Oprah's Name Change

Media mogul Oprah Winfrey was supposed to be christened ORPAH - but a priest misspelled her name on her birth certificate.

The TV star's father wanted his daughter to have a biblical moniker, but a mistake led to her famous name.

She explains, "It's supposed to be Orpah from RUTH, first chapter, 14th verse in the Bible, but they spelled it wrong on the birth certificate."

And she hung onto the unusual name despite pressure from the Maryland TV station where she worked in her early 20s.

She recalls, "I went to anchor and the news director there called me in and asked me to change my name to SUSIE because nobody would remember or be able to pronounce Oprah."