen from Ruth 1:14, where Orpah and Ruth respond differently after Naomi urges them to return to their own people.

Winfrey explained that she only discovered the difference between her official name and the one she had always been called when she was around 20 years old.

The 72-year-old said the change happened because people struggled to spell Orpah, eventually leading to the more familiar “Oprah.”

“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.”

Winfrey also pointed out that Palmer had a similar experience, noting that the actress’ birth name is Lauren Keyana Palmer.

“I’m so happy that you knew that!” Palmer responded.

The talk show host has previously discussed the story behind her name, including during a 2005 episode of “The Oprah Winfrey Show” when she shared an old audition tape from 1983.

In the recording, Winfrey explained that her aunt Ida named her after the biblical figure Orpah, but the spelling confusion eventually led to the name Oprah becoming permanent.

She has also used the name creatively through her production company, Harpo Productions, which spells Oprah backwards.