Whoopi Goldberg has surprised viewers by casually referring to herself by her birth name on The View.

The 69-year-old renowned actress and television personality has a prolific career spanning several decades.

From her breakthrough role as Celie in Steven Spielberg’s The Color Purple (1985) to starring as Deloris Van Cartier in the well-loved musical Sister Act (1992), Goldberg has cemented her name as an icon in the world of cinema.

Whoopi Goldberg cemented her name as an icon in the world of cinema. Credit: Cindy Ord / Getty

During a recent episode of the daytime talk show, Goldberg left viewers stunned after dropping her real name – Caryn Elaine Johnson – during a debate about a tech start-up designing a platform that will reveal the political affiliations of potential neighbors.

The actress expressed her disapproval about the concept, explaining: “That is not a good idea because number one, it’s none of your business, and number two, it just fosters more division.”

Sara Haines agreed with the EGOT winner, adding: “To pretend that our divisions are just political is the best part because jerks come in every political affiliation,” while Alyssa Farah Griffin noted that it would be “boring” to live in a community where everyone shares the same ideology.

“I would sooner look at crime rates or the schools in the community,” she added.

Sunny Hostin was not completely against the platform as she has a “multiracial family,” adding: “My goddaughter is gay, some of my best friends are trans. I wouldn’t want to live next to an extremist that would make my family feel unwelcome.”

She then clarified: “But I don’t think that’s a political affiliation thing. I think it’s a behavioral thing.”

The Ghost star shared that she’s observed a recent shift in the last few years, which has marked “the first time I’ve ever heard people talking about it”.

“I was raised, you never asked anybody how they were voting. I would say, ‘Ma, who are you going to vote for?’ and she’d just give me that look,” she recalled, before mentioning her real name in front of the studio audience: “And she’d say to me, ‘Caryn, that’s nobody’s business.’”

Not everyone was aware of her birth name as one shocked user wrote on X: “Whoopi’s real name is Caryn… can’t make something like that up.”

Another tweeted: “Did you know that Whoopi’s real name is ‘Caryn Elaine Johnson?’ I didn’t.”

And a third wrote: “It doesn’t get talked about enough that Whoopi Goldberg’s real name is Caryn.”

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Goldberg casually referred to herself by her birth name on The View. Credit: Arturo Holmes/MG21 / Getty

The Academy-award-winning star opened up about her name change during a 2006 interview with The New York Times.

“Here’s the thing. When you’re performing on stage, you never really have time to go into the bathroom and close the door. So if you get a little gassy, you’ve got to let it go,” she said, cited by News.com.au.

“So people used to say to me, ‘You are like a whoopee cushion.’ And that’s where the name came from,” she revealed.