Fact 1271 — Orpah or Oprah?

Oprah Winfrey’s birth certificate gives her name as Orpah, a biblical name from the Book of Ruth. In an interview with the Academy of Achievement, Winfrey explained that her aunt chose the name, but people shifted the “r” and “p” in pronunciation and spelling; “Oprah” became established outside the birth certificate. So Oprah is her familiar name, while Orpah is the name recorded at birth; the story was not simply one clerk’s typo. The illustration is AI-generated.