What Does "Kamala" Mean in Hindi? Plus: How Is the Name Pronounced?

There have been all kinds of things said about Kamala Harris.

Some folks think she's not cut out for the presidential gig. Others are loving the fun soundbites from her speeches that have turned into memes.

And still others are just curious to learn more about the nation's first-ever female vice president — not to mention her being the first African American and first Asian American VP as well.

Some folks have wondered if they're pronouncing Kamala's name correctly, for one thing. Here's what we know about the origin and pronunciation of Kamala.

Kamala was born to a Jamaican father and an Indian mother. Her parents chose to name her Kamala, which comes from ancient India and traces its etymology back to Sanskrit.

The name is derived from the word "kamalan," which means lotus flower. In Hinduism, the lotus represents beauty, fertility, purity, and enlightenment. Kamala is also another name for the Hindu goddess Lakshmi.

Kamala herself has been known to pronounce her own name "COMMA-luh," like the punctuation. You may have heard Donald Trump mispronounce it (perhaps intentionally?) as "Kuh-MALA" in the past — which is also how Ms. Marvel main character Kamala Khan pronounces her own name — but this would be different from the vice president's way of saying it.

However, writer Scaachi Koul wrote for Slate magazine that the correct pronunciation of Kamala among South Asians would actually be more like "Com'la" or "Kuhm'la."

Not that Koul blames the Kamala Harris for letting us say it the other way. As Koul writes, "It’s common, for people with unique ethnic names, to find ways to explain the pronunciation approachably and easily."

Back in May 2016, Kamala even posted a video to social media about her name, featuring little kids pronouncing it in different ways before getting to the one Kamala uses.

"Like a 'comma'! Got it!" one person tweeted in reply, while someone else commented: "You are making all the Kamalas of the world so proud. Thank you from another Kamala who also gets her name mispronounced."

And in her 2019 memoir, The Truths We Hold, Kamala talked a little bit about her name's pronunciation as well.

"First, my name is pronounced 'comma-la,' like the punctuation mark," she wrote in the book. "It means 'lotus flower,' which is a symbol of significance in Indian culture. A lotus grows underwater, its flower rising above the surface while its roots are planted firmly in the river bottom."

If you look on Reddit, you'll see that for years now, people have been discussing their own issues with trying to make sure they get the pronunciation right. For some, it was the nickname "mamala" that helped them get it right.

"I don't know why but I had such a hard time getting my brain to remember the correct pronunciation of her name," wrote one Redditor. "I felt like a jerk every time I said it wrong and had to correct myself. What ultimately helped me was hearing that Kamala's kids (step-children) call her 'mamala.' When I made that connection, something just clicked and I was able to say her name correctly all the time. I guess because it's easy to remember to rhyme Kamala and mamala."