每日英語跟讀 Ep.931:「賀錦麗」是台灣人取的？ Kamala Harris unveils meaning, story behind Chinese name

美國民主黨總統候選人拜登日前公布副手名單，將由卡瑪拉‧哈里斯擔任要職，此舉也讓她成為美國史上首位非亞裔女性副總統候選人。事實上，這位副總統候選人有一個中文名字—賀錦麗。身為台灣人，你可能會些驚訝，為什麼她有中文名字呢？

Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden made history by selecting Kamala Harris as his running mate, making her the first black woman with Asian ethnicity to be nominated as a vice presidential candidate. When Biden’s campaign first announced the news, many Taiwanese were quite surprised to find out that, in fact, Kamala Harris has a Chinese name — He Chin-li (賀錦麗).

哈里斯會有中文名字主要是因為根據美國聯邦選舉法案，當選區內一定比例的選民為非英文母語人士，不論華裔或非華裔，競選公職人員的候選人需提供他國語言的競選資料，其中包括競選人的名字皆需有相對應的翻譯。

The main reason behind Harris’ Chinese name is due to the federal Voting Rights Act which dictates that every candidate in San Francisco running for political office, no matter the race, has to register a Chinese name. This is required when a significant percentage of voting-age citizens speak limited English.

然而，賀錦麗的名字究竟是誰取的呢？舊金山婦女委員蘇榮麗和賀錦麗是多年好友，當時賀錦麗向她談到爭取華裔選票的策略時，她建議賀錦麗取一個讓華裔選民更容易記得的正統中文名。賀錦麗非常喜歡這個想法，便請蘇榮麗和蘇已故的僑領父親蘇錫芬幫忙。

As many noticed that Harris’ Chinese name was not a direct translation of her English name, many wondered who helped picked her name. According to local media, Su Jung-li, a Taiwanese-American who has been friends with Harris for several years was the mastermind behind her name. When Harris first came to Su for advice on how to win the votes of the Chinese-dominated population, Su suggested that having a Chinese name might be helpful for securing Chinese-speaking votes. Harris loved this idea and asked Su and her father for help.

蘇榮麗說，賀即是「祝賀」之意，祝福賀錦麗仕途順遂。蘇榮麗也表示，當年賀錦麗最不喜歡「麗」，因為她希望她能以智慧取勝，而不是單靠美貌。不過，經過蘇榮麗仔細解釋華人取名傳統以及自己的名字也含有「麗」字，她便接受了。後來，每當賀錦麗到華人社區拜票時，必定會用賀錦麗介紹自己。

According to reports, Su said the last name “He” (賀) implies “congratulations”, and wished Harris a bright future in the public service. In addition, Su revealed that Harris initially disliked the word “Li” (麗), meaning “beauty” in Chinese as she wanted to be known for her intelligence rather than her looks. However, Harris soon came to appreciate her name after Su pointed out that her name also had the same Chinese character and explained more of the traditions and history behind the word.

談及自己的好友，蘇榮麗表示：「我相信賀錦麗將可團結全美不同族裔文化的人民。」同時，她也表示雖然自己並非百分百支持賀錦麗的每項政見，但卻深信賀錦麗有團結大家的能力。

When speaking of her good friend, Su stated that though she doesn’t necessarily support every item on Harris’ policy proposal, she firmly believes Harris has the ability to unite people of all races.

Source article: https://chinapost.nownews.com/20200813-1685720