# Oprah discovers she has a half-sister she didn't know about **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 25, 2011, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oprah-discovers-she-has-a-half-sister-she-didnt-know-about/568923 "2011-01-25T15:39:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![3waygeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/3/e95f7d/32.png) [@3waygeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/3waygeek)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2011, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oprah-discovers-she-has-a-half-sister-she-didnt-know-about/568923/21 "2011-01-26T15:56:10Z")
The [Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s](http://blogs.ajc.com/mike-luckovich/2011/01/25/126-cartoon-mike-luckovich-on-oprahs-sister/) take on this story. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2011, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oprah-discovers-she-has-a-half-sister-she-didnt-know-about/568923/22 "2011-01-26T16:01:37Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > Yes, Oprah’s first half-sister was named Patricia by her mother, and the second was named Patricia by someone else. The current Patricia has a daughternamed Aquarius and a son named Andre. Oprah was born January 29th, zodiac sign of Aquarius, and her longtime hairdresser is Andre Harrell. Go figure. Ah, weird. Thanks. Though Oprah’s mom named her half sister Patricia and named Oprah…Oprah? I’m surprised Patricia didn’t get a zanier name! ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2011, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oprah-discovers-she-has-a-half-sister-she-didnt-know-about/568923/23 "2011-01-27T04:55:35Z")
> [@Freudian\_Slit](#): > > Ah, weird. Thanks. > > Though Oprah’s mom named her half sister Patricia and named Oprah…Oprah? I’m surprised Patricia didn’t get a zanier name! I remember reading (and I won’t spend any time looking it up) that her father named her Oprah after a biblical character. He misspelled it though. He meant to name her Orpah. Which would have been unfortunate. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2011, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oprah-discovers-she-has-a-half-sister-she-didnt-know-about/568923/24 "2011-01-27T13:39:26Z")
> [@needscoffee](#): > > I remember reading (and I won’t spend any time looking it up) that her father named her Oprah after a biblical character. He misspelled it though. He meant to name her Orpah. Which would have been unfortunate. Yeah, then her production company would have been “Hapro”, which sounds like a toy manufacturer. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2011, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oprah-discovers-she-has-a-half-sister-she-didnt-know-about/568923/25 "2011-01-27T13:49:04Z")
> [@jayjay](#): > > Yeah, then her production company would have been “Hapro”, which sounds like a toy manufacturer. Or a hairstyle not likely to catch on. ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2011, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oprah-discovers-she-has-a-half-sister-she-didnt-know-about/568923/26 "2011-01-27T14:35:10Z")
> [@needscoffee](#): > > I remember reading (and I won’t spend any time looking it up) that her father named her Oprah after a biblical character. He misspelled it though. He meant to name her Orpah. Which would have been unfortunate. What would have been wrong with Orpah? That would have been the name he meant to call her anyway, right? ---
**Author:** ![Spit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/76d3ee/32.png) [@Spit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spit)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2011, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oprah-discovers-she-has-a-half-sister-she-didnt-know-about/568923/27 "2011-01-27T14:37:59Z")
> [@Zeldar](#): > > Can’t you just feel the love for Oprah? > > Refreshing! Why would anyone love someone who is most likely lying to them for ratings? ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2011, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oprah-discovers-she-has-a-half-sister-she-didnt-know-about/568923/28 "2011-01-27T14:51:19Z")
It was pretty cool of Oprah to give everybody in the audience a half-sister too, you gotta admit. ---
**Author:** ![Spit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/76d3ee/32.png) [@Spit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spit)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2011, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oprah-discovers-she-has-a-half-sister-she-didnt-know-about/568923/29 "2011-01-27T14:54:32Z")
> [@Revtim](#): > > It was pretty cool of Oprah to give everybody in the audience a half-sister too, you gotta admit. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2011, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oprah-discovers-she-has-a-half-sister-she-didnt-know-about/568923/30 "2011-01-27T15:06:05Z")
> [@Freudian\_Slit](#): > > What would have been wrong with Orpah? That would have been the name he meant to call her anyway, right? It sounds weird to us now because we’re used to Oprah, but if you look back (if you’re that old) to when Oprah first became a national celebrity (I think it was either with _The Color Purple_ or just before), “Oprah” was pretty weird at the time. Although, “Orpah” is just a little close to “Orca” for comfort, considering… ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2011, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oprah-discovers-she-has-a-half-sister-she-didnt-know-about/568923/31 "2011-01-27T15:13:51Z")
> [@jayjay](#): > > Although, “Orpah” is just a little close to “Orca” for comfort, considering… In spite of that obvious negative, Orpah is “biblical” name even though not a major player in the scheme of things. > **[Orpah](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orpah)** > > Orpah (Hebrew: עָרְפָּה ʿOrpā, meaning "neck" or "fawn") is a woman mentioned in the Book of Ruth in the Hebrew Bible. She was from Moab and was the daughter-in-law of Naomi and wife of Chilion. After the death of her husband, Orpah and her sister-in-law Ruth wished > to go to Judea with Naomi. However, Naomi tried to persuade both Ruth and Orpah to return to their people and to their gods. Ruth chose to remain with Naomi, but Orpah chose to return to her people and her gods. (Ruth i. 4 et seq.) In... ---
**Author:** ![puddleglum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puddleglum/32/137_2.png) [@puddleglum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puddleglum)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2011, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oprah-discovers-she-has-a-half-sister-she-didnt-know-about/568923/32 "2011-01-27T16:14:40Z")
I think it is indicative of how self centered Oprah is to go on about how other relatives sold her out, and then use the new sister to get ratings. At least those other relatives probably had genuine need for money whereas Oprah is a rich and famous as she can possibly be. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oprah-discovers-she-has-a-half-sister-she-didnt-know-about/568923.md?page=1)