Whoopi Goldberg Shares Cheeky Story Behind Her Stage Name

Whoopi Goldberg has always been after the laughs. 

Indeed, the comedian (real name Caryn Johnson) recently shared that her original stage name stemmed from a popular gag gift. 

“Whoopi first, and I was whoopie cushion,” she divulged to Seth Meyers on the July 11 episode of Late Night. “And then I was Whoopi Cushión.” 

After coming up with the name in her 30s, The View cohost noted, it was her mother Emma Harris who convinced her to change “Cushion” to “Goldberg.”

“She said, ‘You are diminishing your abilities,’” Whoopi recalled. “‘If you call yourself by Whoopi Cushion, people are not really going to appreciate what you can do.’ And I said, ‘Oh really? Oh, great namer of the star?’ And she said, ‘Yes.’”

As for where her mother got the name Goldberg? “She said, ‘Well, there’s a lot of family names, we’ve got a lot of different people in our family, I like Goldberg,’” Whoopi explained. “And I said, ‘Okay well we’ll try it.’ Well?”

Naturally, Whoopi’s mother—who died in 2010—wasn’t going to let her daughter take her name idea for free. And the 68-year-old explained everything her mother asked for in return is spelled out in her new book Bits and Pieces. 

“She said, ‘I only want three things,’” Whoopi added. “She said she wanted an English beaver bowler hat. It had to come in the box—the leather box—with the brush. She wanted an Ermine coat. And she wanted a Bugatti. When you read the book, you’ll understand, my mother had very good taste.”

While the Sister Act star never fulfilled her mother’s wish of a Bugatti—because she couldn’t drive—she did fulfill the requests of the hat and coat. 

“If you get an opportunity there’s a photograph of my mother and my daughter, and my daughter had just had her daughter, and she’s wearing her beaver bowler hat,” Whoopi noted. “The Ermine coat, she never wanted to wear outside, she just wanted to be able to take it and drag it down the stairs like an old movie star.” 

And while this origin story may be the silliest, she isn’t the only Hollywood star that goes by a different moniker. Keep reading for more.

Though the singer initially released a Christian album under her birth name in 2001, she felt the stage name Katy Perry—inspired by her mom's maiden name—might meet pop fans more in awe, awe, awe. 

Cardi B took on the name Bacardi after family and friends started calling her sister Hennessy. Later on she shortened the name to something that suited her quite a bit more.

Before she became the Duchess of Sussex, Meghan Markle was briefly known as Rachel. 

Shania Twain shared the origin story of her stage name during an appearance on Apple Music's Home Now Radio: "In short, I was born, Eilleen Regina Edwards, and then I was adopted and I became Eilleen Regina Twain. Then I became a professional singer and I needed a stage name that sounded a little less like my grandmother's name, because I'm named after my grandmother, both my grandmothers, Eilleen and Regina. I think, in my mind, I was just not really wanting to be called my grandmother's name onstage, so I decided to change it to Shania Twain. I met somebody with the name Shania, thought it was beautiful, and Shania Twain was born."

Oddly enough, Gigi Hadid got her stage name in school when the teacher would confuse her and a girl named Helena. Since her mom called her "gigi" as a term of endearment at home, she told the teacher to just call her Gigi and it simply stuck. 

If you're looking for an explosive action-star name, how about Vin Diesel instead?

Miley Cyrus' bright smile is what inspired her childhood nickname, Smiley. Eventually the name was shortened to Miley and it stuck. 

Apparently the singer looked more like a Bruno than a Peter, so one day his dad started calling him Bruno. Ever since, he has been known as Bruno Mars.

Before the meat dresses and chart-topping music, Lady Gaga was just an everyday girl from New York.

Jason Sudeikis confirmed on Today that he was named Daniel after his father, but following some confusion, his mom started using his middle name Jason to avoid confusion. 

Emma Stone ended adopting this stage name after finding out that the Screen Actors Guild already had a member registered under her birthname. 

Turns out Reese isn't even Reese Witherspoon's middle name. The actress chose the moniker in honor of her mother, whose maiden name is Reese.

Every artist has an alter ego, and Lana Del Rey just happens to be the persona of choice for the singer. 

In 2014, Frank Ocean legally changed his name because, why not? 

A little known fact about 30 Rock's Tina Fey is that she is actually named Elizabeth. The comedian made a not so subtle tribute to her birth name by naming her character Liz Lemon.

This pioneer of West Coast rap would later go on to be known as Snoop Dogg.

Turns out the "Royals" singer is really into learning about the aristocracy, hence the reason why she chose the name Lorde, but with a feminine 'e.'

Before he started shaking his bonbon for the masses, music superstar Ricky Martin went by this everyday name.

It's hard to believe that Iggy Azalea was born Amethyst Kelly!

Fans were confused when Taylor Swift thanked then-boyfriend Adam in an acceptance speech, which lead people to the discovery that Calvin Harris is simply a stage name. The DJ told Shortlist magazine he chose the name because his first single was more soulful and wanted something a bit more "racially ambiguous."

Before she became a household name, this was what erstwhile Friend Jennifer Aniston answered to.

Alicia Keys didn't always have such a musical name.

Before he became arguably the biggest movie star in the world, Tom Cruise went by this name.

Back when she was born in 1980, this was how the future bigtime actress Natalie Portman greeted the world.

Before she became a big-time TV star and married Ellen DeGeneres, this was the name Portia de Rossi answered to.

Guess music superstar Elton John didn't think his original name would be a hit with audiences.

Check The Simple Life alum Nicole Richie's birth certificate and this is the name you'll see.

All it took was a nickname from some high school friends, and U2 frontman Bono's famous moniker was born.

We agree. Carmen Electra is much more effective when it comes to selling a sexy Baywatch persona.

"I went on as Eric Bishop, killed, standing ovation," Jamie Foxx has said of his early comedy days, revealing that for weeks after his fellow comedians blocked him from getting back onstage. So he took his act to a new location and wrote down three unisex-sounding names in the hopes of getting picked. "I go up and get a standing ovation, so the name sticks." 

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