Whoopi Goldberg

Famous name changes are, of course, interesting, but today’s post is one is one of my favorites. It’s the amazing story about how Caryn Elaine Johnson became Whoopi Goldberg. Can you imagine with me Caryn Johnson? I bet she would be funny. In fact, she’d probably be hilarious. One of those people that you love to run into at the office break room; what a lucky day to be getting your cup of coffee at the same time as Caryn. Always cracking jokes and finding funny ways to look at things. After the weekly staff meeting she would crack jokes about the company’s latest and greatest strategic direction. Maybe she would say things like, “How many chiefs does it take to develop that strategic direction? Only one, but he has to have one executive assistant, a private jet, and a $50,000 compass!”

But Caryn Johnson as world-famous actress, comedian, radio disc jockey, author, singer-songwriter, talk show host, and activist? I don’t know. It’s not impossible, but definitely more of a stretch. How would Caryn Johnson fit in with the rest of the women in The View? And actually, that would be part of the problem. Caryn Johnson would probably be trying to fit in, whereas Whoopi seems very comfortable in her own skin. That’s one of the things that’s so great about her!

So how does someone like Caryn Johnson transform to Whoopi Goldberg? In a 2006 interview, Whoopi said, “If you get a little gassy, you’ve got to let it go. So people used to say to me, ‘You are like a whoopee cushion.’ And that’s where the name came from.” She continued that Goldberg came from Jewish ancestry in her family. She said she changed her name recognizing that her birth name was too boring.

Whoopi is anything but boring now! I think Whoopi Goldberg picked the perfect name for herself and for her life!