5 things you probably didn’t know about Kamala Harris

Through her work as vice president, we know plenty about Harris’ political views and values, but there are several things you may not know about her personal life.

Ever since President Joe Biden dropped out of the presidential race on July 21, Vice President Kamala Harris has taken over the spotlight.

If Harris officially becomes the nominee when the Democratic National Committee holds its virtual roll call on Aug. 7, she will become the first woman of color to be a major party presidential nominee. And that’s just one of her many firsts. She was also:

• the first woman elected as San Francisco’s district attorney
• the first woman to be elected as California’s attorney general
• the first person of color to be elected to the US Senate from California
• The first woman elected vice president of the United States

Through her work as vice president, we know plenty about Harris’ political views and values, but there are several things you may not know about her personal life.

Here are five things to know about Kamala Harris:

Her father was born in Jamaica, and her mother was Indian.

Harris’ father, Donald Harris, was born in Jamaica in 1938 and moved to the US to do a Ph.D. He then taught at Stanford University, where he is now professor emeritus of economics. Her mother, Shyamala Gopalan, graduated from the University of Delhi and also studied at Berkeley. The couple met as civil rights activists in 1962, married in 1963, and separated in 1969, when Harris was five. Gopalan died in 2009, after spending her career working in breast cancer research. 

Her name has a religious meaning.

Kamala means “lotus” in Sanskrit and is another name for the Hindu deity Lakshmi. Harris’ middle name, Davi, translates to “goddess” in Sanskrit. “A culture that worships goddesses produces strong women,” said her mom, Dr. Shyamala Gopalan, in an interview with the LA Times in 2004.

She’s an avid reader.

While running as a Democratic candidate for president in 2019, Harris responded to Book Riot’s request for her favorite books. She listed five: Native Son by Richard Wright, The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini, The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan, Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison and The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis.

Her husband’s children call her Momala. 

When Harris and Doug Emhoff married in 2014, she officially became stepmom to his children, Cole and Ella. She and the kids agreed they didn’t like the term “stepmom,” and instead came up with the name “Momala,”  pronounced mom-a-la.

She loves to cook.

Harris regularly shares her culinary skills, recipes, and love for Sunday dinners on social media. In 2019, she and actress Mindy Kaling made masala dosa together in a campaign video, and Harris also taught fellow senator Mark Warner how to properly make a tuna melt in an online video.

Are you ready to vote? Make sure to check your voter registration status, see who’s on your ballot, and make a voting plan here.

RELATED: Puerto Rican Democrats rally behind Kamala Harris after Biden’s work for Puerto Rico