Would You Vote For Galloping Horse Yang, Justice Pan, or Clever Poem?

If you’ve seen any campaign signs in the Bay Area this election season you likely noticed that all of the candidates have Chinese character names alongside their English names. You can tell a lot about what a candidate wants to convey about themselves based on the Chinese character names they pick. On election day, Current is taking a deep dive into these names and what they can tell us about the candidates.

Candidates of Chinese heritage have it easy; they usually use their given Chinese names. For example, San Francisco City Supervisor and Congressional candidate Connie Chan is 陳詩敏 (Chén Shīmǐn*) – that’s her family name 陳 (Chén) and her given name 詩敏 (Shīmǐn) which means “clever poem.” But somewhat unique to San Francisco and the Bay Area is the widespread use of non-transliterated Chinese characters by candidates not of Chinese descent.

I was surprised in 2024 to discover that Kamala Harris’ Chinese name was a not a transliteration of Harris like most Presidential candidates but in fact: 賀錦麗 (Hè Jǐnlì). Of course, her chosen name didn’t fall out of a coconut tree. While the Cantonese reading the name (Ho Gam-lai**) is perhaps a vague transliteration, the name was chosen by an ethnically Chinese supporter during her time as San Francisco’s District Attorney for its meaning:

賀: Congratulations (“We did it Joe!”)

錦: Intricate/Elegant

麗: Beautiful

I asked my mom, a native Chinese speaker, for her opinion on Harris’ Chinese name and she told me that 賀錦麗 (Hè Jǐnlì) sounds lovely, and that all of the characters represent good things. To me, it plays to the common immigrant aspirations of upward mobility.

The Chinese name conundrum crosses the Bay’s political spectrum. For example, the East Bay Democratic Socialists of America’s candidate for Oakland City Council District 2, Nate Adams, is running as 亞得力 – Yà Délì in Mandarin and Aa Dak-lik in Cantonese – a name also chosen by an ethnically Chinese supporter. This gives Adams the family name 亞 which is used in the transliteration of Adam (亞當 Yàdāng) and the given name 得力 (Délì) which means “Capable.” Former San Francisco City Supervisor Dean Preston used the name: 潘正義 (Pān Zhèngyì): Justice Pan.

Naming yourself “Capable” or “Justice” feels ostentatious to my American sensibilities. But my parents named me 勤真 (Qínzhēn) “True diligence," so who I am to judge? Once again I went to my mom for an expert opinion, she told me that these names sounded natural enough but offered some suggestions on how the two could better combine transliteration and meaning. (Nate, Dean, and future socialist candidates: if you want a consultation, I can put you in touch).

In response to criticisms that flowery chosen Chinese character names provided an unfair advantage to candidates or could misrepresent the ethnicity of candidates, in 2024 San Francisco passed an election regulations requiring that Chinese character names be:

Given at birth
Transliterations
Or for candidates to show a two year history of using a Chinese character name in the public sphere.

This regulation forced Daniel Lurie to switch from the Chinese character name he had been running under 羅瑞德 (Luó Ruìdé) — which combined two very popular Chinese character names 瑞 (ruì): auspicious and 德 (dé): Virtuous — to a meaningless transliteration: 丹尼爾·露里 (Dānní'ěr·lù lǐ). This sadly did little to stop denim-fortune Dan from buying his way to the Mayor’s office.

However, long-time San Francisco politicians can continue using the names they’ve used in previous election cycles. That means State Assembly Member and former City Supervisor Matt Haney can continue as 楊馳馬 (Yáng Chímǎ): “Galloping Horse Yang.” I have to admit, this name goes hard, but both my mom and I are at a loss for how Haney arrived at Yang as his Chinese surname.

The reasoning for this exception is that monolingual or limited-english proficiency Chinese voters are likely only familiar with the Chinese names candidates have used in previous election cycles. It does seem only fair that they continue using the names the electorate has become familiar with, however flowery.

There is, however, an obnoxious Chinese character name that irks me every time I have seen it this election cycle. That of the San Francisco Slender-Man: Scott Wiener. Wiener is a State Assembly Member running for Nancy Pelosi’s seat in Congress. Ever hungry for an easy marketing scheme, Wiener — who has also self-branded as “The Giraffe” this election cycle — uses the Chinese name 威善高 (Wēi Shàngāo).

Let’s break it down: 威: Powerful and mighty, 善: Charitable and virtuous, 高: Tall.

If you're a San Francisco/District 11 voter going to the ballot box — today, remember that Wiener wants you to think that he is:

威: Powerful and mighty — Ironic for a man who waffled on calling Gaza a genocide until the public shamed him into it.

善: Charitable and virtuous — Despite being backed by San Francisco's Arkham Asylum of tech, AI, and crypto billionaires, and opposing the Proposition 40 billionaire tax, and most importantly:

高: Tall — We can’t deny him that one, has he mentioned that he’s 6 '7"? Don’t worry he will.

Confucius believed that it was the duty of rulers to “rectify” names that didn’t correspond to reality. Wiener’s unrectified Chinese name seems especially egregious when you consider that his English one so accurately describes what he is: a dick. Rectify 威善高 (Wēi Shàngāo) today by making him go away.

*Phonetics are in Mandarin Pinyin unless stated otherwise.

**Cantonese phonetics are in Jyutping with tone markers removed