Kamala Harris has a first name of Indian origin, the meaning of which is quite poetic.
Kamala Harris is a candidate in the US presidential election, the outcome of which will be known on November 5. With the potential to become the first president of the United States, her life is closely scrutinized. The origin of his first name is particularly interesting. She is not the only famous Kamala: it is also the first name of Kamala Surayya, a 20th century poet, of the former political activist Kamala Nehru and of the biochemist Kamala Sohonie, who died in 1998.
This first name is pronounced “Come-a-laa”, the final long “a” being a feminine marker in Sanskrit, an Indo-European language, as explained The Conversation. The meaning of this word is “pink lotus”, the sacred flower also called “Nelumbo nucifera”, which is present in India. In many love poems, beautiful women are compared to the lotus. It also represents love which blooms during the day and closes its petals at night. The lotus is also associated with Sri-Lakshmi, the goddess of sovereignty, luck, fertility and wealth. She is often depicted sitting on a lotus or carrying one in her hands. Kamala’s middle name is Devi, which means goddess.
A first name referring to his mother’s culture
Kamala Harris’ mother is of Indian origin and was notably a biologist, but also a cancer researcher. She therefore decided to name her daughter that to honor her origins but also to highlight the independence of women. According to her, a “culture that worships goddesses produces strong women”, as she declared to the Los Angeles Times in 2004. As a child, Kamala Harris attended a Hindu temple and visited India.
If Kamala Harris is proud of her Indian origins, her mother made her adopt the black culture of Oakland because she “knew very well that she was raising two black girls”, as the candidate explains in her autobiography. “She knew that her adopted homeland would see Maya and me as black girls and she was determined to ensure that we grew into confident and proud black women,” she added. The candidate has also been attacked on numerous occasions by Donald Trump on his origins. He had, for example, ironically on July 31 by declaring: “she was Indian and all of a sudden, she changed and she became black.”