Bursting onto the show in the fifth series, Erin Hannon, played by Ellie Kemper, soon became the sweetheart of The Office, befriending Kelly, dating Andy and taking her role as receptionist far more seriously than Pam ever did.
A ray of sunshine in an otherwise quite cynical office, Erin was a truly welcome addition to the show and as Andy, played by Ed Helms said: “You’re the nicest person I’ve ever met.”
Whether you loved or hated her, Erin really made a name for herself in the workplace and was soon just as familiar as Michael, Dwight, and Pam herself.
However, her name, uh, actually wasn’t Erin. It was Kelly. And they even told us that.
How did we forget?!
Why Erin from The Office didn’t use her real name
According to NBC, audiences originally met her as “Kelly,” her actual first name. But every time the new boss, Charles Miner (Idris Elba) called for her, Kelly Kapoor (Mindy Kaling) would run into his office and say, “Yes, you wanted me?” so he decided they needed to differentiate between the two Kellys.
Erin then very sweetly offered to use her middle name instead and continued to for the rest of the series.
I mean, would you try to compete with Kelly Kapoor? I know I wouldn’t.
Plus, as ScreenRant said, it worked out for the best: “The closest thing Erin had to an actual friend on The Office was definitely Kelly. Some of their friendship was developed in online web videos like “Subtle Sexuality,” but they were also shown to hang out with one another during the show as well.”
While the two didn’t have a perfect relationship and Erin was often naive to Kelly’s more manipulative behaviour’s, they were an iconic duo and dropping Erin’s real name was a small price to pay.
The US Office is available to stream on Netflix.