Whoopi changed her name as she was coming up in the game. Her new first name was spawned from her predilection for flatulence that others called her “Whoopi cushion.” She kept her first name. With the help of her mother, she changed her last name to Goldberg, a German-Jewish name because Whoopi became convinced that she had Jewish heritage somewhere down the line, as well as the fact that she believed she would be more successful with a Jewish name.
With how her career has turned out, it’s hard to argue with that strange justification.
