<\/p>\n
Oprah Winfrey appeared as the guest on the July 21 episode of the Baby, This is Keke Palmer <\/em>podcast<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n Winfrey, , talked about her experiences growing up, revealing that her name as it is known today took shape then<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n While she doesn\u2019t go by her legal name, Winfrey is grateful for the success that\u2019s come with her own<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n Oprah Winfrey offered fans an explainer on the history of her name.<\/p>\n The media icon, 72, appeared on Baby, This is Keke Palmer<\/em><\/a>, <\/em>where the host and actress, 32, said, \u201cI found out that your name… it was originally Orpah?\u201d<\/p>\n Winfrey confirmed, \u201cIt was Orpah, from the Bible. Ruth, first chapter, 14th verse. You know, it\u2019s that whole Ruth and Naomi story. And Ruth said, \u2018Wherever thou goest, I will go.\u2019 \u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAnd then Orpah said, \u2018I\u2019m going back. I\u2019m sorry, I can\u2019t\u2026,\u201d she laughed, then continuing, \u201cThe road\u2019s too long.\u201d<\/p>\n Winfrey then explained that it wasn\u2019t her decision to become Oprah, but a matter of her circumstances growing up.<\/p>\n \u201cI was a kid! And nobody knew how to spell it. So it turned out, on my birth certificate, it\u2019s O-R-P-A-H. And then people started calling me Oprah. And so, it\u2019s just the difference between the \u2018P\u2019 being before the \u2018R\u2019 or after the \u2018R\u2019. So once they started with Oprah, that\u2019s it,\u201d she explained.<\/p>\n It went so far back that Winfrey wasn\u2019t even aware of it herself until adulthood. She admitted, \u201cI didn\u2019t learn until I was like, probably 20 or something that, \u2018Oh, this isn\u2019t really my name. My name is Orpah.\u2019 \u201d She also confirmed that her name legally remains Orpah Gail Winfrey.<\/p>\n Never miss a story \u2014 sign up for PEOPLE\u2019s free daily newsletter<\/a> to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.<\/p>\n Elsewhere in the conversation, Winfrey shared her gratitude for the mentors who helped her along her climb to success, especially in the early days of her career, when there was great scrutiny of her appearance and her marital status.<\/p>\n \u201cI had really strong mentors. I had the best. I had Maya Angelou<\/a>. I had Sidney Poitier<\/a>. I had Quincy Jones<\/a>. I had Coretta Scott King<\/a>. Those were my mentors,\u201d she shared, explaining, \u201cSo when something would go wrong, I would call one or the other of those people, Maya and Sidney more so than anybody else.\u201d<\/p>\n Winfrey credited Angelou with helping her get through a lot of the criticism she would receive from the tabloids, recalling, \u201cThe tabloids were wrecking me all the time. I was on the tabloids every week, whether for being too fat… just making up lies about me all the time, or, \u2018Is she getting married? Why he won\u2019t marry her. Now they have split up…\u2019 There were two stories… and for 20 freaking years, they wore me out with it.\u201d<\/p>\n