Kamala Devi Harris Got Her Name From a Goddess — and a Film Star?

The meaning of Kamala Harris: The secret origin of her name — Its spirituality and star power

Image by Max Efex from Pixabay

Names shape identity. Kamala Devi Harris shares her name with Hindu Goddess Kamala Devi and TV/film star Kamala Devi.

Forgotten middle names? Voters see “Kamala D. Harris” on their ballot and ask, “What does the ‘D’ stand for? Her name is Kamala Devi, meaning:

• Kamala. A Hindu name honors the Divine Feminine Energy (known in Sanskrit as Shakti).
• Devi. A Sanskrit word (देवी) meaning “goddess,” is a feminine deva or “god.”

Author and filmmaker Raja Choudhury recently spoke at Princeton University on “Kamala Devi: Hinduism’s Shakti Path to Spiritual Awakening,” arguing that “Vice President Harris’s candidacy has made her first and middle names — Kamala Devi — household words.”

Devi wasn’t her original middle name: She was initially Kamala Iyer